Nature Prompt

These Red Leaves Steal My Heart in Holidays

Yes, they are leaves!

Anthurium

The shiny, vivid red of anthurium brightens up our living room all year round. For a long time, I thought the red part was a flower. Actually, its flowers are tiny clusters contained in spike-shaped spadix. The vivid red part is a special type of leaf.

Poinsettia

In this holiday season, how can you decorate your house without poinsettia? The high contrast between the velvety green leaves and the deep red flowers is stunning! Well, the red part is not a flower, either. That’s also a special type of leaf.

If the red parts are also leaves, do they have chlorophyll? Do they do photosynthesis? Why are they in different colors from the normal leaves?

Many questions aside, no doubt there exists such a stark contrast in a single plant. These plants are much more interesting, and they inspire my imagination to create various Ikebana arrangements. Thank you very much, Mother Nature!

My appreciation to Dr. Preeti Singh for initiating the prompt this week!

And here I would like to share two articles that inspired me:

I echo what Hermione Wilds Writes writes about beauty.

I learned something new about chanting from Lalitha Brahma.

Originally published at https://akemisagawa.com on December 17, 2022.