A Field of Colorado Dandylions
by Jon Burch Photography
Title
A Field of Colorado Dandylions
Artist
Jon Burch Photography
Medium
Photograph - Digital Photography
Description
This image of a field of common Dandelions (Taraxacum officinale) was made on a warm June day in north Colorado. (Just thought I would post it since it is now the middle of December…)
Meaning "Lion's Tooth" or "Dent-de-lion" in French, common herbaceous dandelions are perennial, living more than two years and having long, deeply toothed, lance-shaped leaves.
The leaves grow in a basal rosette shape, ranging from three to twelve inches long and up to two and one-half inches wide.
Each rosette is an immature, tightly wrapped leaf base appearing just above the top of the root forming a tight "crown on the ground." The freshly emerged leaves showing are at their prime and when mature, the plant sports the well-known yellow composite flowers everybody sees now and again.
Individually growing on hollow stalks two to eighteen inches tall, the flower head has hundreds of tiny ray flowers forming a white, fuzzy ball. After changing into the familiar, white, globular seed head, the yellow head disappears and the seeds are ready to spread. Each seed has a tiny parachute, allowing it to float far and wide in the wind.
Each thick, brittle, branching taproot grows up to ten inches long. Anyone who has ever tried to pull up a dandelion, knows all there is to know about the tenacity of the plant. All parts of this plant exude a white milky sap when broken.
Dandelions like "disturbed habitats," including lawns and sunny, open places. Introduced into the Midwest from Europe to provide food for the imported honeybees in early spring, they now grow virtually worldwide. They spread further, are more difficult to exterminate, and grow under more under adverse circumstances than most of their competitors. Gardeners detest them, because the more they are pulled up, the faster they grow.
Some digital effects were applied to the original image after the photograph was made. No electrons were harmed during the transition.
Image copyright 2021 Jon Burch Photography.
Uploaded
December 17th, 2021
Statistics
Viewed 81 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 04/18/2024 at 11:54 AM
Embed
Share
Sales Sheet
Comments
There are no comments for A Field of Colorado Dandylions. Click here to post the first comment.