About the Image(s)

Black eyed susan with fasciation – flowers like this one shows up each year among the “normalâ€� looking black eyed susans in our gardens. I find their appearance fascinating.
Photo taken in my workroom using a Nikon Z8 with 105mm lens, 1/15 sec at f/4.0, -0.33 EV, on a tripod. Final image based on ~200 stacked images imported from LR into Helicon Focus, method C. I then synchronize the folder in LR to open the new image, cropped to make square, exported to PS to replace the black background with a dark purple one with vignetting and to add a white a frame.
Fasciation is abnormal plant growth that occurs when the apical meristem, which normally produces cylindrical tissue concentrated around a single point, becomes elongated perpendicularly to the direction of growth. The resulting tissue growth may be flattened, crested, or elaborately contorted. Might be caused by a mutation in the plant cells, bacterial infection, mite or insect attack, or chemical or mechanical damage. It can also be genetic. Given that these flowers occur in the same area every year, my guess is a stable genetic mutation. They are fun to find.