When is a rain-lily black?
When is a rain-lily black? When it’s a shadow.
I took this picture of Cooperia drummondii casting its shadow on the pad of a prickly pear cactus along Ridge Oak Dr. at Perry Ln. on September 25th.
© 2013 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers
Perspectives on Nature Photography
Search on this site:
Copyright Notice
Information
- A way to purchase a print
- About Me
- About My Equipment
- About My Techniques
- About This Column
- Books About Texas Plants
- Some highlights
Top Posts & Pages
Recent Posts
- They’re here again
- That bare winter look
- Black and white versions
- Solidago sentinel
- Evergreen sumac isn’t always evergreen
- Rain lily on the cusp of winter
- An early-in-the-season and early-in-the-year look at fully fruited possumhaw
- An early-in-the-season yet late-in-the-year drive along the Possumhaw Trail
- A fifth installment of icicles
- Another look back at fall foliage
- Both sides now times two
- Ephemeral green
- An unaccustomed backdrop
- A fourth installment of icicles
- Light and shadow play on palmetto leaves
- Enjoy a cholla
Calendar of Posts
Archives
Native Plants
- Botanical Research Institute of Texas
- Central Texas Native Plants
- Foraging Texas
- Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Native Plant Discussion Group
- Native Plant Society of Texas
- Native Prairies Association of Texas
- Texas Native Shrubs
- Texas Native Trees
- Texas Wildbuds
- Texas Wildflower Sightings
Portraits of Wildflowers 
Liliaceae opuntialis- the Black Opuntia Rain-lily. 🙂
Steve Gingold
October 25, 2013 at 6:38 AM
I see you’re in CBCM—clever botanical coinage mode—this morning. Good for you.
Steve Schwartzman
October 25, 2013 at 7:31 AM
I love riddles, especially one with such a delightful answer. Seen sideways, the shadow is a dog, of course, with an areole for an eye. It looks like he might be ready to take a bite.
shoreacres
October 25, 2013 at 7:28 AM
How funny, Linda, I see a chicken from the side view!
Lynda
October 25, 2013 at 7:33 AM
And now poultry!
Steve Schwartzman
October 25, 2013 at 7:40 AM
Steve Gingold set the pattern with his coinage this morning, and now you’ve jumped the plant-animal divide and are seeing cynomorphically (along the lines of anthropomorphic, but with a canine bite).
Steve Schwartzman
October 25, 2013 at 7:39 AM
I like this shot with the green-yellow palette of colors. Was it natural, or did you ‘compose’ the shot? Do you always use only natural settings? (I’m not being judgmental about this)
Is this a different theme? Something seems changed. Boy…nosey me, eh?
Jim in IA
October 25, 2013 at 7:30 AM
This was at one edge of the large and dense rain-lily colony shown here three days ago. The rain-lilies thinned out at the fringes of the colony, and I noticed a few close to the cactus, including this one. One reason I spend so much time sitting and even lying on the ground is to find angles that let me line up my subjects with appealing things in the background. I don’t always succeed, but the method works often enough for me to keep trying.
As for the theme—by which I take it you mean the WordPress template—it’s the same one I’ve used on this blog since its beginning. Maybe the small amount of text I wrote for this post made the difference in your perception. Oh well, as the French say: vive la différence!
Steve Schwartzman
October 25, 2013 at 7:50 AM
Coming in fine again this morning. Fun!
Lynda
October 25, 2013 at 7:35 AM
I’m glad to hear things got resolved, Lynda.
Steve Schwartzman
October 25, 2013 at 9:27 AM
Such a clever post on several levels. Love the riddle! Thank you for the smile…just had to come back to this post this morning.
georgettesullins
October 25, 2013 at 9:05 AM
Hi, Georgette. I hope your smile was una sonrisota, as I used to hear people say in Honduras. May your days be riddled with smiles.
Steve Schwartzman
October 25, 2013 at 9:29 AM
The rain-lily seems to be talking to its shadow here, as if to say, who the heck are you?
Susan Scheid
October 25, 2013 at 1:20 PM
And did you hear what the answer was?
Steve Schwartzman
October 25, 2013 at 1:38 PM
The answer came sotto voce, so I couldn’t hear!
Susan Scheid
October 26, 2013 at 12:50 PM
Ah, too bad. Sotto voce made me think you might have made out, however faintly, the aria “Ombra mai fu.”
Steve Schwartzman
October 26, 2013 at 1:01 PM
What a coincidence! And here I’d been humming that very tune all afternoon (just kidding, but I am listening to it now). Beautiful. http://youtu.be/Qyg0Ttx16uk
Susan Scheid
October 26, 2013 at 3:32 PM
Never was there a shadow song as beautiful as this one.
Steve Schwartzman
October 26, 2013 at 7:57 PM
I love this picture. A beautiful piece of art as well as the documentation of the flower. I’ve been taking walks in a new environment for the last two weeks, and often thought of you, Steve… And what a pleasure it is to know all the names and a little about the nature of the beautiful wild flowers we see.
ShimonZ
October 28, 2013 at 5:11 AM
Thanks for your thoughts and this comment, Shimon. I’m pleased that you like this image. Being able to identify dozens of our native plants has given me a different sense of place than the one I had before, and I’ve learned to follow the seasons via the flowers that appear, thrive for a time, and then disappear.
Steve Schwartzman
October 28, 2013 at 6:57 AM
When brilliant sun makes a brilliant shadow into a brilliant photo.
kathryningrid
October 31, 2013 at 5:48 PM
Thrice brilliant is okay with me.
Steve Schwartzman
October 31, 2013 at 6:34 PM