ID help please!!! While I was out in Woods Prairie this morning with a group from the camera club, I came across this slightly menacing plant. I took its picture and then backed away slowly. Sometimes the flowers aren't the most interesting thing to photograph in a prairie!
Canon 20D
ISO 100
EF 100 macro
f/8 for .4 seconds
diffuser and gold reflector
Tim, I'd like to help you out here but I need more information. It helps to back off a bit and take another photo for i.d. purposes showing the plant's profile, especially the leaves...
I'd say it's a composite but that is as far as I am going to take it at that close-up of a composition.
If you are in the area again, take another picture and send it to me.
Best,
Don
Posted by Wayne Rhodus on May 19, 2007 at 11:29 PM
Tim, what you have here is the vulcanious equatorius flytrapious better known as the Vulcan Flytrap. Harmless to humans and other earthbound fauna but deadly to pointy-earred interstellar travelers! Glad I could finally shed some light on a plant ID for a change!
I don't have the foggiest, but I do seem to remember seeing something like it, with those hair-like whatchamacallits. (Sorry, Don...my plant morphology's pretty bad). Very nice image though, Tim, the dew drops give it such a clean, fresh feel.
Don - In the field, I'm always transfixed by the image - I need to think more like a botanist and take a few extra pics just for ID purposes. I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be a sunflower of some kind (they frequent this prairie), but finding it again would be kind of like finding a specific piece of hay in a haystack.
On my way into town this morning, I confirmed my intuition about the mystery plant being pale purple coneflower, Echinacea pallida. I saw some in bud and they look exactly like your photo. The central cluster of fangs are actually developing disk flowers. The showy ray flowers do not appear yet and the hairy fringe are the bracts (modified leaves).
I like Wayne's answer better but if you want to maintain your professional credibility, Wayne, the genus name always starts with a capital letter.
Discussion
8 repliesCanon 20D
ISO 100
EF 100 macro
f/8 for .4 seconds
diffuser and gold reflector
I'd say it's a composite but that is as far as I am going to take it at that close-up of a composition.
If you are in the area again, take another picture and send it to me.
Best,
Don
No thanks necessary Don!
Wayne - I like your taxonomy!
I like Wayne's answer better but if you want to maintain your professional credibility, Wayne, the genus name always starts with a capital letter.