Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) seeds

[nic]

Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) seeds

[MarkSturtevant]

Very beautiful! It looks kind of like a fossil ammonite.

[Scarodactyl]

Wow yeah, I would have bet money that was an ammonite at first glance. It even has the suture pattern!

[Pau]

Very nice colors and texture!

ADMIN NOTE:
Please note that this thread is better placed here at Technical and Studio Photography -- Macro and Close-up forum. Moved from Nature Photography -- Macro and Close-up

[nic]

Very beautiful! It looks kind of like a fossil ammonite.

Thanks Mark!

[nic]

Very nice colors and texture!

ADMIN NOTE:
Please note that this thread is better placed here at Technical and Studio Photography -- Macro and Close-up forum. Moved from Nature Photography -- Macro and Close-up

Thanks Pau for the appreciation ... and the right positioning of my photo!

[rjlittlefield]

This is really interesting!

It seems like all the purslane seeds that I find by image search look just dull blackish. But on the other hand all those pictures show the seed(s) so much smaller that the colors would average out anyway.

Do all purslane seeds have these colors, or is this seed special, or something special with the illumination or imaging technique?

--Rik

[nic]

This is really interesting!

It seems like all the purslane seeds that I find by image search look just dull blackish. But on the other hand all those pictures show the seed(s) so much smaller that the colors would average out anyway.

Do all purslane seeds have these colors, or is this seed special, or something special with the illumination or imaging technique?

--Rik

The seeds I found (Portulaca oleracea) all have iridescent colors; they are 'structural' colors, not due to real pigments, but to light interference phenomena. I add some seeds taked at lower magnification, where you can see variable colors, but always iridescent.

[rjlittlefield]

Thanks! Spring is coming. Perhaps my wife would enjoy receiving a package of purslane seeds this year...

--Rik

[Chris S.]

Capital work!

Once again, photography in the proper hand shows me--in an entirely new light--something I've seen many times and taken no notice of.

I'd beware planting this in one's garden, though--I've battled it as an aggressive and pernicious weed.

--Chris S.

[rjlittlefield]

I'm still scratching my head over the fancy colors of these things. I stopped by the garden store a couple of days ago, found some purslane seeds in a transparent envelope, and with 10X magnifier they showed no color at all. Even more interesting, http://idtools.org/id/table_grape/weed- ... r-ole.html shows what is labeled as the same species, Portulaca oleracea, well photographed and at high mag, and again, no trace of colors. Take a look at the third and fourth images, which expand to give http://idtools.org/id/table_grape/weed- ... leComp.jpg and http://idtools.org/id/table_grape/weed- ... seComp.jpg .

I do not know why the different appearances. Maybe the colorful ones have a bit of oil on them, so we're looking at thin film interference? What happens to the colors if the seeds are washed in a solvent?

--Rik

[nic]

I'm still scratching my head over the fancy colors of these things. I stopped by the garden store a couple of days ago, found some purslane seeds in a transparent envelope, and with 10X magnifier they showed no color at all. Even more interesting, http://idtools.org/id/table_grape/weed- ... r-ole.html shows what is labeled as the same species, Portulaca oleracea, well photographed and at high mag, and again, no trace of colors. Take a look at the third and fourth images, which expand to give http://idtools.org/id/table_grape/weed- ... leComp.jpg and http://idtools.org/id/table_grape/weed- ... seComp.jpg .

I do not know why the different appearances. Maybe the colorful ones have a bit of oil on them, so we're looking at thin film interference? What happens to the colors if the seeds are washed in a solvent?

--Rik

it seems unlikely that the seeds are covered with a film of oil, I collected them a few months ago, I don't remember exactly how long ago .. I think rather that the differences in color may depend on the different state of ripeness, or on the fact that they could be phenotypic differences (these are Italian plant seeds). If you want I can send you some seeds, if you give me your postal address. Then you can try to photograph them yourself .. These seeds were collected in northeastern Italy, near Ravenna ..

P. S .: the poor quality of the first photo (Mitu 10x) depends on the fact that I compressed it quickly, perhaps doing something wrong; the original is better. When I have time I will replace it ..

[Beatsy]

Very interesting pics - I've just seen some of these at magnification, and they weren't iridescent either. May have to look closer - when can find one again (mixed bag).

I'm still scratching my head over the fancy colors of these things. I stopped by the garden store a couple of days ago, found some purslane seeds in a transparent envelope, and with 10X magnifier they showed no color at all. Even more interesting, http://idtools.org/id/table_grape/weed- ... r-ole.html shows what is labeled as the same species, Portulaca oleracea, well photographed and at high mag, and again, no trace of colors. Take a look at the third and fourth images, which expand to give http://idtools.org/id/table_grape/weed- ... leComp.jpg and http://idtools.org/id/table_grape/weed- ... seComp.jpg .

I do not know why the different appearances. Maybe the colorful ones have a bit of oil on them, so we're looking at thin film interference? What happens to the colors if the seeds are washed in a solvent?

--Rik

Could it be very diffuse light allowing the interference to show through a thin top layer? I get the same thing with black beetles. If you diffuse the light enough (a lot - beyond ridiculous) then sub-surface patterns and colours start showing clearly instead of the outer surface. Doesn't look anything like the black beetle does to the eye when this happen - even with a loupe.

[Guppy]

Hi Nic

Very nice pictures, I like them very much!
Did you use LED for lighting?

Kurt

[rjlittlefield]

If you want I can send you some seeds, if you give me your postal address.

PM sent.

Could it be very diffuse light allowing the interference to show through a thin top layer? I get the same thing with black beetles. If you diffuse the light enough (a lot - beyond ridiculous) then sub-surface patterns and colours start showing clearly instead of the outer surface. Doesn't look anything like the black beetle does to the eye when this happen - even with a loupe.

Interesting! In general I'm used to seeing strange stuff when I look closer, sometimes with very strange colors (e.g., HERE). But I've photographed a lot of black beetles, and with those I don't remember seeing any effect that I can match with your description. If you have a specimen handy, it would be an interesting study to see the beetle shot both ways.

In any case, I'm inclined to think that's not the difference with nic's seeds, because of the photos shown at the links I provided. Those photos are high mag, apparently similar to nic's, but with no trace of the trippy colors. I checked to see if they had been converted to grayscale, but apparently not that because in the histograms there are clearly separated RGB profiles.

--Rik