New Zealand: Ponga

The ponga, or silver fern (Cyathea dealbata), has become an emblem of Aotearoa and even, in stylized form, a candidate for a new flag for the country. The upper surface of each ponga frond is a green that you’d expect from a fern, but the lower surface is a very pale green that some see as a silvery off-white. You can decide for yourself how to describe the color based on this abstract view of a ponga from my visit to Kawau Island on February 12th.

If you’re interested in photography as a craft, you’ll find that points 1, 2, 4, 9 and 14 in About My Techniques are relevant to this photograph.

NOTE: Yesterday’s post has just gotten an update that gives a likely identification of the vividly red-orange plants you saw there.

© 2015 Steven Schwartzman