Very Tiny Flowers Among the Moss at the Kongorinji Temple
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desktop background image of a small flower among the moss at the Kongorinji Temple (金剛輪寺), Shiga Prefecture, Japan  --  Tiny Bouquet among the moss at the Kongorinji Temple (金剛輪寺), Shiga Prefecture, Japan  --  Kongorinji Temple (金剛輪寺)  --  Echi, Shiga, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/  --  This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 360 — map & image datanearby photos
Tiny Bouquet
among the moss at the Kongorinji Temple (金剛輪寺), Shiga Prefecture, Japan
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Yesterday during my visit to Shiga Prefecture’s Kongorinji Temple (金剛輪寺), I came across some very delicate (very tiny) flowers among the moss, replete with tiny red berries that looked like apples.

Baby Apple berry of some kind not much larger than a pinhead  --  Kongorinji Temple (金剛輪寺)  --  Echi, Shiga, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/  --  This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/4, ISO 4000 — map & image datanearby photos
Baby Apple
berry of some kind not much larger than a pinhead
desktop background image of a small flower among the moss at the Kongorinji Temple (金剛輪寺), Shiga Prefecture, Japan  --  Missing Looks like the flower on the left lost its petals  --  Kongorinji Temple (金剛輪寺)  --  Echi, Shiga, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/  --  This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 3200 — map & image datanearby photos
Missing
Looks like the flower on the left lost its petals
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desktop background image of a small flower among the moss at the Kongorinji Temple (金剛輪寺), Shiga Prefecture, Japan  --  Found  --  Kongorinji Temple (金剛輪寺)  --  Echi, Shiga, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/  --  This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1600 — map & image datanearby photos
Found
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Wider View  --  Kongorinji Temple (金剛輪寺)  --  Echi, Shiga, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/  --  This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 140 — map & image datanearby photos
Wider View
Different View the many different layers with different focus may be interesting, or annoying...  --  Kongorinji Temple (金剛輪寺)  --  Echi, Shiga, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/  --  This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 640 — map & image datanearby photos
Different View
the many different layers with different focus may be interesting, or annoying...

Continued here...


All 5 comments so far, oldest first...

Such exquisite little things. Seem to resemble a fuchsia slightly, but I have no idea what they are. Peter, are you around??

— comment by Grandma Friedl, Ohio, USA on November 9th, 2012 at 12:49am JST (11 years, 5 months ago) comment permalink

What a treat ! At first I thought it must be some little Vaccineum (blueberry relative), but it is not. I think this is Ardisia japonica, yabukouji in Japanese. It is a low-growing sub-shrub native to most of the Japanese islands, also to China, Korea and Taiwan. I think it is quite a popular garden plant in Japan, where there are numerous cultivated varieties, some with variegated leaves. The hair moss gives a good idea of the scale. Just shows, it pays to keep one’s eyes on the ground, sometimes !

Thanks, as always, Peter, for your insights. I’ll keep an eye out, because I love moss, an the lens loves these tiny details. —Jeffrey

— comment by Peter in Wales on November 9th, 2012 at 7:49pm JST (11 years, 5 months ago) comment permalink

Yes, thanks, Peter. It is certainly a charming little plant. I wonder if it is possible to get it, and have it grow, here in the US. We have lots of this type of moss, and it might be comfortable here.

— comment by Grandma Friedl, Ohio, USA on November 10th, 2012 at 11:42pm JST (11 years, 5 months ago) comment permalink

Hmm, Wikipedia claims that in Florida it already escaped from cultivation and established itself as invasive plant in the wild. 😉

— comment by Andreas Weber on November 12th, 2012 at 2:54am JST (11 years, 5 months ago) comment permalink

Andreas beat me to it: I was about to say the same thing. I think it would not be hardy much further north in the eastern US (nor in Wales), which is a shame – like you, Grandma Friedl, we have the moss, it would be lovely to have this threading its way through it! It is listed as USDA Hardiness Zone 8, but I think that may be a bit optimistic.

— comment by Peter in Wales on November 12th, 2012 at 8:10pm JST (11 years, 5 months ago) comment permalink
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