Another Corsica or rather boat light & shadow composition. This photograph was taken on the ferry from Bastia, to Savona, in Italy. The composition may appear a little bit confusing. Do you know why the shadow of a straight handrail would throw a zigzag shadow? The photograph is not only a shadow, but also a reflection of a shadow! Only by looking exactly from the right angle the shadow and its reflection aligned to form this zigzag. More light & shadow posts are found HERE.

Tree silhouette 8: Today's tree silhouette depicts a weeping willow (Salix babylonica in latin). It is a somewhat unusual silhouette, because some of the pendulous branches in the foreground were lit and appear white in this photograph. I quite like this effect, although I am not completely satisfied with the above composition. However, both the name of the tree and the fact that it contains salicylic acid, a chemical that is similar to aspirin, fit my general mood today. Also have a look at my other tree silhouette posts or at the tree silhouette gallery on Florian's photos.

Corsican crocus (Crocus corsicus) on the descent from Uomo di Cagna, Corsica, France

Since I have just shown two "peeks", a light and shadow composition and a tree silhouette, from Corsica, I decided to also highlight a corsican flower. The Corsican crocus is predestined for this purpose - it even bears "Corsica" in its name! Crocus corsicus is a beautiful spring flower that inhabits mountainous regions of Corsica and the southern neighbor Sardinia. Like the Bavarian gentian from the last flora text, it is also one of my beloved alpine plants.

Different shades of purple,  bright yellow stigma and scarlet red stamen make the flowers of the Corsican crocus stand out and an attractive sight

The beautiful white and purple flowers of the Corsican crocus appear early in spring, when hardly any plant has yet grown. In this barren environment, these crocus flowers with their bright yellow stamen and scarlet red stigma appear even more impressive. Like all crocuses, the Corsican crocus is a cormous perennial plant, which means that it grows from an underground, swollen stem that serves as a storage organ. It looks almost like a bulb, but botanically it is distinct - a bulb is a short piece of plant stem that is surrounded by fleshy leaves, which form the bulb.

The outside of the Crocus corsicus flowers is whitish with dark purple stripes

As the name implies, Crocus corsicus inhabits higher elevations of the wonderful island Corsica. However, it occurs in many other places as well; maybe even your garden! Many of you certainly know crocuses as very common garden flowers that come in all kinds of colors and varieties. The Corsican crocus has also been cultivated since a long time and is an appreciated and attractive spring flower for your garden. It has even received a garden merit award from the Royal Horticultural Society and corms of the corsican crocus can be bought from numerous suppliers (for example HERE or HERE).

Like a white and purple crown - a flower of Crocus corsicus from the side

One last crocus note: Besides being popular garden plants, crocuses are famous for the world's most expensive spice saffron. Saffron is obtained from the stigma of the crocus species called Crocus sativus, the saffron crocus. One kilogram of the best saffron can easily cost as much as 10'000 $ (gold is much cheaper; currently it only costs about 1'700 $ per kilogram).

Carcolors 17: A carcolor composition that reminds me of butterfly wings. However, again it is just a shiny car that reflects a wall, blinds and a "no parking" road sign. The lacquering is rather peculiar. Did you notice all the shiny, tiny, colorful dots? The area in the foreground also looks interesting; as if the car paint was three dimensional - it was of course completely smooth. This photograph was taken at the same spot as carcolor composition 5, which was shown in one of the earlier carcolor blog posts and is now part of the extended Carcolors gallery. 

Tree silhouette 7: It is Corsica week! After the Light & shadow composition from earlier this week, here comes a tree silhouette from Corsica. My wife says it is a gorilla with "something" on its nose. I photographed this rock formation with the two tiny pine trees on our hike to the waterfall named Piscia di Gallo. I was underwhelmed by the waterfall itself, but pleasantly surprised by the landscape along the hike. Other tree silhouette posts are found HERE or in the tree silhouette gallery on Florian's photos.