The intricate beauty of seeds captured in close-up photography

From the most majestic giant sequoias to the most delicate herbs, plants have flourished since seeds emerged some 360 million years ago. Seeds: A time capsule of life This series by visual artist Rob Kessler and botanist Wolfgang Stuppi combines scanning electron microscopy and close-up photography to explore these tiny wonders of nature.

In the image above on the left, delicate leaf-like structures called sepals surround the fruit of a Peruvian apple (Nicandra Physarodes To the right of that is a cross section of a blue passion flower, 3.4 millimeters wide (Passiflora caerulea) The ovary contains mature ovules which, when fertilized, develop into seeds.

The striated, textured fruitlets of the yellow-flowering ScutellariaGoldsmith’s vine) are shown above. Nuts are very small versions of nuts, which are fruits with a hard outer shell and a dry seed inside.

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