Magnolia Blossom: Best of 2005

Magnolia blossom (Click picture for larger view)

Majestic flower! How purely beautiful
Thou art, as rising from thy bower of green,
Those dark and glossy leaves so thick and full,
Thou standest like a high-born forest queen
Among thy maidens clustering round so fair,--
I love to watch thy sculptured form unfolding,
And look into thy depths, to image there
A fairy cavern, and while thus beholding,
And while thy breeze floats o'er thee, matchless flower,
I breathe the perfume, delicate and strong,
That comes like incense from thy petal-bower;
My fancy roams those southern woods along,
Beneath that glorious tree, where deep among
The unsunned leaves thy large while flowercups hung!
~ Christopher Pearce Cranch, Poem to the Magnolia Grandiflora

This was one of my favorite shots of 2005, a macro of the magnolia blossom. The purity of the creamy white petals and the inner cone of curled stamen and the distinct but subtle fragrance evokes a Southern mystery. It feels as if one is gazing on a forbidden fruit or a hidden arbor not meant for human view. Such is the secret of the magnolia.

Submission for Photo Friday topic "Best of 2005". (end of post)