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1. Microscopic Wonders of A Few Herbs
This is the bright red stigma of the saffron flower, Crocus sativus. It takes roughly 170,000 flowers and their stigmas to produce one kilogram of saffron. As a result, it is one of the most expensive spices in the world.
This is the bright red stigma of the saffron flower, Crocus sativus. It takes roughly 170,000 flowers and their stigmas to produce one kilogram of saffron. As a result, it is one of the most expensive spices in the world.
2. This green landscape is a section of a single leaf of the basil plant (Ocimum basilicum). The small round structures on the leaf are glands containing the chemicals that produce the flavors and aromas of the basil plant.
3. A rosemary leaf (Rosmarinus officinalis) looks like a fuzzy animal. This hair is functional and helps the plant withstand droughts and other harsh conditions, but it also adds a texture to the rosemary itself when it is used in cooking.
4. Lavender (Lavandula spp.) has long been used to perfume homes, food, and drinks. It offers a feeling of warmth, a sort of aromatic welcoming. Up close, it is something else, a desert scene complete with spiny, cactus-like hairs meant to keep herbivores away and hold water in.
5/x. Sage: Sometimes the fine structures of plants each have some significance. In other cases, their details are the chance result of the vagaries of evolution. The hairs of a sage leaf (Salvia officinalis) relate to the climate in which the plant lives.
