Sunflower’s New Leaves
June is the prime month for sunflowers, and in spite of the severe drought in Texas they’re abundant here this year. A couple of weeks ago the plants were just beginning to flower, and I spent time photographing a field of them on the prairie in northeast Austin. Although I’ve seen and photographed sunflower buds many times before, somehow I’d never paid attention to the new leaves that surround the buds. To give you a sense of scale, let me point out that the leaf shown here was only about an inch long. The hairiness of sunflowers that has long fascinated me is even more in evidence here than on the plant’s stalks.
© 2011 Steven Schwartzman
(Here is information about Helianthus annuus, including a clickable map showing where the species grows.)
Portraits of Wildflowers 
[…] yesterday to the bit of prairie I visited on May 17 and wrote about in the post entitled “Sunflower’s New Leaves,” I found that some nefarious entity had mowed down the young sunflower plants I’d […]
Sunflower colony « Portraits of Wildflowers
June 11, 2011 at 2:21 AM
Wow. What a beautiful shot! There is so much detail and clarity in your pictures – one day I hope to do the same. 🙂
EvilPoet
August 3, 2011 at 12:08 PM
I’m pleased the image pleases you. As for detail and clarity, my camera takes pictures with 18 million pixels; beyond that, I do my best to hold still when taking pictures.
Steve Schwartzman
August 3, 2011 at 12:34 PM
[…] Look also at the young ragweed leaf in the upper right of today’s picture and compare it to the young sunflower leaves featured in the first days of this blog. Welcome to the […]
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September 17, 2011 at 6:07 AM