Starter leaf stomata

Images made through a microscope. All subject types.

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Walter Piorkowski
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Joined: Mon Aug 14, 2006 6:42 pm
Location: South Beloit, Ill

Starter leaf stomata

Post by Walter Piorkowski »

Image
My first submission.

After joining these forums I had to erase 95% of the photomicrographs from my hard drive. They just didn’t rate the quality that I see on this web site.

Here however is my first image to share, one of my favorite plant world subjects, the gas releasing valves of a leaf, the stoma. This pair from a starter leaf of an unknown plant along with the epidermal cells that surround them.

Leitz Ortholux in reflected light mode
23X W Ultropak objective
Subject submersed in water
10X Leitz Periplan GF projection eyepiece plus 1/3 Sp. Reflex lens
Canon 10D
Photoshop contrast and sharpening enhancement

Walt

Charles Krebs
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Post by Charles Krebs »

Walt... very nice post! Good look at the stoma and a very attractive pattern and color variation in the leaf. (If I let my imagination wander I can see Teddy Roosevelt in there... spectacles and bushy mustache and all :roll: )

I take it this is a water immersion ("dipping") objective. You say "reflected light mode", but the lighting looks much better than many pictures I've seen with an "epi" type illuminator (which often look too "flat"). Was this done with an "epi" illuminator?


Have you ever looked for these on a the small duckweek leaves that are so common on ponds? I see them there often when I look for small critters... interesting and great patterns too.

Did you ever learn more about your Nikon/savart 40x situation?

Ken Ramos
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Post by Ken Ramos »

This is a great shot Walt. :D I have tried in vain to get similar shots of these things.

Teddy Roosevelt :!: Charlie you have some imagination there but I do see what you mean. :wink:

bernhardinho
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Post by bernhardinho »

Hi Walter,

I'm a great fan of leaf stoma too. This shot is beautiful and interesting. Charles: I think Walter is talking about the leaf itself being mounted in water. But I wonder where the colors come from. Does that "reflective light" technique imply that you didn't use a thin section or pulled of the epidermis?

Bernhard

Walter Piorkowski
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Joined: Mon Aug 14, 2006 6:42 pm
Location: South Beloit, Ill

Post by Walter Piorkowski »

Hello, Charles, Ken, Bernhard,

You are not the first to see a face in this image. It was my wife’s first comment! On a more serious side, the leaf was purple, giving it a unique color tone in the image.

Yes, the objective is a water immersion design. My specimen is mounted in a homemade mount that keeps the leaf submerged for the purpose of using it for hours, even days without it drying out. I can often watch the gas bubbles discharging from the stoma during my observation period.

I was going to describe my image setup as EPI illumination but I’m not certain as to the technical definition of EPI. With the Ortholux the light source enters the objective assembly at a 90 degree angle and is reflected down around the objective. A focusing collar allows for control of the illumination which after reflection off the subject is taken up by the objective and delivered to the eyepiece/ camera. This may be what EPI is?

My old Ortholux did not come with the reflected light source. I made up a source on my own in my workshop. I didn’t have time to build a bulb centering assembly but it has turned out to be an advantage. The off center illumination creates a side lighting affect on the surface of the subject which I can control for maximum benefit.

Yes I have observed the stoma of the duckweed and have an older image that I may post. If other forum members find the stoma of interest they may want to try the leaves of the grasses. Their stoma are a different dog bone shaped design. I am trying to capture a decent image to show the difference.

Still no solution on the Savart DIC 40X objective problem.

Walt

Walter Piorkowski
Posts: 693
Joined: Mon Aug 14, 2006 6:42 pm
Location: South Beloit, Ill

Post by Walter Piorkowski »

Bernhard,
To answer your question spcifically with this specimen there was no need to remove an epidermal layer or make a section. The stoma were fully exposed along with the epidermal cells.

Walt

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