Today a Quiz. Here are two super sharp photos of plants from very different families. What are they?
Quiz #1: The top photo is a focus stack of 100 images. In real life the image would be 2mm wide so I think it’s been magnified about 80 times. (This one is hard to guess. It helps to squint your eyes to make it look small.)
Quiz #2: The photo below is a focus stack of 70 macro images. What it is?
If you’re desperate for clues, click the links on the captions to view the photo descriptions. Here’s a clue for #2: It’s edible.
Have an idea? Leave a comment with your answer.
p.s. In case you’re curious … Focus stacking is a digital processing technique in which the photographer takes multiple images of the same object at different focal points, then digitally merges the photos to produce a completely in-focus image. The object has to hold still and so does the camera. It requires special software to merge the images.
This video shows how it works.
(photos and video from Wikimedia Commons; click on the captions to see the originals)
Hi, Kate,
The second one is called Romansco (please excuse spelling) – it is relative of cauliflower and comes in purple too.
Don’t know the first one – looks like an algae to me.
I’m going to make guesses without looking up anything, just based on what the pictures look like. I’m sure I’ll be wildly wrong.
Picture one I’m guessing a fern starting to develop.
Picture two reminds me of a head of cauliflower. Maybe it’s a cauliflower head in the early stages of development.
First one reminds me of asparagus. The second one reminds me of a strawberry.
#1 is the gametophyte of a liverwort, Pleurocladula albescens, called Snow Threadwort.
Carol is correct about #2. It’s Romanesco broccoli.