Although this looks like a painting, it is really a photograph. The FEI Electron Microscope Company holds a yearly competition to judge the best photos taken with their equipment. Photographer Adriaan Van Aelst shot this incredible tomato plant leaf. The growths are trichomes which all have different functions. Some irritate the palate of animals that might eat the plant, others keep frost off the cell surface of the plant, and the big "glandular" trichomes are what produces the "tomatoey" smell.
No comments:
Post a Comment