Mother Nature's Artistry

One day this month we had a rare morning rain-shower just after dawn. The result was this rainbow in the western sky. If you look closely, there is a faint second rainbow above the first one.
Mother Nature's Artistry is featured on this blog on the last day of every month. Check back again next month to see what Mother Nature has been up to!

Mother Nature's Artistry

Passionflowers have some of the most ornate blooms that can be found. There are many species and hybrids, all with intricate details in the flower.

Mother Nature's Artistry is featured on this blog on the last day of every month. Check back again next month to see what Mother Nature has been up to!

Mother Nature's Artistry

I'm not sure if this is "artistry" or "accident". In any case, I thought it was interesting. A single leaf of Costus barbatus failed to completely unfurl. This caused the tip of the next leaf to get caught in the curl, preventing it from opening fully. The process became self-perpetuating, with each leaf holding on to the tip of the next. Now this spiral ginger is a spiral staircase!

Mother Nature's Artistry is featured here on the last day of every month. Check back again next month to see what Mother Nature has been up to!

Mother Nature's Artistry

This month's photo is the inflorescence of a female Cycas revoluta (King Sago). The flowering structure you see here is about a foot in diameter. After pollination, the whole thing closes up into a ball, where the seeds develop over the summer. At the end of the year it opens back up to release the seeds. The female plants of this species only flower once every two years, and new leafy growth only emerges on the alternate years.

Mother Nature's Artistry is featured here on the last day of every month. Check back again next month to see what Mother Nature has been up to!

Mother Nature's Artistry

This month's installment of Mother Nature's Artistry looks like stars being sucked into a black hole. It is actually a view down the throat of Billbergia 'Hallelujah'

Check back again next month to see what else Mother Nature has been up to!

Mother Nature's Artistry

This is the top view of an Aechmea maculata inflorescence.
Mother Nature's Artistry is featured here on the last day of every month. Check back again next month to see what Mother Nature has been up to!

Mother Nature's Artistry

On the last day of every month, I feature some artistic aspect of nature.

This month the subject is a pineapple just starting to flower.  The purple tips at the bottom of the photo are the flower buds just starting to push out.
Stop by again next month to see what else Mother Nature has been up to!

Mother Nature's Artistry

This month's installment of Mother Nature's Artistry is a close-up of an immature Monstera deliciosa fruit.  When the fruit is ripe, the scales fall off to reveal the delicious white pulp inside.
Mother Nature's Artistry is presented here on the last day of every month.  Check back again next month to see what Mother Nature has been up to!

Mother Nature's Artistry

This month's art is the Turkey Tail fungus (Trametes versicolor).  This is one of the most common types of fungus found in temperate zones around the world, and primarily grows on dead hardwood trees.  In North America it is found on more than 70 genera of trees.
Trametes uses enzymes to break down the cell walls of dead wood, feeding on the lignin contained therein.  The contrasting color zones are typical of this species.
Mother Nature's Artistry is a monthly feature on this blog.  Check back again next month to see what Mother Nature has been up to!

Mother Nature's Artistry

Deep in the throat of a Cereus peruvianus flower

To see a complete plant profile for Cereus peruvianus click here.

Mother Nature's Artistry is always featured here on the last day of the month.  Check back again next month to see what Mother Nature has been up to!

Mother Nature's Artistry

This month we have the trunk of an East Palatka Holly tree covered in many different types of lichens. The patterns continue all the way up the trunk and have been slowly evolving their designs over the years.

Mother Nature's Artistry is featured here on the last day of every month. Click here to view posts from recent months, and check back again next month to see what else Mother Nature has been up to!

Mother Nature's Artistry

This month's photo is Moringa leaves covered in dew.
Mother Nature's Artistry appears on this blog on the last day of every month.

Mother Nature's Artistry

Today's installment is a close-up of the center of a sunflower head before the flower buds open.

Mother Nature's Artistry is a monthly event on this blog, held on the last day of every month.

Mother Nature's Artistry

This alien-looking landscape is actually a close-up of the bark of the Sugarberry (Celtis laevigata).  The entire trunk is naturally covered with these warty growths.

Mother Nature's Artistry

This is the inner networking of a papaya plant.  The trunk froze and the outer layer of the stem sloughed off, leaving behind this intricate pattern.  Many types of plants show a similar structure inside.  In nature, beauty is NOT only skin deep!

Mother Nature's Artistry is featured here on the last day of every month.

Mother Nature's Artistry

This month's installment of Mother Nature's Artistry is a group of water hyacinth leaves.  The plant is invasive in Florida but these are safely contained in a small goldfish pond in my back yard.

Mother Nature's Artistry

This is a pineapple in flower.  The actual flowers are the spiky lavender parts, but the whole structure and the color combinations are stunning!

Mother Nature's Artistry

This edition of Mother Nature's Artistry (published the last day of every month) is a shot of the leaves of Cycas revoluta (King Sago) while they are still soft and unfurling.

Once the leaflets have flattened out, they become very rigid and prickly--a huge change from the soft texture seen in this photo!

Mother Nature's Artistry

This is a feature I do on the last day of every month. It is a photo of something unique or impressive or fascinating about the natural plant world. Here's this month's installment:

Enlarge the photo by clicking on it. Take some time to ponder, and leave a comment or guess as to what this is.  In a few days I'll post a final comment telling you what you're looking at.  Have fun!

Mother Nature's Artistry

This is a new feature I'll try to do on the last day of every month.  I call it Mother Nature's Artistry and it will be a photo of something unique or impressive or fascinating about the natural plant world.  Here's the first one:

Enlarge the photo by clicking on it.  Take some time to ponder and then if you want to know more about the photo check out my comments below.