The Surprise of Queen Anne’s Lace
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Lakeside Flora Queen Anne's Lace before a background of cattails -- Rootstown, OH, USA -- Copyright 2010 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/2500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image datanearby photos
Lakeside Flora
Queen Anne's Lace before a background of cattails

A couple of weeks ago in “Cousin Jena at the Lake”, I noted that 1-year-old Jena had taken a sprig of Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota) to Grandma. After this, Grandma told me something surprising about Queen Anne's Lace that sent me back to with my camera...

As seen in the photo above, and in the close-up crop here, each “head” is a collection of a bunch of little off-white flowers...

( crop from the photo above ) -- Rootstown, OH, USA -- Copyright 2010 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
( crop from the photo above )

If you happen to look a little closely, you may notice something else...

Rootstown, OH, USA -- Copyright 2010 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/640 sec, f/8, ISO 200 — map & image datanearby photos

What might appear to be a bug of some sort if you notice it at all, is really a small purple flower...

Central Purple -- Rootstown, OH, USA -- Copyright 2010 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/4000 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image datanearby photos
Central Purple

Every head has one (and sometimes a few) tiny dark purple flower in the center. I'd never noticed.

Of course, not everything that looks like a bug at first glance is not a bug...

Couple'a Critters -- Rootstown, OH, USA -- Copyright 2010 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image datanearby photos
Couple'a Critters
On the Hunt? -- Rootstown, OH, USA -- Copyright 2010 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image datanearby photos
On the Hunt?

I thought the bigger ant might be looking to dine on the first bug, but it walked right past without any apparent notice...

Ships Passing in the Night -- Rootstown, OH, USA -- Copyright 2010 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/640 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image datanearby photos
Ships Passing in the Night

The heads of flowers, before they open, make for quite a sight as well...
I thought this looked like a young head about to open, but my mom informs me that it's an old head curling up...

Rootstown, OH, USA -- Copyright 2010 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/500 sec, f/8, ISO 560 — map & image datanearby photos

Somehow they look like a bunch of tiny Venus Flytraps.


All 3 comments so far, oldest first...

Fantastic photos. Since I’ve started photography, I’ve been noticing things that I never would have if I never did photography. Especially here in Amami, while driving to work, I notice how may trees actually blossom in the early summer. In the thirteen plus years I’ve lived here, I never noticed until this year. Thanks for sharing these great photos.

— comment by Earnest Barr on August 22nd, 2010 at 7:49pm JST (14 years, 3 months ago) comment permalink

“Somehow they look like a bunch of tiny Venus Flytraps.” – nice description, and it’s great to see you enjoying that envy-inspiring macro lens to reveal these delights. For some of us, at least in the UK, this is wild carrot, the tiny spikey fruits showing the link, for anyone who’s sown carrot seed. I believe that cultivated carrots, if allowed to flower, also usually have the solitary reddish or purple flower in the centre.

To me, Queen Anne’s Lace is Anthriscus sylvestris, but that’s the joy of common names – not only may the same plant have several different ones, but the same common name is often used for quite different plants.

— comment by Peter in Wales on August 23rd, 2010 at 1:20am JST (14 years, 3 months ago) comment permalink

Of all the ‘stuff’ I learn on the internet, this one has to be the best in a long time. I love the purple flower right in the middle. I didn’t know that. Wow.

— comment by Tilly on September 19th, 2010 at 12:17am JST (14 years, 3 months ago) comment permalink
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