iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Drosophila eggs look surprisingly cool under the microscope! Kinda makes me want to look at eggs of other insects too! #microscopy #macrophotography #zoology #drosophila

The egg of Drosophila cf. melanogaster under the microscope. It has a net-like pattern all across it and two long dorsal appendages protruding from one side, likely for supplying the embryo inside with oxygen

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

I’ve been really quiet on here lately since I’ve been busy with designing a poster for IPC15. Aaaaah I’m so excited!! (It will be the first conference for me) Anyway, I fear I’ve left my page unattended for so long that mould has started to appear. Oh no! :0 #microscopy #fungi #mould #photography

Aspergillus sect. Nigri
Black mould photographed with flash + microscope at 10x objective magnification. The image shows various brown spheres which carry the conidiospores (visible as tiny blobs, if you zoom in).

Aspergillus sect. Flavi
A yellow Aspergillus. The conidia are even more visible here and form little rows that emanate from the heads like rays.

Unidentified blue mould.
The fruiting bodies on this one are very small, so you only see bunch of bluish-grey spheres.

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

So, I tried a new microscope technique today… Let’s just say it was successful! :D #microscopy

Closeup of the scutellum of Fasta fastuosa

An even-closer-up of the exoskeleton in that area

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

So the bad news is that my plants have thrips. 😓 The good news is that I got a great photo! #thrips #microscopy #entomology

Darkfield micrograph of a thrips (Parthenothrips dracaenae). I spread the wings using a fine needle so that both pairs are visible.

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

I was very surprised to find this beetle larva in my marine/brackish water sample today. I thought aquatic beetle larvae occurred exclusively in fresh water! If you have any idea as to what species/genus/family this belongs to, please let me know. I’m very curious! :D #microscopy #beetle #larva

Head of a beetle larva I found in a brackish/marine habitat. Brightfield microscopy. 10x objective

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

I went to the sea last week and took some water for microscopy. Found a flatworm and just look at those cells! So pretty :D #microscopy #wormwednesday #flatworm

Photo of (almost) the entire worm in regular brightfield microscopy. The intestine is visible as a sort of meandering river of darker cells. Near the middle there is a repeating structure that I think may be eggs/egg-bundles/ovaries?

The middle part, zoomed in further. You can see the cells that line the intestine as well as the ovaries(?) more clearly

Detail of the front part with a large statocyst.

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

Found three different species of pseudoscorpions yesterday and they‘re all from different species as well! :D #arthropod #mesofauna #pseudoscorpion #arachnid

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

I don’t remember whether I posted this one, but for this #WormWednesday here‘s Alentia gelatinosa! 🪱 #MarineLife #Polychaete

A. gelatinosa from below (ventral) showing the iridescence of the body. You can also make out the parapodia very well against the huge jelly-like scales.

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

iNatting for the City Nature Challenge with spectacular scenery! #landscape #nature #iNat #citynaturechallenge

Me standing on the shore of a small lake that is surrounded by cliffs

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 19/04/2026

If life hands you a deadline, draw polychaete stickers! (Am supposed to be working on velvet worm nephridia, but oh well…) #polychaete #worm #art #marinelife

A (non-realistic) „sticker“ I drew in procreate of Eulalia sp., a green paddle worm of the family Phyllodocidae.

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Breaking news! I have successfully adapted the camera to my microscope! Yaaay! Still need a bit more distance for parfocality with the eye pieces, so I‘m ordering a helicoid extension tube.

The head of my bx41 microscope with my camera adapted to the top of it.

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

Went to a marine exhibition at the Bundeskunsthalle today. Great exhibition all the way through. But I was particularly stunned by the crocheted coral reef. I think this is one of the most beautiful and impressive works of art I‘ve seen. It‘s a collaboration by a few hundred (>1000?) artists.

A small part of the entire artwork. Crocheted corals of various kinds and other reef-life in yellows oranges and reds. It doesn’t even begin to capture the beauty of it irl

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

Just a photo from yesterday‘s walk that‘s horribly overexposed, but that I like a lot. Spring is here! :D #cherryblossom #spring

View from underneath cherry tree in full pink bloom.
Due to the over-exposure the sky is almost completely white.

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

I‘m gonna have a great day tomorrow! :D

Bluray box of the complete series of Planet Earth.

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Another copepod for you! <3 I just think they‘re very neat. This one‘s Eucyclops sp. #pondlife #microscopy #crustacean #copepod

Copepod female as seen through a microscope at 100x total magnification. Lateral view. The background is turned black.

The copepod is currently carrying two pale greenish egg sacs.

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Another Onychophore post! :) This time the whole animal from the side. I’m surprised by how well the colours got preserved. Apparently it has been collected a couple decades back and stored in ethanol ever since #onychophore #photography #macrophotography

Onychophore-closeup against a black background.

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

Haven’t posted a polychaete in a while… :) This one’s Arenicolides branchialis. I love this very deep and dark iridescent green colour it has. In person it looked almost black. #polychaete #worm #WormWednesday

Closeup of A. branchialis against a black background. It is very clearly segmented. Every 5 segments is a chaetiger (bristle-carrying segment). Later (on from chaetiger 11 or 12) the worm has very pronounced branchiae that were definitely not a nightmare ar all to draw the black background around, I promise you. :)

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

This is what the copepod looked like, by the way. #copepod #crustacean #microscopy

Overgrown copepod (habitus) at 40x, dark field. Image taken through eye piece of microscope with my phone. Background edited to be completely black.

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

First proper microscopy session with the new scope! Experimenting with the light to get a DIC-like effect. This is what I got so far. I’m quite happy, but it only really works on the 20x objective! ^^ Images show stuff growing on a copepod. #microscopy

Photo stack taken with my iPhone through an eye-piece at 200x + digital crop.

Algae and peritrich(?) ciliates attached to a copepod.

Single shot, but everything else is the same as last image. Cropped more to focus on the two ciliates.

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

Yet again the same worm. Regular photo this time. I just finished turning the background black. :) The little “paws” are very cute, but the mouth is terrifying. #photography #macro #worm #onychophora

Macro photo of the head Peripatoides novaezealandicae from ventral.
You can see the “teeth” very well. And if the upload quality is enough the structure of the cuticle (better than on the mCT scan).
You can even see what I have called the “thingies on the thingies”.

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Same Onychophore (velvet worm) as yesterday, but from the outside. It looks so alien! :D #biology #worm #3D

Screenshot of a digital 3D model. 3D reconstruction made from Micro-CT scan of an Onychophore.

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

I love visual science! Made these today. What you can see are two cross-sections of an Onychophore from different angles.

Sagittal cut. I love how you can see the antennal nerve. Also the brain is very cool.

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

Definitely an upgrade over my old scope! (The same nematode under both scopes) Left: new scope Right: old scope P.S. photos are taken through an eye piece with my phone. I’m still gonna get an adapter for my camera, so I should get results even better! :D #microscopy #microscope #nematode

Nematode under my new microscope (Olympus BX41) at 200x magnification + digital crop

The same nematode under my old scope (Swift SW380T) at the same magnification

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

They are here, finally. Let’s gooooo!

Photo of the nose piece/objective turret of my microscope with three objectives (from right to left: 4x, 10x, 20x. All Olympus UPlanFL N)

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 18/01/2026

Interesting times ahead! Just bought this microscope today and carried it (with the help of 4 different trains) halfway across Germany. My back hurts, I am exhausted, but it was very worth it! #microscope #biology

Olympus BX41 compound microscope with trinocular head, fluorescence capability (has three filter cubes), and a phase contrast condenser. Next to it the power supply for the mercury vapour lamp.

The microscope is fully functional (electronics and mechanics work perfectly) I just need to get some eye pieces and objectives.

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

Another sponge from the university collection. This one is really weird! (If anyone knows has tips for ID, let me know! It wasn't labeled) #MarineLife #Nature

A round, slightly oval sponge with lots of bumps against black background. It has a lot of long calcareous bristles sticking out. The opening (osculum) is pointing towards the right. On this side the Bristles are significantly shorter than on the other side. Some of the bristles end in a crown of backwards pointing spines.

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

I tried that soap bubble freezing thing. Catastrophic failure. ☹️

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

Happy new year! :D I have no pictures of fireworks, but I have this one of a siliceous sponge skeleton from the university collection. #MarineLife #Photography

Sponge skeleton against black background:
The whole thing is tube shaped, only the upper third is visible, coming into the frame from the bottom right corner. At the end, the spicules form an organic web-like structure, fanning out towards edges. On the side, the spicules are arranges horizontally and vertically, forming rectangles. There are additional fan-like formations at regular intervals.

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

For the 17th day of #Crustmas, I have another water flea. This one was found in a tropical greenhouse. It's Macrothrix sp., but the exact species is probably not determinable without DNA analysis(?) Look at the snoot! :D #pondlife #microscopy

A brightfield image of Macrothrix sp. It's shape is roughly like that of a daphniid, but it has an elephant-trunk-like snoot and long spines at the posterior margin of the carapace. It is completely transparent, only the gut is slightly yellowish

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

A copepod for #Crustmas day 15 🦀 This one's a Calanoid copepod from Spain which I sadly do not know how to ID further ( Help much appreciated! :D ) The enlarged antenna segments are interesting as well. I have no idea what they are for and why they're only on one antenna. #marinelife #copepod

A calanoid copepod under the microscope. It has very long antennae with one antennae having thickened and orange segments in the center. Apart from that, the copepod appears colourless

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

It's the fourteenth day of #Crustmas and I bring you another amphipod. I really like its slight blue and red colouration. :D It is probably Apohyale perieri, but I'm not quite sure. #MarineLife #Crustacean #Amphipod

Amphipod against a black background. The main colour is blue with red margins on each of the tergites. The eyes and antennae are reddish as well. The last two pairs of pereopods extend backwards and have white tips. Overall, the body is smooth and rounded.

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

#Crustmas Day 13 🦀 I‘ve posted this species recently (about a month ago), but this one has a different colouration and not such an enlarged claw. This is Pisidia longicornis, the Long-clawed Porcelain Crab. #marinelife #crab

Pisidia longicornis against a black background. A brown individual with a marbled patterning on legs and back. It has a round body with three long legs visible on either side as well as a pair of claws. The right claw is slightly enlarged. It has very long antennae and big, round, red eyes.

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

#Crustmas Day 12 Green Shromp! It’s the Chamaeleon Prawn (Hippolyte varians) and very variable in colouration as the name suggests. I don’t know what influences colour, but all I found at that region were green. #MarineLife #Shrimp

Green shrimp against a black background. It has a long pointy rostrum and very large scaphocerites. The telson and uropods are also pretty long. Sadly I didn’t manage to take a lateral photo as it was quite jumpy

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

Wow, the video upload quality on here is not great at all. Here are a few photos, too. If anyone knows more about the interaction between the Daphniid and the algae, please let me know! I couldn't find much online. #crustmas #parasitology

Closeup of the head of the Daphniid at 400x magnification (brightfield microscopy). It is completely covered with the little algae.

The entire organism. It is an image stack, therefore the movement of the algae has formed these lines that were not actually there.

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

For the 10th day of #Crustmas 🦐, I found this Scapholebris (cf. mucronata) Daphniid that is infested with Chlorella(?) green algae. I believe, they are parasitic, judging by the Daphniid‘s reduced mobility & the strange twitching motion of the antennae. #microscopy #pondlife #parasites #crustacean

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

#Crustmas Day 9 This is one of the prettiest copepods I‘ve found. It‘s called Hersiliodes latericius and was found in coastal waters in Spain #MarineLife #Copepods #Crustacean

A copepod against black background. It’s white/transparent with orange patterning and orange egg sacs.

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Honourable mention to this isopod which was also found in the greenhouses. It is however a very common native species (Porcellio scaber) which got in and probably liked the humidity. (It was found in the coldest of the greenhouses) #Crustmas #Isopod

A Rough Grey Isopod (Porcellio scaber) sitting on a porous volcanic rock. As it's name suggests it is uniformly grey in colour and has a rough texture.

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

For Day 8 of #Crustmas, I bring you Greenhouse isopods! Back in June, the botanical gardens in Germany hosted a BioBlitz during which I got to dig around a bit in the greenhouses. #1 Philosciidae indet. #2 Nagurus cristatus #3 Reductoniscus costulatus #4 Venezillo parvus #Isopods #MacroPhotography

A dark brown isopod sitting on a piece of bark. It has subtle markings on its back and rather long legs and antennae. They are also really fast. I found them in the Victoria lily house in the stony flower bed right next to the pool.

$A very ornate isopod sitting on a piece of mulch. Unfortunately the first half is out of focus. The pereon has a yellowish base colour with a broad grey center stripe that's sort of fractal-ly and grey margins. The pleon is fully grey. The pleotelson and uropods are bright yellow.$ A very tiny isopod sitting on some mulch. It is off white to beige in colour. Only the pereon is visible. Each tergite has two transversal rows of little teeth-like protrusions, which get bigger and more hooked further towards the posterior

A very tiny isopod sitting on some mulch. It is off white to beige in colour. Only the pereon is visible. Each tergite has two transversal rows of little teeth-like protrusions, which get bigger and more hooked further towards the posterior

An ornate "pill bug" in a white collection dish. It is similar in colour and pattern to Nagurus cristatus, except that the yellowish parts on the tergites form distinct oval shapes. Editionally, the colouring continues through the pleon and pleotelson. It is also built more compactly and more rounded.

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

#Crustmas day 7 (belatedly) 🦀 I came back from a rehearsal weekend with my orchestra yesterday and I was too exhausted to post anything. The pic I planned to send yesterday is this Xantho pilipes which has some very nice markings on its back, in my opinion #marinelife #crab

A closeup of Xantho pilipes against black background. Its legs are fluffy (which has likely inspired the name "pilipes"). The back is white with a red marking in the middle that sort of looks like a space ship(??). The legs and claws are of an equal red with the tips being darker.

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

#Crustmas day 6! 🦐 I saw some posts with these ostracods (Strandesia sp.(?)) yesterday, so I wanted to share this one. Found in the greenhouses of the botanical gardens in Bonn. If anyone can help ID, that would be amazing! :D #microscopy #ostracods #crustacean

A greenish pill-shaped ostracod with a big thorn-shaped ala. The rest of the animal can roughly be made out through the carapace. The margin of the carapace has small perforations as well as a few hairs.

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

Day 5 of #Crustmas Presumably a female Cymodoce truncata. No spoilers, but some individuals of this species have some really beautiful patterning (I‘m saving those pics for later) :P #MarineLife #Isopods #Crustaceans

Pale brown isopod against a black background. It has a relatively sturdy build, two pairs of rather short antennae the posterior end is pointed. Its uropods (2 per side) end at about the same level as the point and are spaced quite far apart.

It also has some red algae on its butt

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

It's day 4 of #Crustmas. This crab is probably about the same age? I was very surprised to learn that this is what larval crabs look like. I think it's either Xantho sp. or Carcinus maenas. P.S.: The feathery things at the top are the cirri of a barnacle and are not part of the larva. #MarineLife

Photo of a zoea larva under a microscope. It has a very large compound eye and a long dorsal thorn that curves back on its carapace. The abdomen is long and thin, ending in curved spine(s) at the telson.
Above the zoea is the exoskeleton of the cirri ("feeding legs") of a barnacle.

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

With Crustmas going on right now, it's easy to forget that it is #WormWednesday, too! This is an unidentified Terebellid worm. It may be Amphitrides gracilis, but I'm far from certain. #MarineLife #Polychaete #Worm

Terebellid worm against a black background. It has a lot of white tentacle-like appendages at the front that curl into little springs and curls. A bit behind there's a pair of tree-like branchae. The first few segments are thickened with prominent (but small) parapodia(?). Behind that the animal gradually gets thinner and smoother. It starts out a fleshy pink colour with brighter reds and oranges towards the middle of the worm and transparent at the back. It currently has a bit of sediment in its guts which gives the transparent part a brown appearance.

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

#Crustmas day 3! 🦐 Look at the claw on this amphipod! I think it is Gammarella fucicola, but I‘m not quite sure. It’s the only one I found with modified gnathopods like this. Found in a rocky shore habitat in Galicia, Spain. #MarineLife #Amphipod

Closeup of an amphipod against a black background. It’s pale brown/orange in colour. It has the typical amphipod shape except that its gnathopod 2 is modified into a big claw.

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Hannes Dahm @federgeistchen.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

A rare non-animal-related post, but I also took photos of a bunch of flowers this year. I saw them arranged in a grid like this for the first time today and thought they looked really pretty like this :) #macrophotography #flowers

Closeups of 9 different flowers arranged in a 3x3 grid. In order from top left to bottom right:
1) Pilosella aurantica (Asteraceae)
A vivid orange flower (technically flower head or capitulum comprised of lots of individual flowers)

2) Dianthus deltoides (Caryophyllaceae)
A magenta flower with 5 petals that have serrated margins. Towards the center they get soeckled with white

3) Bellis perennis (Asteraceae)
Typical daisy-like capitulum with white ray florets anf yellow disc florets

4) Dianthus carthusianorum (Caryophyllaceae)
Magenta with 5 petals that are slightly more spindly than on D. deltoides. It also lacks the white spots

5) Draba verna (Brassicaceae)
A group of 3 bright white flowers and some buds. It has 4 petals which each have a deep incision

6) Lysimachia arvensis (Primulaceae)
Salmon orange blossom with 5 petals. It turns violet towards the center with 5 brightly yellow stamens

7) Dianthus sp. (Caryophyllaceae)
White blossom with pink center. The 5 petals also have serrated outer margins and leave no gaps in between each other. In the center, the markings of the petals form a circle

8) Oxalis stricta (Oxalidaceae)
A yellow blossom with 5 petals. The center is greenish. There are a lot of short stamens.

9) Geranium pratense (Geraniaceae)
A violet towards purple flower with 5 broad petals. The colour softly fades to white in the center. The stamens are a very dark purple, almost black and quite prominent.

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