Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: cap

Have you ever seen a California Poppy flower as it's beginning to open? It's a rare sight to catch this with just about any kind of poppy, as they open rapidly when the time is right. I managed to find this cap still in place and got some nice pictures before it fell away and the flower opened. Do you know what this bud covering is called? It occurred to me that I didn't know, so I did a search for "California Poppy anatomy" and I got my answer! "Fused together into a dunce-cap shaped structure called a calyptra , the sepals fall off as the flower opens." This is the wonderful anatomy graphic I found, and here is the illustrator's page , which links to the book if you are interested.

1 picture above in a note :) I found this lovely little acorn cap while walking around the other day. It's always been amazing to me how water can change, reveal, and intensify colors and textures in an object. I've always known this happening in rocks, but I didn't know it happened with things like acorns too. A couple of days ago I shared an image of a beautiful acorn (see the inset above). When dry, it was dull, plain, boring. But when moistened, the colors and patterns were vivid and beautiful. Here is another example, this time an acorn cap. When dry, it's nothing special, but here is how I found it, wet from the rain and absolutely beautiful! The next time you go out on a nature walk, see what happens when you splash some water on something like a rock or a dull piece of wood. You might be amazed at the colors it shows! :)

[best appreciated at full size against black] I was busy taking a picture of the Common Chickweed flower I posted yesterday when I looked down, and right in front of me, poking through the oak leaves, was this amazing mushroom! I cleared away the excess leaves and started taking pictures. I had trouble illuminating the gills underneath and I realized that I wasn't taking pictures of what was special about this mushroom. I moved closer and peered down over it and immediately smiled. YES! This cap is amazing!! With different colors and textures, cool details and even a place where you can see through the cap to the gills below! I was gently reminded that you must always stop and ask yourself what it is about the subject that drew you to it. Almost always, that's what you should be taking a picture of! This image was taken in April, 2012.