Today I’m featuring a couple more flowering water plants that were busy blooming as I kayaked a local Missouri Conservation Area, a little over a week ago.
The first is the Water Smartweed (Polygonum amphibium). This is quite a colorful plant, but difficult to maneuver a kayak through, primarily due to it’s stiff stem, with swollen nodes along the stem, and the dense colonies that are formed by this aggressive plant. This plant is know as both a terrestrial and an aquatic plant. Here is an image of the water smartweed that I captured that morning:
Photographic Equipment Used:
- Canon 5D Mark 3 body
- Canon EF 100-400mm, f/4.5-5.6 telephoto lens + Canon 1.4x TC (shot at 560mm)
- Handheld from a kayak, with IS “On”
- ISO 1600
- Aperture f/8
- Shutter 1/50 sec.
The second plant is one that I’ve featured previously, the Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis). The many, ball-shaped flowers really make this plant stand out. The seeds from the buttonbush are readily eaten by Wood Ducks. Here is a full plant with it’s ball-shaped flowers in bloom:
Photographic Equipment Used:
- Canon 5D Mark 3 body
- Canon EF 100-400mm, f/4.5-5.6 telephoto lens + Canon 1.4x TC (shot at 560mm)
- Handheld from a kayak, with IS “On”
- ISO 400
- Aperture f/8
- Shutter 1/400 sec.