Mini-Challenge #253 - Wildflower Portraits

DavidRGillespie

This is my first mini-challenge, so bear with me. Looking back at the previous couple of years, it doesn't look like there has been anything botanical for a while. Since wildflower photography a bit of a passion for me, I would love to see what others are doing with this subject. What I am looking for in a "Wildflower portrait" is a single flower, or small groups of flowers (family groups ), not flower-covered fields and landscapes. This is not about garden flowers, but rather, native flowering plants in their natural setting. If possible, please include the common name and/or scientific name. If you are going to capture images in the next few days, the season might be getting a bit late in the Northern hemisphere, so seed heads and spent flowers are fair game. You will have from Tuesday 19 September 1201 AM, until Wednesday 4 October, 0800 AM, Pacific Time, to complete this challenge.

Some images from my files which give you an idea of what I am looking for

Paintbrush, Castilleja miniata set against the Cascade mountains

Avalanche lily, Erythronium grandiflorum these are often found in shade

Yellow wood violet, Viola glabella A "family" group set against partridge berry and mosses

Trillium, Trillium ovatum Again, a shaded woodland species

Western anenome or Western pasque flower, Anenome occidentalis An example of a seed head composition

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sarasphotos

David, this is a great theme for a challenge. ...now let's see if I can come up with a shot or two...

JAG

Great subject David! I'm going to have a hard time identifying the plants I come up with, but it's doable!

JAG

Since it's been raining here and not much flowers out now as the leaves are falling, I decided to pull up some of the flowers that grow wild here in Alaska
1- Dandelion - Taraxacum Officinale

2- Fireweed - Chamaenerion angustifolium

3- Queen Anne's Lace- Daucus carota

DavidRGillespie

Great shots Joyce! I really love the soft background in the dandelion shot.

Cavalier

Good topic for a mini. Here are my entries:

1) Although not always wild, Naked Ladies (Amaryllis Belladonna) are found in the wild sometimes in the most barren soil. These were found near Arcata, California, growing wild on the coast.

2) Witches Hair (Cuscuta) is a parasitic plant now considered part of the morning glory family. The common name deftly describes the look of the plant - I found this one in Mariposa County in the Sierra Nevada Foothills. I couldn't help myself but to stop and try to get a portrait of this interesting 'plant'.

3) Matilija Poppy (Romneya) a California native plant that is found round the Sierra foothills. This one was outside Yosemite National Park in El Portal, Ca

The one portrait I wish I could post is a poppy from the magnificent bloom in the Merced Canyon outside of Yosemite. On a good bloom year (about one in 3 or 4), the fiery display causes motorists to pull over to simply gawk at the hills. The hills appear to be on fire. I have a few shots, but they are all from afar - no up-close and personals of the poppies.

grandmaR

I have a problem with deciding whether something is actually a wild flower or not - I know that I saw Impatiens growing wild by the Costa Rican roads, and I saw daffodils growing in English fields. I don't know if the daffodils were really wild or if they were cultivated flowers gone feral

I thought if I went out into my yard and took pictures of the goldenrod, that it would absolutely be a wild flower. But by the time I did that, the goldenrod appeared to be past its best. I did find this tiny little flower called the Asiatic dayflower. It is really really tiny - about half an inch.

1) Commelina communis

The next one is from way back in the archives - 1965 a slide film photo which was digitized. I took the photo in Yosemite
**2) Snow Plant (Sarcodes sanguinea) **

This one I have no idea if it is actually a wild flower or what kind it is. I took it at a rest stop by the side of the road in
3) Ireland

grandmaR

https://photos.smugmug.com/Flowers/Wildflowers-Mariposa-County/i-2W4xWj2/2/d368971e/X2/IMG_5054 adj-X2.jpg

Witch's hair does really look like someone had a bad hair day.

DavidRGillespie

@Cavalier - Thanks for participating. The shot of witch's hair is really neat.

DavidRGillespie

@grandmaR - Thanks for your interesting question. What is a wildflower? My thought is that, aside from hybrids and highly selected varieties, most herbaceous annuals and perennials qualify. It becomes a question of context and, in part, location. Primula vulgaris, for example, grows wild in the Sierra Nevada mountains in Spain (wildflower), and is widely cultivated in gardens in Canada (garden plant). Dandelion is originally Eurasian, but is now found pretty much everywhere. In gardens and lawns, it is a weed (or a highly-valued early season green), but in other settings it could be thought of as a non-native wildflower.

pegelli

Great theme, and to make sure I only enter "wildflowers" I chose three pictures I took while walking one morning through the Tuscan hills. So at least from a context perspective they were "wild" and not taken in the garden or on a vase.

I'm not a botanist (just a photographer) so I have no idea about the names, any help in that regard is appriciated.

1: small

2: curly

3: like a rising sun

DavidRGillespie

Thanks for adding three great images Pieter! I am not really familiar with the European flora. Without seeing the whole plant, I am pretty sure 1. is a species of Allium (onion genus), and 3. is a species of Taraxacum (dandelion genus). The black tips on the heavily toothed petals suggest 3. is not one of the common, weedy dandelions we see in North America.

sarasphotos

David, you made me realize I need to make a keyword "wildflowers" and that I tend to frequent cultivated gardens. Hundreds (thousands??) of flower pictures and I had to search for a few that were taken in the wild. These were all taken as I was underway with the bike in the area around Augsburg. Like Pieter, I'm no botanist so forgive me if I've made naming errors.

1) a poppy along the edge of a grassy field

2) the first crocuses (croci?) of spring

3) no idea what this one is, but it's pretty and was growing along the route of one of my standard Sunday-afternoon bike rides

lkbart

Most of my flower shots are from gardens too. & Sara, I think your last flower is a hollyhock.

1. Texas Bluebonnets (Lupinus texensis) at the edge of a field by Brenham, TX
   

2. Blazing Star (Liatris spicata) from a nature walk in Shaumburg, IL
   

3. Deptford Pink (Dianthus armeria L) at Fall River Lake, KS
   

[Deleted User]

1. Common Chikory
   

2. Orange Hawkweed
   

3. Rugged Rugosa
   

DavidRGillespie

Wow! what a wonderful set of images so far! I can see that the real challenge is going to be for me to assign 1, 2 and 3 place in this set.

sarasphotos

@lkbart Lillian, thanks for the tip about the hollyhock!

slpollett

Wow! So many gorgeous entries already!. Nice theme!

1. Texas Bluebonnet (lupinus texensis). I'm not sure about the yellow flowers with it. Purplehead Sneezeweed (helenium flexuosum) perhaps. Taken on Park Road 4 near the entrance to Inks Lake State Park, Burnet, TX.
   

2. Indian Blanket (gaillardia pulchella); Taken near the entrance to Inks Lake State Park, Burnet, TX
   

3. Goldeneye Phlox (phlox roemeriana); Taken on Hwy 281 near Marble Falls, TX
   

Sherry

bfluegie

Wow, such great entries so far. I was going to skip this one since I don't have much and it's the wrong time of year to get wildflower photos here, but I will give it a try anyway.

1. Indian Pink, Spigelia marilandica
   

2. Appalachian false goat's beard, Astilbe biternata
   

3. Not sure what this is. I thought it was a phlox but the leaves are wrong. Maybe something from the borage family. I saw it in the Columbia River Gorge in June. I mainly like the texture contrast of the flower and leaves with the rough woody branch.
   

sapphire73

Here are 3 more photos of wildflowers:

1) Lupine, Lupinus (California)

2) Fireweed, Chamerion angustifolium (Colorado)

3) Monkshood, Aconitum (near Homer, Alaska)

Thank you for the lovely theme, letting us feast on the variety and beauty of these blossoms!

DavidRGillespie

Well, this challenge is now closed. Everyone submitted great images and I clearly have a job ahead of me to select and post the winners. Give me 24 h at most, and I will have this completed