Wooo took a bit of a break from posting microscopy so I could finish off my demonstrating and field work for the year! BUT we're back at it, and this week features Actinobole uliginosum!
This plant is so tiny, only a few cm high (so-called inchflora), that you’d need to be on your hands and knees in the dirt to really notice it exists. It’s an Asteraceae with cottony leaves and white-creamy coloured flowers. In Victoria you can find them in shrublands and dry forests in the west.
Some cross-sections of underdeveloped inflorescences to finish us off. It's a bit of chaos inside these with all the cottony hairs and pappus from the florets, but you can see how deep these inflorescences go into the plant!
Inchflora are super cool and I'm sad I didn't spend more time looking at them while I had the chance. Maybe next year!