I was enjoying a nice dinner the other day; when suddenly I got caught up looking at this deep red flower, sitting peacefully on my dinner table. I could not resist but wonder how the flower was so deep red, as if I was looking at the cape of little red riding hood. I did something simple; just took one petal and broke it into two pieces. This exposed a thin portion of the petal; which is easier to image since light passes through and I can imagine in transmission mode.

Here is what I saw:

Surprisingly, I can not tell what those big holes are in the middle of the cells. I see them regularly spaced. I am really intrigued by them. One thought is that when I peeled the layer off – somehow stomata guard cells remained behind – leaving the holes. I will need to repeat this again. Another fun thing to notice was a vein like structure, seemingly designed for transport. Take a look..

cheers
manu