Finding Nemophila

 

Baby Blue-Eyes (Nemophila menziesii), 8 March 2013

Baby Blue-Eyes are quite variable, with different amounts of blue, white, and purple.  I really liked the dendritic pattern on this flower found recently on Bodega Head.  The Oxford English Dictionary defines dendritic as "of a branching form; arborescent, tree-like."  

It's fun to follow the lines of blue from the center towards the edges of the petals.  It reminds me of tracing river systems in a landscape.  Eric says it looks like a cladogram (a tree-like diagram showing relationships among organisms).  The more I looked at it, the more I started to see other things — mangrove tree roots, for example!  What do you see?