Lepidozia replans, 2013 - Microphotograph

As modern technology pushes the boundaries of botanical knowledge, it also reveals breathtaking beauty. This alien-looking structure covered in a mosaic is in fact a single stem of creeping fingerwort, a tiny plant that is often mistakenly referred to as a moss, which it resembles in the way it 'creeps' over soil or other surfaces in loose, green mats but it is in fact a liverwort. Without magnification, 'Lepidozia replans' resembles splashes of green, fuzzy textured felt, and is commonly found in the acidic conditions of peaty banks, soft rock faces, rotting logs or the bank of living oaks, birches and conifers. Magdalena Turzanska of the Institute of Experimental Biology at the University of Wroclaw in Poland has won numerous photography awards for her work using fluorescence microscope, which uses ultraviolet light to excite fluorescent molecules in the sample, producing a luminous effect. Here, reddish earthy hues give fingerwort an almost reptilian appearance reminiscent in some ways of Aboriginal art.