Multiple flowers this spring explained.... :-)

[dancingcat]

I should explain to all why I am posting a lot of poseys here, as it may seem a lot of "stuff".. -- in spring where I live we are overrun with lots and lots of prairie wildflowers, so I have lots of subjects.  This a project for the Botanical Research Institute of Texas Herbarium (BRIT), and my chapter of the Texas Master Naturalists.  I am doing UV shots to accompany the visible ones in my voucher (dried plant samples) submissions to the Herbarium, and we will also use the UV shots to train our new class of Texas Master Naturalists in the fall - hopefully with a little pamphlet.  The Texas Master Naturalist program is a joint venture with Texas A&M University and the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife to train volunteers to assist in our parks and nature institutions and to educate the public with wildflower walks, seminars, and outreach programs. So I am scurrying about trying to get UV shots of as many common wildflowers as they bloom this year.  I am just learning UV photography, so hopefully it should get better as I go along.  Most states in the US have Master Naturalist programs, but I don't know if there are similar efforts in Europe or Down Under..

[Andrea B.]

Sue, thank you for this report on your project. It is very pleasing to hear that somebody, somewhere can make use of photographs of floral UV signatures. We have collected so many here on UVP over the years. And it is great to get more from you of the Texas prairie flowers which we do not yet have. Thank you for those!!

 

We would be very happy to help you in any way, so please do let us know.

 

I put some posters in one of your topics once which illustrated how the bee sees versus how the camera sees floral UV signatures. I hope you can make use of information like that. I can easily work up alternate versions of those posters if needed. They have been used in the past by other organizations. So let me know on that also. It is very easy to grant a re-use license on anything you want.I keep templates handy. (And of course with no charge.) 

 

I am also thinking of working up a poster about the different types of floral UV signature based on the classification I recently read. (Link somewhere. Must go find it.) 

 

Your UV photography is coming along quite nicely. So go for it !!