Pitcher plant (carnivorous), ‘Inflorescence’

Scientific name, “Nepenthes alata.” The "pitchers" of a pitcher plant are actually specialized or modified leaves that are "pitfall traps." See my previous post, of a "pitcher": http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2014-11-05
Here, then, are the flowers for this plant. For a good page on carnivorous plants and how this species traps its food: http://www.life.illinois.edu/plantbio/greenhouse/vt_carnivorous.html

I learned something about black-and-white with this post. For B&W images, one must find a "happy medium" between lots of depth-of-field and little depth-of-field. I have been trying to increase the depth-of-field on plant photos with a tripod for the purpose of making images that may have some value for identification purposes. But with a lot of depth-of-field and colors eliminated, sharp backgrounds easily confuse or distract the eyes because focus no longer guides the eyes toward the subject.

With too little depth-of-field, some of the subject — even with small subjects — may be out-of-focus; an example of an image with [too] little depth-of-field: http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2013-12-04

With this image, I was lucky: there is enough depth-of-field that the pitcher plant "inflorescence" is in sufficiently sharp focus but the depth-of-field isn't too great so as to have the subject get lost in a sharp background.

Species page at PhytoImages, http://phytoimages.siu.edu/taxpage/0/0/79/binomial/Nepenthes%20alata.html

Photo taken at SIUC Plant Biology Greenhouse, http://www.plantbiology.siu.edu/facilities/plant-biology-facilities/greenhouse/index.php

1 year ago (“Pregnant onion”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2014-02-17
2 years ago (“Late afternoon shadows (not many frames today)”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2013-02-17
3 years ago (“Barn kitten”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2012-02-17
4 years ago (“Fade to Gray”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2011-02-17

[ IMG_9994S9x12tmG :: f/8 :: 1/15" :: ISO 400 ]