Geometry

Can anything in nature be more geometric than ferns?

At this time of year the spores are mature and the sporangia, or spore-bearing structures, are beginning to rupture and discharge their contents to start the life cycle one more time.

Each species of fern has its own way of maximising the space available for spore production. This is Lady Fern - Athyrium filix-femina - which has very delicate fronds with curved sporangia:

Scaly Male Fern - Dryopteris affinis - on the other hand, has very round sporangia in much straighter rows.

I'll try for shots of other ferns in the next couple of days.

A pleasant surprise

One part of the hedgerow is currently alive with damselflies all displaying themselves on ferns, Hawthorn and grass stems in a shimmering display of blue, red and green. I love a challenge, so I thought I would try to get 'the definitive image' of a Common Blue Damselfly.

Last night, I was browsing the images and I liked the quality of this one, and I was also pleased with the composition: the Scaly Male Fern makes a lovely platform.
Suddenly my jaw dropped. The markings on the second abdominal segment are quite different from the usual 'wine-glass' marking of the Common Blue, taking the form of an underlined 'U'. A quick glance at the references revealed that this is a male Azure Damselfly - Coenagrion puella - another first for me.