A world onto itself!!

As promised, an image from a Scanning Electron Microscope. This is a flower from my garden that is closely related to an endangered species in Nova Scotia. I have a research project that involves comparatively studying the reproductive biology of both species. The starting point is to determine if the flowers of the two species, although similar at maturity, develop in a similar manner.

This image is of a developing flower whose sepals have been removed, as well as three petals (the two wavy structures are the remaining petals). The long thin structures with bulbous tips are the stamens (male sexy parts), and the portly structure with the frilly top is the pistil (female sexy parts).

I could write a book as to why this type of research has rocked my world for the last 25 years, but I think the picture speaks for itself...