I'm a frustrated Hibiscus collector: most of my specimens don't bloom all that often. But every now and then, I get lucky. Real lucky! Gumamelas are pretty blooms, even though at the "super close-up level", they don't look anything like flowers...

Up-close, the stamen looked like it had a bunch of sea urchins attached to it. The pistils looked all over-hung with strings of golden pearls. The petals were the most interesting. To the naked eye, what looked smooth and silky now appeared convoluted and textured, like vast landscapes viewed from the air. They reminded me of the gently rolling hills of Tuscany or the colorful plains of Provence.

The macro world may be a strange place, but in reality, they can look much like the world we already know. Enjoy.