Botany 101

Baby Crinum Lily's

Crinum Lily

Once the flower is spent the Ovary begins swelling with Ovum

Engorged Ovaries lean ground ward with the weight of the heavy multiple Ovaries full of large Ovum

Ovaries with compartments that hold one large Ovum each

Crinum Lily seed-those are SOME seeds huh?

Which came first the flower or the egg? I'm not really sure that I know the answer to this question, so for ease of illustration we'll begin with baby flowers.

Part of what fascinates me about photography + plants especially, is the process. The process of new life all the way through the seed head/pod process(some would call it death),but I see it as a cycle that brings about new life. I guess that honestly,I  have a tiny bit of botanist in me that finds the whole life cycle interesting. I've found I love to photograph plants in their different stages and am able to find the beauty in all of them.

One day, while out scouting photos with my ever patient and supportive husband we came across these weird looking pods and well of course we had to dissect one(in the name of science of course) to see what was inside. I mean look at them-aren't they weird wouldn't you have done the same thing? And yes they are that big- some larger than others-they sort of remind me of  tomatillos. Pretty cool huh?

Seeds escape the pod when the outer skin dries to a garlic skin consistency and then begins splitting to allow the seed to find it's way into the ground where sprouting then occurs. I've found this to be something that in my ordinary life before photos I never really considered and now find fascinating. This has truly opened my eyes to how perfect God's design really is. We are each unique and well thought out and perfectly equipped for our purpose.