Trey Foerster
July 2025 - Mayapple 2
Original
About the Image(s)
Beneath a canopy of spring-green leaves, I wandered into the cool hush of a woodland. The light filtered through, softening the world into a gentle watercolor. It was there, nestled in the damp, shaded earth, that I saw it ??” the Mayapple. Its umbrella-like leaves stretched outward with quiet poise, sheltering a delicate white flower below. Finding the perfect flower and the right perspective was the challenge. I found a backlit bloom and, in the stillness, I clicked off seven frames, each focused on a portion of the flower so I could capture it all in focus. Tech stuff: image stacked, f/3.5, 1/40 sec., ISO 250, 90mm macro lens, 3.6 aperture, center weighted average metering.
10 comments posted
Your image matches your narrative, or the other way around. I had never heard of it, so here's Goggle:
Mayapple is unique in that It has only 2 leaves and 1 flower, which grows in the axil of the leaves. The large, twin, umbrella-like leaves of mayapple are showy and conspicuous. They remain closed as the stem lengthens, unfolding 6-8 inches across when the plant has reached its 1-1 1/2 ft. height. The solitary, nodding, white to rose-colored flower grows in the axil of the leaves and has 6-9 waxy white petals, with many stamens. The nodding fruit is a large, fleshy, lemon-shaped berry.
Mayapple colonizes by rhizomes, forming dense mats in damp, open woods. The common name refers to the May blooming of its apple-blossom-like flower. Although the leaves, roots, and seeds are poisonous if ingested in large quantities, the roots were used as a cathartic by Native Americans. The edible, ripe, golden-yellow fruits can be used in jellies. The alternate popular name "Mandrake" rightly belongs to an unrelated Old World plant with a similar root.
I trust you knew all this. Thanks for the nice photo and education! Posted: 07/17/2025 18:49:15
Mayapple is unique in that It has only 2 leaves and 1 flower, which grows in the axil of the leaves. The large, twin, umbrella-like leaves of mayapple are showy and conspicuous. They remain closed as the stem lengthens, unfolding 6-8 inches across when the plant has reached its 1-1 1/2 ft. height. The solitary, nodding, white to rose-colored flower grows in the axil of the leaves and has 6-9 waxy white petals, with many stamens. The nodding fruit is a large, fleshy, lemon-shaped berry.
Mayapple colonizes by rhizomes, forming dense mats in damp, open woods. The common name refers to the May blooming of its apple-blossom-like flower. Although the leaves, roots, and seeds are poisonous if ingested in large quantities, the roots were used as a cathartic by Native Americans. The edible, ripe, golden-yellow fruits can be used in jellies. The alternate popular name "Mandrake" rightly belongs to an unrelated Old World plant with a similar root.
I trust you knew all this. Thanks for the nice photo and education! Posted: 07/17/2025 18:49:15
Thank you for sharing all the info on the plant! Posted: 07/18/2025 14:55:36
You enhanced this image ever so delicately removing distracting elements and enhancing the color of the Mayapple. The softness of the background really adds a nice element to the image so that our eyes are just focused on the Mayapple and green leaves. Lot of us miss the delicate beauty that the forest presents us and instead focus on the big scene before us missing the beautiful elements that are part of the forest structure. What a beautiful and peaceful scene that you have presented us. Posted: 07/24/2025 00:17:05
Thank you Posted: 07/28/2025 14:57:58
A very strong image Trey. Well seen, captured, processed and presented. As mentioned, a very delicate flower that shows we should look down as often as we look up. My only concern is the watermark in the lower left corner. I understand there use and requirements, but when they are so prominent can they lead the eye away from what the image is all about? Just thinking out loud. Posted: 07/24/2025 01:26:03
Gotta have a watermark on images I sell. I have black, white, and 4-color, the latter 2 got lost in the black area. Posted: 07/28/2025 14:59:43
Nice work with photo stacking Trey. You picked an ideal placement of your camera. All the leading lines from the other stems meeting at your flower. I also like the branch in the foreground. Well done. Posted: 07/25/2025 00:15:40
Thank you Posted: 07/28/2025 15:00:03
More focus stacking! A very evocative description of the taking of your image, and obviously not a plant I am familiar with. Your focus stacking has given us all of the flower in focus, but kept the background diffuse, which is exactly what is needed to show it off. A good image and nice description. My only question - what happened to Mayapple 1? Posted: 07/28/2025 14:40:13
Mayapple 1 is a different image I took a couple of years ago. Posted: 07/28/2025 14:57:32