Saturday, July 4, 2009

Miniatures Made Large

This is a post in praise of my little Canon G7 camera. Or to be more exact, its macro function. Before I had this camera, I could never have seen (because of poor vision) the exquisite miniatures revealed when I load my photos onto my IMac display screen. Here are just a few examples of teeny tiny things I found yesterday.

Actually, these tiny bright orange mushrooms would have been hard to miss, poor eyesight and all. Anybody know their name?




These pretty little purple-spotted blooms go around the stem of Water Horehound (Lycopus americanus), a Mint Family plant common on shores and other damp places.




'Tis the season for St. Johnsworts of every kind. This tiny one has the appropriate name of Dwarf St. Johnswort (Hypericum mutilum). It, too, likes damp sandy or muddy spots.



Another lover of low, damp spots, False Pimpernel (Lindernia dubia) is very easy to overlook, its pale blue blooms being less than 1/4 inch across and hidden among its leaves.



Okay, I'm cheating a little on this. I actually took this photo of Eyelash Fungus (Scutellinia scutellata) a year ago. I photographed others of this darling tiny (1/8 inch) fungus yesterday, but my older photo is more dramatic than those.




Glossy Buckthorn shrubs (Rhamnus frangula) are considered quite invasive, but that doesn't mean its flowers are not interesting to look at. Even if you'd need a magnifier.





Most bedstraws have four petals, but Clayton's Bedstraw (Galium tinctorium) usually has just three. If you can see to count them.



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