The prickly hearts
Perhaps there’s a botanist out there who can explain this – why the normally oval prickly pear pads sometimes take on a heart shape.
But until we know the reason, let’s just appreciate them for what they are.
Canyon of the Eagles resort
Lake Buchanan, Texas
photographed 11.28.2014
Posted on December 13, 2014, in Photography and tagged 365 photo project, black and white photography, cactus, Canyon of the Eagles resort, Lake Buchanan, Lake Buchanan Texas, melinda green harvey, monochrome, NIK Silver Efex Pro 2, one day one image, photo a day, photography, prickly pears, texas. Bookmark the permalink. 10 Comments.
One Day | One Image 
Steve (http://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com/) would know.
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Steve has a pretty fantastic blog, which I hadn’t seen before. Thanks for sending me the link!
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Well, Melinda. Here’s your answer, but it may not be any more intelligible to you than it is to me. My husband (David H. Benzing) is a biologist. I asked him if he had an answer. Here’s what he wrote: “It’s hard to explain. Technically it occurs when when the secondary thickening apical meristem of what basically is a flat stem (cladode in the case of the opuntia-type cacti) is more active than the primary apical meristem.” Told ya.
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What I got from your husband’s explanation is “sometimes they just grow that way”… (Can you tell I’m not much of a scientist?) But I appreciate his taking the time to give us the information!
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Piece of cake, really, Linda! 🙂
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Indeed!
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well that was a question I wanted an answer to, so thanks !now I know, and yes, it makes sence to me !
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Well, I’m certainly no expert on anything scientific, so I appreciate the information from someone who knows what he’s talking about!
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Do you know why it’s look like hearts??? 🙂
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I think the sort explanation is they just grew that way (instead of being caused by some sort of damage from animals or weather or something.)
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