String Lily. Shark Valley. Everglades NP

December, when we spent our week in the Everglades, is not the flower season. If you are into flowers spring is probably when you want to be in the Everglades. Still, there were flowers. This is the String Lily and it was everywhere we went in the Everglades. We passed by hundreds of them in the river of grass during our airboat ride (they are so common we ran over more than a few…the airboat does no damage). They were along the boardwalks at Royal Palm. They grew in the channels along the roads at Shark Valley. They were, just about, everywhere you looked in the Everglades and Big Cypress. According to my reference, both the leaves and bulb of this plant are poisonous to humans, but they are the favored food to the big Lubber Grasshopper. This is a particularly classic shot, framed against the dark water, and with the purple stamens standing tall.

Sony HX400V at about 540mm equivalent field of view. In camera HDR. Nominal exposure 1/800th @ ISO 80 @ f6.3. Processed in Lightroom on my Surface Pro 3 tablet.