Tribulus Bud, 2010 by Mohammad Reza Dadpour, University of Tabriz, Iran

This dramatic image of a bud of the weedy flower Tribulus terrestrial in the final stages of its development has a pronounced three-dimensional quality. At this magnification the bud has the qualities of an abstract artwork: episode-illumination, in which light is shone on the object under the microscope, adds an attractive iridescent appearance. Mohaad Reza Dadpour at the department of Horticultural Sciences at the University of Tabriz, Iran, created the image by effectively building it from a series of horizontal sections through the bud.