Not all stars twinkle in the sky. Some glisten on the shore or wink up at us from the grass beneath our feet. Their shape is often best appreciated from above. However, I drew the Queen Anne’s Lace flower, shown at top, from the perspective of an ant that might be looking up towards the sky from a position on the stem.
Star shapes consist of five or more points radiating from a centre.
These star polygons are given different names depending on how many points they have. For example, a pentagram has five points while an octagram has eight.
Many of these star shapes hold spiritual significance. Pentagrams are considered magical and often used in occult practices. The Star of David and the Seal of Solomon are both hexagrams, star polygons with six points.
On land, the variety of star shaped flowers is endless. In the water, echinoderms are marine animals that reveal radial symmetry in some part of their design at the adult stage. Sea urchins, sand dollars and starfish are echinoderms that often wash up on Nova Scotia’s shores.
Sometimes, the star structure of the polygon is not as obvious, as is the case with the hexagonal chambers of bees. Like other shapes in nature, such as the circle, the branch, the spiral and the meander, these tiny hexagons form exquisite patterns and are the building blocks for larger things, in this case, the honeycomb.
Over the past five Saturdays, I’ve examined five different shapes found frequently in nature as a lead-in to a Summer Scavenger Hunt. Next Saturday on June 20th, Midsummer’s Eve, I’ll provide final details of the hunt. Wherever you make your home on the planet, whether you live in the city or in the country, I hope you’ll consider taking part.
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Queen Anne’s lace…another of m favorite flowers! Beautiful artwork, Amy…:)
Thanks Cindy. It’s hard to believe that such a beautiful flower is in the carrot family. Bunnies probably use it in their wedding bouquets 😉
I thought immediately that this was Queen Anne’s Lace. I love it too and let it grow wherever it pops up. I have photographed it but never tried a drawing…I like your unique perspective!
very beautiful blog!
Millhill, I find it helps at times to try and think like an ant 🙂 Try a drawing. It’s a pretty basic design. Definitely easier than drawing seashells 😉
Thanks for visiting and for your comment marcys.
Hi Amy! We should all be taking notes, shouldn’t we? Oh dear… you keep giving us super-big hints about what we need to look for in the Scavenger hunt. It has to be patterns. It just has to be. I love your drawing! Actually just looked at some wild carrots/or Queen Anne’s Lace this afternoon and admired them. Just the lacy greens; the flowers aren’t out yet. Never thought of their relationship to stars.
No need to take notes. It will all be outlined on saturday. I thought the Queen Anne’s Lace would look more like a star if I produced a negative of my original drawing which is on my Flora page. Not even the lacy greens are out here yet. Hopefully things will warm up soon.
Excuse me. I have a technical question. Is midsummers eve Saturday night or Sunday night? The elder tree wants to know.
Midsummer’s eve is Saturday, the day before the summer solstice. Sunday is the first day of summer and the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Hope this answers your question 🙂
Ok, that’s what I thought! Thank you. 🙂