Hibiscus is a great flower to photograph. The contrast between the green sepals and bracts, showy red petals (this particular variety), deep red pistils surrounded by bright yellow stamens make a great study in contrast especially against a dark background. You may not enjoy the botany below, but I’m sure you’ll agree that nature truly offers a marvelous spectacle in the microscopic.
Click on any picture to see a larger version!!
A fully open hibiscus flower
We all learned in school botany (well some of us!) about the various parts that make up a flower. Generally, flowers have 3 components –
Calyx – made up of sepals that protect the bud in infancy and form the base of the flower
A hibiscus bud showing bracts and the calyx (which are both modified leaves!)
Corolla – made up of showy petals that encase the reproductive organs
A hibiscus petal
Reproductive parts (Corolla, Stamen) that are in turn
Detail of a hibiscus stamen (male) and pistil (female)Close-up of the reproductive organs of a Hibiscus flower. The yellow stamens and the red pistils.
Stamen – that make up the male reproductive parts – in turn made up of the filament that holds up the pollen sac or anther. The anther releases pollen when open.
Detail of a Hibiscus flower stamen.Even closer. Glittering Hibiscus pollen on anthers held up by the filament – forming the stamen of the Hibiscus flower.
Pistil – The female reproductive parts of a flower. These are also made up of three components
Ovary – that finally forms the seed after fertilization
Style – a stalk above the ovary
Stigma – the farthest extend of the female part of the flower which receives the pollen for fertilization. This is usually sticky and allows pollen to attach.
The stigma of a Hibiscus flower, with pollen on them.
The pollen in the above picture look spherical, don’t they? But in the picture below, which is a crop of the above, you can see that the pollen grains are spiky, thereby allowing them to stick to the stigma surface.
100% crop of a stigma showing the real structure of pollen.
Well, that’s my botany lesson! Thanks for stopping by….
Thank you! My blog is not a biology blog but a photo blog where in this instance I have tried to show details of the flower using high magnification photography.
Beautiful pix. I’ve been looking at flowers with my Middle School students – and a blister microscope (25x). Still learning. These are wonderful pictures.
Hi Jawahar,
I found your blog while looking for information on a Hibiscus flower.
I am sorry, I should have asked first if I could use a small portion of your info, {none of your images were used}, and put your site information to my latest image.
I also am now following since you have such wonderful images and information.
Looking forward to seeing what you will present to us to view.
Juridicious 
I love this post. Hibiscus is one of my favorite flowers to photography and post – but this is the best ever!
Thank you so much!! They were fun to take pictures of, especially as I kept adding magnification using extension tubes.
Wow! You really did a very good shots. I had fun reading your post.
Thank you, much appreciated
Fantastic detail. Nature in all its splendour. Well done.
Thanks Richert.. this was an experiment with extension tubes on the macro lens. I was surprised at how much detail I was able to see with them.. 🙂
more information is needed. you need to explain how they reproduce.
Thank you! My blog is not a biology blog but a photo blog where in this instance I have tried to show details of the flower using high magnification photography.
Thank you! beautiful and perfect to use to show my toddler the different parts of a flower.
Thanks! 🙂
I really loved your botany lesson with the amazing photos – 🙂 really great post! 🙂 ~yvette
The last pic is the best of the lot !
Omg . you just helped me finish a report on plant breeding. Your work is amazing. Thank you and keep it up
Cool! Glad to have been of help 🙂
Beautiful pix. I’ve been looking at flowers with my Middle School students – and a blister microscope (25x). Still learning. These are wonderful pictures.
Thank you Bette! I’m glad you like these.
Hi Jawahar,
I found your blog while looking for information on a Hibiscus flower.
I am sorry, I should have asked first if I could use a small portion of your info, {none of your images were used}, and put your site information to my latest image.
I also am now following since you have such wonderful images and information.
Looking forward to seeing what you will present to us to view.
Thank you. I can’t actually find the post and how you’ve used the information from my blog site. The message I get it that the site is deleted.
My site is natureschild122.wordpress.com and the image I used some of your information on is called Pollinating!