Today’s post features another sign of spring … capturing Harbinger of Spring wildflowers in bloom. When hiking the Natural Bridge Trail at Ha Ha Tonka SP (Missouri) on Monday, I ran across this small, secretive wildflower … Harbinger of Spring. This is the first time I’ve been able to photograph this little beauty.
This first image gives a sense of how small this wildflower is:
I then captured this macro photograph, showing the details of the plant:
The Harbinger of Spring is sometimes know as “Pepper and Salt”, describing the contrasty flower. This wildflower is one of Missouri’s earliest blooming wildflowers, starting blooming anytime from January to April, depending on the weather and conditions. An interesting fact about this unique wildflower: it starts to flower only 2″ to 3″ above ground, but later reaches to 8″ tall
Coming up … more spring, woodland wildflowers I’ve been photographing.
Photographic Equipment Used:
- Canon 5D Mark 3 body
- Canon 180mm, f/3.5 macro lens
- Bogen 3221 tripod, with ballhead
- ISO 500
- Aperture f/3.5
- Shutter Speed 1/350 sec. and 1/180 sec.