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Finally the answer: trichomes.
With macrophotography invisible details are revealed especially when creating images three times life size. With my desktop studio I could see tiny crystalline hairs all over the flower. I wondered what they were.
Google provided the answer. I cropped the image to focus on the hairs and pasted it into Google lens. The first hit showed an image of the same type of growth stating it was trichomes growing on a cannabis plant. Right growth, wrong plant.
My subject was a snapdragon flower, not pot. But with the reference to trichomes I could Google on and learn the correct answer.
Trichomes refers to the Greek word for hair. They grow on a variety of plants. With snapdragons they are glandular hairs providing defense from insect attacks, releasing foul-tasting sticky secretions that bugs find repulsive.
Generally trichomes have other functions such as water and temperature regulation. By increasing the air layer around the plant they reduce water evaporation and the same layer can insulate it from extreme temperatures.
So why did Google immediately jump to the conclusion my photo was that of a cannabis plant? Pot growers are interested in cannabis trichomes because they indicate through their color the THC to CBD ratio. Using a magnifying lens the grower can determine the harvest state of the plant. One check is to see if a majority of the hairs are milky white compared to the amber ones.
Apparently pot growers are inputting a great number of search terms when it come to trichomes. Me, I'll stick with snapdragons.
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