Last winter break I volunteered to catsit my neighbor’s Maine coon and water the plants in the apartment. I could not resist exploring the indoor garden with my foldscope!


 Here the cells from a leaf of Purple Heart/wandering Jew plant appear like purple and green gems:


 <img alt="img_9070.jpg" class="size-full wp-image-30625 gcloudimg" data-attachment-id="30625" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta='{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}' data-image-title="img_9070.jpg" data-recalc-dims="1" height="1333" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/microcosmosdelta.appspot.com/images/transfer_30639/img_9070.jpg" width="1000"/>


 <img alt="img_9146.jpg" class="size-full wp-image-30740 gcloudimg" data-attachment-id="30740" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta='{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}' data-image-title="img_9146.jpg" data-recalc-dims="1" height="1333" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/microcosmosdelta.appspot.com/images/transfer_30639/img_9146.jpg" width="1000"/>


 Here’s a kaleidoscope of colored leaf cells from a vine house plant:


 <img alt="img_9155-2.jpg" class="wp-image-30630 size-full gcloudimg" data-attachment-id="30630" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta='{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}' data-image-title="img_9155-2.jpg" data-recalc-dims="1" height="750" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/microcosmosdelta.appspot.com/images/transfer_30639/img_9155-2.jpg" width="1000"/>
 <img alt="img_9165.jpg" class="size-full wp-image-30631 gcloudimg" data-attachment-id="30631" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta='{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}' data-image-title="img_9165.jpg" data-recalc-dims="1" height="1333" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/microcosmosdelta.appspot.com/images/transfer_30639/img_9165.jpg" width="1000"/>


 <img alt="img_9021.jpg" class="wp-image-30741 size-full gcloudimg" data-attachment-id="30741" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta='{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}' data-image-title="img_9021.jpg" data-recalc-dims="1" height="1333" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/microcosmosdelta.appspot.com/images/transfer_30639/img_9021.jpg" width="1000"/>
 A fern:


 <img alt="img_9197.jpg" class="size-full wp-image-30634 gcloudimg" data-attachment-id="30634" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta='{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}' data-image-title="img_9197.jpg" data-recalc-dims="1" height="750" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/microcosmosdelta.appspot.com/images/transfer_30639/img_9197.jpg" width="1000"/>
 <img alt="img_9186.jpg" class="size-full wp-image-30633 gcloudimg" data-attachment-id="30633" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta='{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}' data-image-title="img_9186.jpg" data-recalc-dims="1" height="782" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/microcosmosdelta.appspot.com/images/transfer_30639/img_9186.jpg" width="750"/>


 From the spider plant:


 <img alt="img_8989.jpg" class="size-full wp-image-30635 gcloudimg" data-attachment-id="30635" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta='{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}' data-image-title="img_8989.jpg" data-recalc-dims="1" height="1333" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/microcosmosdelta.appspot.com/images/transfer_30639/img_8989.jpg" width="1000"/>
 <img alt="img_8996.jpg" class="size-full wp-image-30636 gcloudimg" data-attachment-id="30636" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta='{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}' data-image-title="img_8996.jpg" data-recalc-dims="1" height="1333" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/microcosmosdelta.appspot.com/images/transfer_30639/img_8996.jpg" width="1000"/>


 A hanging plant with striped leaves:


 <img alt="img_9004.jpg" class="size-full wp-image-30637 gcloudimg" data-attachment-id="30637" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta='{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}' data-image-title="img_9004.jpg" data-recalc-dims="1" height="1333" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/microcosmosdelta.appspot.com/images/transfer_30639/img_9004.jpg" width="1000"/>
 <img alt="img_9010.jpg" class="wp-image-30638 size-full gcloudimg" data-attachment-id="30638" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta='{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}' data-image-title="img_9010.jpg" data-recalc-dims="1" height="1333" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/microcosmosdelta.appspot.com/images/transfer_30639/img_9010.jpg" width="1000"/>

Plant leaves up close and cellular

Dom Olinares

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