Skunk Cabbage Bloom: At Klawock Lodge, Prince of Wales Island AK
Dew on Moss:
Giant Horsetail (Equisetum): Chocolaty brown spores adorn a pale yellow stem - the strobilus - on Giant Horsetail at English Camp on San Juan Island.
Climbing Ivy: Enkenbach, Germany
Skunk Cabbage After the Rain: Redmond Watershed Washington
Skunk Cabbage After the Rain: Redmond Watershed Washington
Skunk Cabbage Leaf: Redmond Watershed Washington
Skunk Cabbage Leaf After the Rain: Redmond Watershed Washington
Dew on Lupine: Close-up of lupine blooms and dew at Redmond Washington's Marymoor Park.
Lupine and the Fly: Close-up of a flyn investigating dewey lupine blooms at Redmond Washington's Marymoor Park.
Thistle Before the Bloom: Soon to blossom thistle offers a prickly treat for many insects and birds.
Pinewood Gingertail -1: The Pinewood Gingertail mushroom (Xeromphalina campanella), also known as 'fuzzy root' or 'golden trumpet' or 'bell Omphalina'.
Tulip Petals: Close-up of red and yellow-accented tulip petals.
Water on Tulip Petals: Close-up view of water-accented tulip petals
Dewy Lupin: A composited close-up of Lupin accented by water droplets.
Pinewood Gingertail Village: These small mishrooms erupt on old decaying logs in the fall.
Paperbrush - Early Spring Flower: At the Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle WA.
Japanese Cherry Blossom: At Washington Park Arboretum, Seattle WA
Cherry Plum Blossom: At the Wasington Park Arboretum in Seattle Washington.
Blue Buffel Grass: Late summer seedheads on Blue Buffel Grass glow green and yellow.
Bouquet Blue Buffel Grass: Late summer seedheads on Blue Buffel Grass glow green and yellow.
Flint Corn: At the Muddy Boots Pumpkin Patch in Duvall Washington. A member of the grass family, this corn was originally cultivated by native peoples of Mexico over 9,000 years ago.
Red Twig Dogwood Blooms Landscape: A red twig dogwood in spring bloom just before flowering.
Shroom City: Mushrooms galore pop out when the weather turns cool and moist in the fall. The Terrestrial Scalycap (Pholiota terrestri) grows in dense clusters on the ground, distinguishing it from most other scalycaps that grow on wood.
Desert Tobacco Over Cracked Earth: Desert tobacco (Nicotiana obtusifolia) rising over dry cracked soils on the desert floor at Calcite Canyon in the Anza-Borrego Desert.
Tears of the Fall: This Black-eyed Susan was soaked and seemed to be shedding a tear as it was declining with the advent of cool, wet fall weather.
Tears of the Fall: This Black-eyed Susan was soaked and seemed to be shedding a tear as it was declining with the advent of cool, wet fall weather.
Blackberry in Fall: Rain drops roll off this blackberry shoot after a fall rain shower.
Fan Palm Petiole: Serrations on the fan palm petioles are a deterrent to would-be herbivores.
Fan Palm Threads: Leaf threads contribute to the structure of the skirt formed on the trunk of fan palms.
Fan Palm Aging in Place: California fan palm leaves turn brown and form a skirt on the trunk of the tree as it grows up to 75 feet.
Agave Leaves: Agave leaves growing at the base of a fan palm skirt.
Desert Opportunist: This Mojave Aster (Xylorhiza tortifolia) is a perennial sun-loving subshrub native to the American southwest. It is heat and drought tolerant. It favors growth on rocky slopes, in canyons or dry, flat areas at about 2,000 to 5,500 feet. Although this particular specimen seems highly opportunistic in seeding itself and growing from a crevice on a nearly vertical rock wall in the Fish Creek-Sandstone Canyon area of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
Saprophyte Mushrooms: The Pinewood Gingertail mushroom is a tiny mushroom less than an inch across. It is a saprophytic fungus that grows in dense clusters on dead coniferous trees where it obtains nutrients by decomposing organic matter from decaying wood.
Solitary Pinewood Gingertail Mushroom: The Pinewood Gingertail mushroom is known by its scientific name as Xeromphalina campanella and also has several common names including 'fuzzy root', 'golden trumpet' and 'bell Omphalina'. It's tiny mushroom less than an inch across.
November Rain on a Yellow Snapdragon: The snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus) is a tough, prolific and long-floweirng bloomer. Snapdragon's flowers are ecologically selective, allowing only heavier pollinators like bumblebees access to its nectar. Historically, snapdragons were wrapped in myth where witches used the blooms in enchanting rites; the yellow blooms symbolizing friendship and goodluck.
Yellow Snapdragon After the Rain: The snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus) is a tough, prolific and long-floweirng bloomer. Snapdragon's flowers are ecologically selective, allowing only heavier pollinators like bumblebees access to its nectar. Historically, snapdragons were wrapped in myth where witches used the blooms in enchanting rites; the yellow blooms symbolizing friendship and goodluck.
Red Snapdragon After the Rain: The snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus) is a tough, prolific and long-floweirng bloomer. Snapdragon's flowers are ecologically selective, allowing only heavier pollinators like bumblebees access to its nectar. Historically, snapdragons were wrapped in myth where witches used the blooms in enchanting rites; the red blooms symbolizing passion and love.
Dewey Hedgehog Cactus: Rain drops cling to the spines on this hedgehog cactus in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
Pick Me Not: This ferociously spined hedgehog cactus seems to be protecting the diminutive flowers of the intertwined Lacy Phacelia, a common flowering plant found in the deserts of southern California.
Sacred Datura: Native American cultures used this this toxic but nevertheless psychoactive plant in sacred rituals and ceremonies such as initiation rites for young men.
Ocotillo Blooms - IRFC: Ocotillo blooms along the Thimble Trail in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Infrared false color image taken through a 720 nm filterr.
Ocotillo and Blue Sky - IRFC: Ocotillo blooms along the Thimble Trail in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Infrared (720 nm) false color image.
Opportunistic Verbena: In the Anza-Borrego State Park.
Cactus on the Rocks: Barrel cactuss emergng from boulders on Yaqui Flats, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park,
Barrel Cactus in Bloom: Yaqui Flats, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
Fishhook Cactus: Yaqui Flats, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
Fishhook Cactus: Yaqui Flats, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
Fishhook Cactus: Yaqui Flats In the Anza-Borrego State Park.
Fishhook Cactus: Yaqui Flats, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
Cactus on the Rocks: Hedgehog cactus at Yaqui Flats In the Anza-Borrego State Park.
Desert Eden: A diverse desert plant community emerges on a yellow sea of flowering brittlebush at Yaqui Flats in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. In additopn to the brittlebush plants pictured in this slice of the desert include barrel cactus, chuparosa, hedgehog cactus, teddy bear cholla, ocotillo and Mojave yucca.
