Basswood trees fascinate me - they can become enormous trees with several trunks rising out of a central root mass. But it’s their leaves that are so wonderful - the first image is the regular leaf; the ones that gather light and turn it into sugar though the process of photosynthesis. The second is a specialized form of leaf called a bract which is attached to flowers that eventually turn to fruit and seeds. The curved bract sails and spins through the air and can be carried quite a distance from the parent tree. All in the name of seed dispersal.
Anyway…this is a look at both leaf types in the snow from a few days ago. They were found just a few feet apart on the trail and may be from the same tree, or not. The texture of the snow was pretty cool as the flakes started to clump together in tiny snowballs.
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More minimalist snow stuff…fire away.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Handheld for both
Lr processed for a lot of white boosting and exposure. Some white balance and careful control of texture and clarity in the leaves themselves.
Leaf -
Bract -