Durbanville Nature Reserve – Blue flax- 2

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Also known as Blue Flax, Wild Flax, Showy Sunflax , Blousporrie, Sporries

Description:

This dainty, blue annual is an absolute delight when it comes to flowers. Upright and graceful, with small cups of bright blue flowers, the plants appear to dance in a light breeze.

Under good conditions, Heliophila coronopifolia grows bushy and about 600 mm tall. The smooth stems and soft, slender leaves are bright green. The blue flowers are arranged in little spikes at the tips of the stems. The four petals of the flower open wide to display the white center with the pollen and stigma in the middle. The flowers are quick to close during cool weather and at night. The seed pods are long, splitting when the small brown seeds are ripe.

Habitat:

They are found from Namaqualand to the Western Cape, often flowering in enormous drifts and covering fields in clouds of blue. They are also often found between other annuals like the Namaqualand daisies or ursinias.

Heliophila means sun loving. In South Africa there are 71 species of Heliophila most of them annuals naturally growing throughout Namaqualand and the south western Cape. Although many of them are similar to Heliophila coronopifolia with blue flowers, there are also species with pink and white flowers.

Blue flax, Heliophila coronopifolia, Durbanville Nature Reserve, Durbanville, South Africa
  • Location: Durbanville Nature Reserve, Durbanville, South Africa
  • Date Taken: 2020-10-25
  • Camera: Canon EOS 7D Mark II
  • Lens: Canon Zoom Lens EF-S 18-200 mm 3-5.6 IS
  • Exposure Program: Manual
  • Image Quality: RAW
  • F-Stop: f/5.6
  • Exposure Time: 1/1250 sec
  • ISO Speed: ISO-100
  • Focal Length: 200 mm
  • Metering Mode: Spot Metering
  • Handheld
  • Post Processing: Adobe Photoshop CS6
  • Photographer: Coreen Kuhn
  • Information: PlantZafrica.com

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Coreen

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