Captured 3/6 & 3/7/09, very early in the morning, about 1.25 miles/2.0 kilometers from my desultory digs. Lantana is a genus of about 150 species of perennial flowering plants, native to tropical regions of the Americas, Africa and existing as an imported plant in numerous areas, especially in the Australian-Pacific region. The genus includes both herbaceous plants and shrubs growing to 0.5-2 m tall. Their common names are shrub verbenas or lantanas. Lantana's aromatic flower clusters (called umbels) are a mix of red, orange, yellow, or blue and white florets. Other colors exist as new varieties are being selected. The flowers typically change color as they mature, resulting in inflorescences that are two- or three-colored. Source: Wikipedia encyclopedia You didn't think that Andrea was the only one out there dispensing scientific information on their captures, did you? These blooms remind me of bacon and eggs, or at least bacon bits and eggs. They must be very hardy plants because these beauties were growing in a long row of bushes, just a sidewalk width away from a street and exposed to the rumble, roar, toxic fumes and winds generated by perpetual heavy traffic going by. Even so, they seem to thrive under those adverse conditions. The umbels measure a consistent 1.625-inches/41.275-millimeters across. Because of the difficulty in capturing these little bouquets using the macro setting, I had to return to the scene the next day for more shots, because just a little deviation of distance from lens to object left a frustrating out-of-focus blur on the image. Using the portrait setting proved to be a disaster, so I just stuck to macro. The perils and pitfalls of an aim and shoot camera. Hence, out of 80 shots, I was able to salvage 66, which isn't too bad. Actually, I don't even know why I was taking so many photos of these little guys/gals...perhaps because I was captivated by the vast array of stamens, miniblooms, textures, nooks and crannies packed within their small diameter, much more than most larger flowers. And their leaves offer splendid textures in themselves. As is sometimes said, stop and smell the flowers. Anyway, more to come down the line on this small but very colorful flower. Thankx for coming by, and have a fundamentally formative Friday.