Most Unique Photomicrograph (2009)

Xylem Micrograph with Robert Brown Microscope

Brian J. Ford, Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge University

Single lens, unpolarized light
This image of a Cymbidium epidermis reveals the cells and nucleus of the orchid. Ford viewed this image with the microscope of Scottish botanist Robert Brown. A similar specimen was first observed by Brown in 1828.