Ultraviolet Fluorescence in Flowers

Peoria, IL

I was fiddling with Photoshop the other night, working on making my black and white images better when I unwittingly stumbled into something I found fascinating and thought I'd share. For those interested in the details, I've linked: http://www.naturfotograf.com/UV_flowers_list.html Makes for an interesting picture. Woodies don't seem do it as well as herbaceous plants but they still do it. Different plants display it differently also. Composite family members display it on the petals/sepals while Nymphaea flowers show it on reproductive parts. I guess it's to help fast moving bees to hone in on targets more easily. I don't have true UV images like at the link, it just sees that the camera captures the phenomenon but isn't apparent until desaturating the image.

Regards,
Ernie

Thumbnail by malusman
Thornton, IL

How exactly did you do that? I know my botany professor would love that.

Central, AL(Zone 8a)

That is fascinating! Thanks for the knowledge.

Peoria, IL

PG,

I open it in photoshop and did: image>adjustments>channel mixer (with grayscale checked)
Default channer mixer setting is red 100, green 0, blue 0. Drag blue down to -90 or so and fiddle with others to taste.

Regards,
Ernie

Thornton, IL

I've never used photoshop, hopefully he has. I think so, he uses his own pics in his botany and plant ID classes. I bet he's going to have great fun with this! I have class tomorrow, will let you know what he says. Thanks!!

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