Early dogwood

I took this picture in Bennington, Vermont in late April. This is a dogwood, which, while it doesn't look exactly like the lush dogwoods of later spring, has several homologous features, for example, the thickened stem (where flowers are attached) and the four sepals (the pinkish structures) that support the flower.

 

Dogwood flowers lack petals (they are apetalous) and it is the sepals of most species that provide the bright color of these graceful small trees.

 

 

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Done