Desert Daisy

Well, that’s what it looks like to me, but goodness knows. A quick Google search suggests either brittlebush or a dune sunflower, which I’m sort of pulling for, since it’s a member of the aster/daisy/composite family. However, another walk with a little more attention paid to the plant hosting these flowers makes it clear it’s brittlebush.

In any case, this is a good reminder that the desert is more than birds, trees, and signs. It’s flowers too.

2-photo collage of yellow desert daisies

 

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10 Responses to Desert Daisy

  1. Tom Watson says:

    Isabel
    After Alistair Summerlee retired as President of University of Guelph, he considered what to do for excitement. He decided to go on a trek across the Kalahari Desert. It was a 425 km. walk. He and a woman – from Spain I think – and a San native guide. They took nothing with them except for a flask for water. They ate what they could catch or snare (examples are snake and scorpion).

    He learned in a “close up and personal” way what deserts are like. Incredibly hot in the day and cold at night. I don’t recall his mentioning any flowers in particular.

    I heard him speak of his journey. It’s a fascinating story. His hour long talk can be seen on this YouTube link:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdBY6l0NvlI

    Tom

    • Isabel Gibson says:

      Tom – Thanks for the link and the story. I’m not a happy camper — literally — so I’m better off reading about that sort of excitement than experiencing it.

      • Tom Watson says:

        Isabel
        Well if you’re not a happy camper under general circumstances, listen up to what they had to do in the Kalahari Desert trek.

        Since it’s so stinkin’ hot in the daytime, wearing clothing is not helpful…so they had to go naked. They would strip, then roll in the mud. The mud would insulate them from the sun and the heat.
        Tom

        • Isabel Gibson says:

          Tom – LOL. Yes, I feel better knowing that I made a good choice: Not to hike across the Kalahari. Not that this option was ever under serious consideration . . .

  2. I think you were fortunate to run into brittlebush rather than into an Alistair Summerlee looking for excitement. Who knew?

    • Isabel Gibson says:

      Laurna – LOL. I’ll keep an eye out for retired university presidents on the trail, and give them a wide berth. Just in case.

  3. Paul A Coffman says:

    The colors are so nice in these pictures! How did you get the dark background?

    • Isabel Gibson says:

      Paul – Well, I have to say I don’t really know. I was standing back a ways, zoomed at 300mm (on my mirrorless, so I understand that’s the equivalent of 600mm on a 35mm camera) on F10 or 11, and that’s what it did. And I underexposed maybe a full stop, so the yellow wouldn’t blow out.

  4. Judith Umbach says:

    Beautiful colourful flowers! Good photographic advice on taking flowers, a difficult task most of the time.

    • Isabel Gibson says:

      Judith – Thanks kindly. I can’t always get that dark-background effect, but I like it when it happens. 🙂

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