Australia, 1999 Photograph by Frans Lanting “A scarlet banksia blooms like fireworks in Australia’s southwest. Not all biodiversity hot spots are tropical. This region’s poor soils support 2,830 plant species that grow nowhere else on Earth.” 山龙眼:一种拔克西木 属澳洲产常绿灌木或乔木,叶窄、多刺或带齿,通常黄色的艳丽花簇和锥形聚集的小果实
St. Louis, Missouri, 1988 Photograph by James P. Blair "Moored to a thick ro vbiotstalk by a sturdy stem, lily pads are custom built for floating, with a water-repellant surface. The broad leaves spread flat on the water to soak up maximum sunshine." (Text from "Life Around a Lily Pad," January 1980, National Geographic magazine) 百合大浮叶:水百合漂浮的叶
Near Willow City, Texas, 1999 Photograph by Vincent J. Musi “Deep in the heart of Texas, the Hill Country’s limestone heights bend with the Balcones Escarpment and unfold west for some 200 miles [320 kilometers]. The rocky terrain has its soft spots; spring-fed rivers overflow with bass, catfish, and perch. And nowhere else in Texas is the show of wildflowers, such as purple vervain and fiery Indian blanket (pictured), more profuse—and striking—than here.” 野花
St. Elias Mountains, Yukon Territory, Canada, 1997 Photograph by Robert Clark The showy moss campion brightens an isolated Yukon peak. How did the plant species reach this isolated region? Winds likely carried seeds over a glacial landscape. 苔藓剪秋罗 剪秋罗属植物:一种剪秋罗属和麦瓶草属的主要生长于北半球的植物,长有各色的花朵,花瓣带槽或带须边
Unknown location, United States, 1992 Photograph by Maria Stenzel "Tiny titan of U.S. agriculture, a foraging honeybee flies as far as four miles [six kilometers] from its hive to find food—in this case, chicory pollen—yet usually visits only one type of flower during a single sortie. This floral fidelity helps make bees ideal crop pollinators. As the bee gathers food for the hive, the pollen grains that cling to its hairy body will rub off at each flower to produce a seed, fruit, or vegetable."
Petra, Jordan, 1996 Photograph by Annie Griffiths Belt There are many species of poppy, but only one—Papaver somniferum—produces the ingredients for morphine, codeine, heroin, or even the poppy seeds in your spice rack. The red poppies that color this field in Petra, Jordan's ancient city of stone, are intoxicating only in terms of their beauty. 罂粟:任一种罂粟 属植物,生有下垂的花苞,四片花瓣紧挨在一起,开红色、桔黄色或白色花朵,有奶状果汁,其蒴果会通过气孔而开裂
Southwestern United States, 1998 Photograph by Peter Essick California poppies are usually seen with a variety of wildflowers in drought-tolerant areas. They reseed so readily that they can become weedy. 加州罂粟
United States, 1998 Photograph by Peter Essick "Indian women [in North America] claimed that boiled trillium root could arouse a man's love."[北美印第安女人声称,煮熟的延龄草根可以唤醒男人的爱] 延龄草:一种延龄草 属的植物,产于北美洲、喜马拉雅山脉和东亚,通常有三片轮生的叶和各种颜色的三瓣花 也作 birthroot, wake-robin
St. Elias Mountains, Yukon Territory, Canada, 1997 Photograph by Robert Clark "Where glaciers meet mountains in Canada's Yukon Territory, some peaks jut from the ice like islands in a frozen sea. These crags, called nunataks, may appear barren, but biologist David Hik ... has discovered that collectively they harbor hundreds of species, [like these] delicate alpine forget-me-nots. ..." 高山勿忘草