Spiderwort flower center
Okay, let’s make a clean sweep of it: here’s a picture showing the center of a fully open spiderwort flower I found outside the Austin Nature Center on February 22. Notice the masculine vanity in this member of the genus Tradescantia: six feathery purple stamens, each capped with a bright yellow anther. It isn’t only in the world of birds that the males show off.
© 2012 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
Incredible photo. I had no idea there were male plants either.
Nancy
dogear6
March 3, 2012 at 6:50 AM
As my friend Roy Barkley once said, referring to the berries on an Ashe juniper: “Meet Mrs. Tree.” Yes, some plants have separate male and female individuals, while other plants have both sexes together. In the case of the spiderwort, although I commented on the stamens, which are the male parts, there is a pistil as well, which I take to be the stalk in the picture that doesn’t have a fancy yellow anther at its tip.
Steve Schwartzman
March 3, 2012 at 7:16 AM
Oh yeah, birds and insects are the matchmakers pollinators. Nature is so cool! Great macro Steve! 🙂
avian101
March 3, 2012 at 8:11 AM
A good word in this context: matchmaker.
Steve Schwartzman
March 3, 2012 at 8:17 AM
This I like – a lot! The natural composition, the complementary colours and contrasting textures combine to make an excellent picture.
Louis
March 3, 2012 at 8:23 AM
Thanks, Louis, for your compliment about the complement(ary colors) and contrasting textures.
Steve Schwartzman
March 3, 2012 at 8:38 AM
Looks like a Mardi Gras headpiece!
Bonnie Michelle
March 3, 2012 at 8:33 AM
You can be the first to fashion a Mardi Gras headpiece in the form of a spiderwort. We look forward to seeing a picture of you wearing it in New Orleans next year.
Steve Schwartzman
March 3, 2012 at 8:39 AM
One of the most beautiful “weeds” that grow here in New Hampshire.
New Hampshire Garden Solutions
March 3, 2012 at 10:01 AM
Thanks for putting quotation marks around the word “weeds.”
Steve Schwartzman
March 3, 2012 at 10:22 AM
“Any plant is a weed if it insists on growing where the husbandman wants another plant to grow.” So says Edwin Rollin Spencer in his book “Just Weeds.” As he points out, many plants we have been taught to think of as weeds are actually very beautiful.The book was published in 1940 and 1957 by Charles Scribner’s Sons, NY. It makes for a worthy quest for those who like both plants and used book stores.
New Hampshire Gardener
March 3, 2012 at 11:28 AM
When I was doing research a few years ago I looked through this book in the library of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. His comments about beauty seem to be back-handed compliments. For example, he says: “The goldenrods are truly weeds of the wayside, with emphasis on the ‘weeds.’ Aside from the beauty of some of the species, which has caused them to be adopted as State flowers in several States, the goldenrods have not a single commendable character…” Hmmm.
Steve Schwartzman
March 3, 2012 at 11:49 AM
And speaking of birds, well OK, poultry then… did you see the two pollen-roosters on the left? 😉
Simply gorgeous color and a great photograph, Steve! ~ Lynda
pixilated2
March 3, 2012 at 12:17 PM
Now that you mention the roosters I do see them, but I didn’t before. Good imagination, Lynda.
Steve Schwartzman
March 3, 2012 at 2:34 PM
Hey, I don’t have much, but I certainly got the double portion on imagination, Steve. 😉
pixilated2
March 3, 2012 at 6:43 PM
My wife Eve has a double portion too: she looked at those two anthers and immediately said roosters.
Steve Schwartzman
March 3, 2012 at 7:00 PM
This is simply a tremendous close-up image. I don’t know what else to say.
kerryl29
March 3, 2012 at 12:38 PM
What you said is fine with me, Kerry. Thanks.
Steve Schwartzman
March 3, 2012 at 2:35 PM
Beautiful, for the colors alone, but there is so much more here, too.
Susan Scheid
March 3, 2012 at 1:44 PM
Welcome to the world of macro, Susan. So many things are waiting for us there.
Steve Schwartzman
March 3, 2012 at 2:37 PM
LOVE IT!!!
cravesadventure
March 3, 2012 at 2:28 PM
I’m happy to make your day a lovely one.
Steve Schwartzman
March 3, 2012 at 2:41 PM
Super close-up…the detail is amazing!!!
dhphotosite
March 4, 2012 at 10:18 AM
As always, I’ll give a lot of the credit to my Canon 100mm macro lens. Why the stamens should grow with plumes I don’t know, but I’m glad they do.
Steve Schwartzman
March 4, 2012 at 1:28 PM
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