Day 118 > Spring Ephemerals: Bloodroot

I was beginning to worry I might miss the opportunity to shoot my favorite spring wildflower, the Bloodroot, because of the terrible weather lately. These plants bloom for a very short period of time making it important to check their progress frequently if you want to catch them at their best. Once pollinated the petals fall and all that remains is the strangely lobed, single leaf. It took until nearly noon today for the blossoms (which only open on sunny days) to respond to the dappled sunshine in the forest making for a lengthy wait since I arrived at 10am. In this photo the flower is still not fully open but the angle of light was perfect at this moment, casting the shadow of the petals against the leaf behind them.