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UltravioletPhotography

Amelanchier utahensis [Utah Serviceberry]


Andrea B.

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Blum, A.G. (2013) Amelanchier utahensis Koehne (Rosaceae) Utah Serviceberry. Flowers photographed in visible and ultraviolet light. http://www.ultraviol...h-serviceberry/

Mesa Verde National Park, Montezuma County, Colorado, USA

02 May 2013

Wildflower

 

Pollinator: Bees. Also self-pollinating.

 

Comment:

A. utahensis is a versatile, useful shrub adapted to drier areas and enjoyed by deer and other browsers for its leaves and by birds and smaller animals for its berries. It is planted for conservation efforts in land recovery, as a landscaping plant, as a windbreak and along roadsides. White blossoms cover the plant early in May.

In UV the flower is moderately UV-absorbing with only slightly lighter sepals, so the flower does not particularly stand out against its leaves.

 

Reference:

1. Weber & Wittmann (2012) Amelanchier Medikus, page 319. Colorado Flora: Western Slope, 4th Ed. The U. of Colo. Press, Boulder, CO.

2. Natural Resources Conservation Service (2013) Utah Serviceberry Plant Guide. US Department of Agriculture. http://plants.usda.g...pdf/pg_amut.pdf

 

Equipment: [Nikon D600-broadband + Nikon 105mm f/4.5 UV-Nikkor]

 

Visible Light [f/11 for 1/400” @ ISO 400 in Sunlight with Baader UVIR-Block Filter]

Three separated styles distinguish A. utahensis from A. alnifolia.

amelanchierUtahensisVisSun_050213mesaVerdeNpCO_10640origProofPn.jpg

 

Ultraviolet Light [f/11 for 1/125” @ ISO 400 with SB-14 UV-modified Flash and Baader UV-Pass Filter]

amelanchierUtahensisUVBaadSB14_050213mesaVerdeNpCO_10657origProofPn.jpg

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Looks like the petals carry patches of conical cells. Surely they make the flower itself more noticeable in UV.
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It wasn't clear to me what was going on in this Serviceberry flower. I wondered if perhaps the non-blue petal areas were a sign of a fading flower. The mystery will have to wait until the next time I get a chance to shoot this plant. But the lesson learned is try to photograph several inflorescences of the same plant, if possible.
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I have shot a number of species from the Rosaceae with white flowers. In UV, it is common for them to turn out in shades of blue and grey. Many have a certain randomness as to the arrangement of the patches with conical cells. So you may shoot two separate flowers and although the overall pattern agrees, there are individual manifestations of it.

 

Ageing may frequently be more obvious in a fluorescence record, by the way.

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Thanks ! That is good info to know about the UV-blue/grey for white Rosaceae. I have not fotografed many of them because I'm terrible at ID-ing them.
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Some of the genera are terrible, agreed. Cotoneaster, Crataegus, Rosa, Rubus, and Alchemilla come to mind.
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