Frosted Tundra Like Plants

Kent Mason, Photographer / Conservationist

At elevations of 4,000 feet in the bog areas of the Dolly Sods Wilderness tundra like plants left over from the last ice age still thrive. As colder weather sets in during September I discovered a gift of nature along the bog edges. The small plants start to turn to fall color and then, with the first heavy frost, their leaves are rimmed with tiny ice crystals. The leaves must be colorful, not brown. The frost must be heavy. The air must be still (no wind on the mountain top). If all these conditions come together, then I have a gift of nature to photograph. It does not happen every year. This is a gallery of frosted plant life taken with a macro lens.