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Apache Plume

Another awesome flower from my recent trip to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. This Apache Plume was growing in great numbers and there were so many specimens that it was hard to pick one. So, I found a nicely isolated flower that would give me the best background. I really enjoy looking at this plant and observing a large number of stamens.

Apache Plume gets its name from the feathery seed heads which appear after the flowers bloom in the summer. The “plumes” are pinkish-purple in color and resemble an Apache headdress. This plant is native to all four southwestern deserts (Mojave, Chihuahuan, Great Basin, and Sonoran). It grows from Southern California to central Texas.

Hopi Indians steeped leaves and applied the liquid as a rinse to promote hair growth, they boiled roots in water for coughs and used twigs to make tea for indigestion and spring fever. It’s not clear if any of these remedies actually worked.

Apache Plume

Apache Plume

This image was taken with my Sony A7R II Digital Camera using my Sony 90mm f/2.8 Macro Lens. The camera was set on Manual mode with the aperture set at f/8, shutter speed at 1/400th of a second and the ISO set at 400. I used only natural light to light the subject. I used the Kirk FR-2 Focusing Rail to capture 5 photographs and brought them together into one image using Photoshop using the Focus Stacking technique. I finished the image in Lightroom and Nik Color Efex Pro.

This image is best viewed large. Click on the image to enlarge it. You can access the profile for this plant by clicking here. Please use the section below to post your comments, questions or suggestions.

T. Kahler Photography
© 2016 T. Kahler Photography

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