Still more red and green

It’s been over a year since I posted a new picture of a Turk’s cap, Malvaviscus aroboreus, but that wildflower’s rich red against the bright green of its stalk and the duller green of the surrounding woods in Great Hills Park seems like an appropriate color combination for a post-December-25th post (though the picture is from October 15th*).

Note the slender insect at the left edge of the flower. Notice also the tiny granules near the tip of the staminate column, which remind me of caviar or minuscule pearls. It’s hard to see those granules, but you can click the icon below for a magnified view. You’ll also be able to get a better look at the little red “sea anemones” at the tip of the column.

© 2012 Steven Schwartzman

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* I wasn’t aware of October 15th having any significance, but the historyorb website lists things that happened on that date in various years. Some October 15th events are:

533  —  Byzantine general Belisarius formally enters Carthage, having conquered it from the Vandals.
1520 — King Henry VIII of England orders bowling lanes at Whitehall.
1582 — Many Catholic countries switch to Gregorian calendar, skip 10 days.
1860 — 11-year-old Grace Bedell writes to Lincoln, tells him to grow a beard.
1880 — Köln cathedral is completed, 633 years after it had begun.
1905 — Claude Debussy’s “La Mer” premieres.
1924 — Pres. Calvin Coolidge declares the Statue of Liberty a national monument.
2012 — Steve Schwartzman photographs a Turk’s cap flower in Great Hills Park in Austin, Texas.