Botany Photo of the Day

Spanish fir or hedgehog fir is native to only a small corner of southwestern Spain. Hedgehog fir is an adequate description – the short, blunt needles of nearly equal length stand out as a feature of this conifer (Abies pinsapo from this page (warning: image-heavy)). Since today's image is a bit on the abstract side, you might also like to investigate a few other photographs of Abies pinsapo from this article in the Davidsonia on the Silver Firs in UBC Botanical Garden (PDF). I'm still working on the new Davidsonia site, so I won't link there directly.

As always for conifers, it is worthwhile to check out the entry in the Gymnosperm Database: Abies pinsapo.

For the black-and-white image, I've used the technique outlined here, with an initial green-blue screen at 100%, then an alpha1-red multiply.

In other news, here's a contest for you! If you're a long-time reader of BPotD, you'll certainly recall the entry on David Bookbinder's Flower Mandalas. The Science Creative Quarterly (about the SCQ - note that it's also a UBC project!) is collaborating with David to hold a contest using the flower mandalas as inspiration.

“The SCQ is pleased to present a contest that seeks “creative” entries inspired by the photographic images found in David Bookbinder’s Flower Mandalas Project. These creative pieces can be composed to the whim of the author, in any form including (but not limited to) poetry, fiction, and/or personal essay; and should preferably refer to a specific flower image found either here or at the main website.”

For all the details, see A Year of Flora: The Flower Mandala Contest. Good luck!

This also reminds me that this BPotD contest is yet to have a winner...

Horticulture / environment resource link: I'll start with a note of thanks to both Beverley for taking the time every day to source zone information for the gardeners who visit the site and to the others who comment on their real world experiences with the published figures. For a detailed look at the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone map, how it has changed in fourteen years and some of the impacts of a changing climate, read “Going to Extremes”, an article by Chris Clarke of the Creek Running North weblog.