This plant is the nodding onion, and although this photo was taken at the nature park, the nodding onion grows wild all over the place. Most sources agree that the source of the English-language name “Chicago” was the word in local Native languages for onion. That may be a detail best left in the weeds.

This is a really nice closeup shot with good depth of field, nice critical sharpness on that anther, and some pretty color. I also like that some of the flowers have bloomed, but a lot more are lurking behind, waiting their turn, and the stems all come together in a nice shade of red over on the right. Chicago has a lot of wildflowers that last all of a couple of weeks. These start appearing early in the season, but they hang around for a bit, and they’re always nice to see in the parks.

July 28, 2012. Nikon D90 (DX sensor), 105mm Nikon macro lens (35mm equivalent: 155mm), f/13, 1/1,000, ISO 400.