The other day I walked Marga to work. On the way there, we passed a new flower shop, and one particular flower jumped out at both of us. We both stopped and looked more closely at it. It was the deepest crimson color. Marga said, “Perhaps you could buy this for me on the way back home…”

I knew that she really meant “perhaps”, and I really liked it as well. So, I stopped by the shop on the return trip and asked how much it cost. I was expecting it to be 15€ or so. Marga, when forced to guess later, said 12€. The actual price was 2.40€, so the decision to purchase was an easy one.

The shape of the “flower” reminds me of Romanesco broccoli, the poster-child for the “fractals really occur in nature” crowd. The uneven surface adds to the “depth” of the color.

My camera’s auto-focus couldn’t handle the uneven surface.

Marga and I thought it was pretty funny that they had to tell us not to eat it, but it made more sense when I found out that Celosia are edible on Wikipedia.

From what I tell from the description of fasciation, this plant might be a “cockscomb”. Whatever it is, it’s a pretty awe-inspiring color.