Pic(k) of the Week: Doggin' Dogwood

It's early April in Georgia, and many of the dogwood blossoms are already past peak. But not these guys.

The four showy flower petals of the flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) aren’t actually petals as botanists define them. The dogwood petals instead are modified leaves called bracts that surround a cluster of about 20 tiny yellow flowers. As the flowers bloom, the showy bracts expand to attract pollinating insects. Each bract has a dark red-brown indentation at its tip. Depending on location, dogwood trees may bloom in March, April or May for about two weeks. When pollinated, the flowers produce red berries relished by wildlife.

— SFGate.

As seen in Sycamore Park, in Decatur, Georgia, on 11 April 2019.

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• Atlanta's 83-year old celebration of spring dogwoods —the Dogwood Festival, naturally— takes place the weekend of 12-14 April 2019, in the city's central Piedmont Park.


• Pic(k) of the Week: one in a weekly series of images posted on Saturdays, and occasionally, but not always, with a good fermentable as the subject.
• See the photo on Flickr: here.
• Camera: Olympus Pen E-PL1. Lens: Olympus M.45mm F1.8.
• Settings: 45 mm | 1/500 | ISO 200 | f/7.1
• Commercial reproduction requires explicit permission, as per Creative Commons.


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