i cant focus on any of the plant.. with the tree leaves behind... weirdest thing ... but i think your camera may have shifting the focus behind ...

ken

Yes, it's difficult to see exactly what the frost-crisped foliage (?) is.

I can't tell what's happening under the pen, but the branches above the pen are all on the same plane, so my mind keeps insisting "Fern! Fern!"

Anyone know any ferns (or anything else) with cute 3-toed-footprint leaflets?

Seems to be an unidentifiable species with many flowers. The remnants may be persisting bracts after the fruits dispersed.

Yes, jekeesl: those could well be bracts. (Similar in shape to Salvia lyrata bracts -- but only the bracts: the branching stems are not like the S. lyrata I see here.)

Looks like one of my dried up opal basil plants.

tj

Are those stems square in cross section?