At several places along the narrow road up Black Bear Pass, Purple Fringe (Phacelia sericea) wildflowers were found. This was a new wildflower for me, and one that I’ll never forget. It is made up of many tiny purple flowers, tightly packed along a vertical spike. Conspicuous yellow stamens protrude from the flowers:
Purple Fringe is a non-native plant with an overall plant height of 10″ to 16″. Flower spikes from 4″ to 7″, and individual flowers are approx. 1/4″ wide. These beauties grow from June to August and inhabit landscapes of montane and alpine (6,500 feet and higher).
Photographic Equipment Used:
- Canon 5D Mark 3 body
- Canon EF180mm, f/3.5 macro lens
- Bogen 3221 tripod, with Graff Studioball SB-QR ballhead
- ISO 800 (high ISO used to keep plants from moving around in the wind)
- Aperture f/3.5
- Shutter 1/800 sec.
- 10 images were combined, using Helicon Focus, to obtain a focus-stacked image