Sanguinaria canadensis, Bloodroot, Howard County, MD, Helen Lowe Metzman

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis). An early early spring flower. Named the blood red interior of its root. So red it was used by Native Americans to paint their faces and as a dye. No eating this baby though it is full of alkaloids. Interestingly, one of those alkaloids, sanguinarine is in some mouthwashes. After pollination ants are "used" to move the seeds around. Cool. Pictures and specimen by/from Helen Lowe Metzman and whose writing on the bloodroot was used in this account. Photography Information: Canon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, Stackshot Sled, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash in Styrofoam Cooler, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200 USGSBIML Photoshopping Technique: Note that we now have added using the burn tool at 50% opacity set to shadows to clean up the halos that bleed into the black background from "hot" color sections of the picture.