Nature's Geometry - Salsify Seed Head (AKA Goatsbeard)

            A wildflower (seed pod) in the sunflower family. This one we found at the 7,000 foot level of Little Mt. Baldy in Sequoia National Park. Oddly, or maybe not, Little Baldy is 33 feet lower than Big Baldy. Either way, it you go, take the trail to Little Baldy if you want an overlook of the entire Western Divide.

This particular seed cluster caught my attention immediately. At 4 inches across and every seed perfectly arranged, it could only be missed by the most unattentive hiker. The flowers you see are not Goatsbeard, but two or three of the 20+ wildflowers you can see going up Little Baldy.

My wife and I made this hike five times. It is grueling when hot, but never tedious. I can't do it anymore, but I have no regrets: I have 1,000 pictures of scenery, wildflowers, three species of butterflies mating in "flocks," and two new species (for me) of birds. And chipmunks, sequoias, deer, (no bear on this trail) wildflowers that I see nowhere else. And better yet, a memory that recalls almost every wind in the trail, all the alpine meadows, and a lack of people.

Big Baldy was a bit of a disappointment because it is on the Fresno side of the park, i.e.,. to the west. But the Western Divide is what Little Baldy is to the west. The reason someone named them "Baldy" is that the crest of each trail is a huge granite outcropping. If you go, be careful in the last 250 feet or so. It's very slippery even when dry.

Taken in: United States / California / Tulare (show map)

Taken on: August 12, 2011

Sets appears in: • Wildflowers and Cultivars

Groups appears in: • Wildflowers • Nature, wildlife, and the great outdoors more » • Wildflowers (amateur only) • Wildflowers: Western Region US • U.S. City, State and National Parks • Geometry in Nature --->> Please not only flowers! « less

Camera: Canon PowerShot SX20 IS, f/5.7, 1/160 sec, 100mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon PowerShot SX20 IS
Aperture:	f/5.7
Exposure Time:	0.006 sec (1/160)
Focal Length:	100mm
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	ACD Systems Digital Imaging
Show full info

Stats: 1,315 views / 3 comments

close tools panel

Badge creator

Use Flickriver Badge Creator to create a badge linking to your photos, your group or any other Flickriver view.

You can place your badge on your Flickr profile, Blog or Website.

Add to your iGoogle or Netvibes page

Flickriver widget for iGoogle or Netvibes can display almost any Flickriver view - most interesting today, by user, by group, by tag etc. Once added to your personalized homepage, just edit widget settings to select your desired view.

Clickr on one of the buttons below to install:

Embed on your Web site

To embed this view, Copy and Paste the following HTML code:

Black background (preview):

White background (preview):

Firefox and Chrome addons

Adds a 'Flickriver' button to your browser. While viewing any Flickr photos page, click on this button to open the same view on Flickriver.

Install in Firefox
Install in Chrome

Search plugin

Add 'Search on Flickriver' to your browser's search box. Works with Firefox and Internet Explorer. Install search plugin

"View on Flickriver" Greasemonkey script

A Greasemonkey script that adds Flickriver links to various Flickr photo pages - user photos, favorites, pools etc, allowing to quickly open the corresponding Flickriver view.

Also, allows quickly viewing any Flickr photo on black background in large size.

Install "View on Flickriver" script

Bookmarklet

While viewing any Flickr photos page, click on the bookmarklet to open the same view on Flickriver.

To install: drag and drop the following link to your Bookmarks toolbar.
IE users - add the link to your Favorites under the Links folder