Veins in a Prairie Dock Leaf

This morning I stopped at the Mt. Pleasant Discovery Museum to check on their Native Pollinator Garden.  The garden looks lush and gorgeous, especially compared to what it looked like one year ago .  I spent about 15 minutes wandering around photographing the garden from various angles - I will share some of these photographs tomorrow.  However, there was one view that really appealed to me.

Veins in a Prairie Dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum) leaf

This is a a Prairie Dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum) leaf backlit by the sun.  This allows you to see the a elaborate system of interconnected veins running throughout the leaf.  These veins disperse water, sugars, minerals, and other micronutrients throughout the plant. 

All broadleaf plants have these systems of veins running through their leaves.  The ones in the Prairie Dock are easy to see because of the plant's massive leaves.  How big are the leaves?

A Prairie Dock leaf at the Mt. Pleasant Discovery Museum

This massive leaf was about 2 feet long and a foot across- most of the other leaves were about 1/2 to 2/3 the size of this giant.