What are they?
These little guys (n' gals) were gathered during the summer months
in the dry ponderosa forests near Mackenzie Pass, Oregon. These little
subjects are not what attracts your attention to their home, but
rather the fluorescent color. The subjects are vegetable, and the image's
horizontal dimension is approximately 0.2mm. Clicking on this image
will show you a higher resolution image.
If they are not baby PacMen, then I give up!
Wanderers in the forests near Mackenzie Pass can't help but notice
the fluorescent green moss (actually a fungus) drooping from the limbs
and bark of nearly all of the mature evergreen trees, especially the ponderosa
pine. If you look closely, or with a hand lens, little cups with black
interiors are noticeable, but only with the aid of the electron microscope
are these little guys visible. Karen Wetmore of U.C. Berkeley informs me
these are pine pollen.
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