This winter, I was walking past a neighbor’s garden and noticed a few dried stalks (not sure what the plant was) that were sprouting a candy floss-like substance. When I got down close, I could see it was ice coming out of cracks in the stems. What causes this phenomenon? Does it happen to only certain types of plants?
You were fortunate enough to witness an example of frost flowers, also called ice flowers, or crystallofolia, a term coined by Bob Harms (University of Texas, Austin) to distinguish the phenomenon from “frost flowers” which are sea ice. Not all plants exhibit these fanciful formations of ice crystals, but sometimes their common names will hint at this potential. Verbesina virginica, native to most of the central and southern reaches of the eastern United States, is known by the names frostweed and white crownbeard; Helianthemum canadense is sometimes called rock frost or frostwort. This is not a widespread occurrence, and there is no clear pattern dictating which plant families or genera are likely to produce these ribbon-like excrescences. A few others which do this include American dittany (Cunila origanoides), Isodon excisa and I. rubescens.
In a column (from December 18, 2013) called The Buzz [no longer available online], Memphis Botanic Garden’s website explains the formation of flowers as follows: “When the ground is warm enough for the plants’ roots to still be active, but the air temperature drops below freezing […] juices from the plant are expelled through slits in the stems […] This may happen multiple times over the winter since our ground rarely freezes far down, but once the moisture is gone, so are the frost flowers.” The theories and explanations of why certain plants do this are far more complex. It may have to do with the xylem rays which carry sap from the center to the periphery of the stems, according to James R. Carter of Illinois State University. Plants with prominent rays are more likely to have ice flowers, which may be using the xylem rays as a source of fluid.
If you would like to increase the odds of witnessing these fascinating ice formations again in your own garden, you could try growing some of the plants on Carter’s list [no longer available online] (avoiding any which are invasive in our area!).
- Anemone halleri
- Ceratostigma willmottianum
- Echinacea species
- Eupatorium cannabinum
- Helleborus argutifolius
- Origanum vulgare
- Plumbago auriculata
- Salvia coccinea
To this list, I would add Monarda didyma, the only plant on which I have ever seen frost flowers in Seattle.
Should you wish to read more, and see additional illustrations, there is an article by James R. Carter entitled “Flowers and Ribbons of Ice” in American Scientist (September/October 2013 ). The website Kuriositas also has a page of photographs of “Frost Flowers: Nature’s Exquisite Ice Extrusion.”
This question and answer were featured in the Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin’s Winter 2016 issue, available here.