Thorny

This thorny plant was pointed out by a friend of mine during our trip to Big Bend National Park.  We had completed our sunrise shoot and turned our attention to the few local flowering plants we could find. I was attracted to this one because of its white thorns and small yellow flowers. The flower in the image below is just starting its bloom. You can see the tiny shoots coming out.  Unfortunately, my images of the full bloom did not turn out well enough to post so you can use your imagination…

The Whitethorn Acacia (Acacia constricta), is a shrub native to Mexico and the Southwestern United States (mostly Arizona, New Mexico and West Texas). The shrub grows in arroyos and washes, where it blooms in late spring, with a second round of blooms in the late summer and fall. Blooming requires a minimum amount of rain, followed by a period of warmth. Those were the exact conditions when we encountered the shrub.

This image was taken with my Canon EOS 5D Mark III using my Canon MP-E65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro Lens. The camera was set on Manual mode with the aperture set at f/16, shutter speed at 1/160th of a second and the ISO set at 100. This is a single image processed in Lightroom and Photoshop.

This image is best when viewed large. Click on the image to enlarge it. Please use the section below to post your comments, questions or suggestions.

© 2015 T. Kahler Photography