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Leucoagaricus rubrotinctoides Sometimes called the red-tinged lepiota, this attractive little mushroom is one of the first of the fall mushrooms found in the wet forests of the Pacific Northwest. This pair was found growing partially under a log near Coal Creek in Bellevue, Washington. See more at: www.richleighton.com #NorthAmerica #photography #nature #naturephotography #PNW #PacificNW #PacificNorthwest #Washington #WashingtonState #mushroom #mushroomsofinstagram #fungus #fungi #mycology #mushroomhunting #Bellevue #CoalCreek #KingCounty #Lepiota #Lepiotarubrotinctoides #Leucoagaricus #brown #cap #fall #forest #lightspored #white #whitespored #wild #woods

Claret Cup Cactus One of the most striking and beautiful of all the "barrel" cacti of the American Southwestern deserts, the claret cup cactus (also known regionally by many names such as the kingcup, queencup, hedgehog cactus, pitaya roja, etc.) has large, showy and brilliantly red flowers that attract and are pollinated by hummingbirds. Unlike most cacti, the flowers of the claret cup stay open at night. Some native American tribes who shared the same habitat would collect these cacti, burn off the sharp spines, and mash them into a pulp with some locally procured sweetener (honey?) and bake them into mini sweet cakes. This one was found and photographed on a beautiful spring day in the Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Northwestern Texas. See more at: www.richleighton.com #NorthAmerica #photography #photographer #nature #naturephotography #naturephotographer #wildlife #WildAmerica #photooftheday #NANP #Cactaceae #ChihuahuanDesert #ClaretCupHedgehog #CrimsonHedgehog #CulbersonCounty #Echinocereus #Echinocereustriglochidiatus #GuadalupeMountains #GuadalupeMountainsNationalPark #KingsCrownCactus #Pachycereeae #cactiofinstagram #Texas #botany #cacti #cactus #claretcupcactus #hedgehogcactus #kingcupcactus #pitaya

Ohanapecosh River The clear, icy and swift Ohanapecosh River tumbles over Silver Falls on Mount Rainier as it flows from its headwaters in the glaciers and snowfields on to the sea. See more at: www.richleighton.com #NorthAmerica #photography #photographer #nature #naturephotography #naturephotographer #wildlife #NANP #photooftheday #landscapesofinstagram #America #CascadeMountains #Cascades #color #evergreen #forest #landscape #mount #MountRainier #NationalPark #natural #nature #northwest #Ohanapecosh #PacificNorthwest #PNW #river #Washington #water #wilderness

Mallard Drake A mallard drake (male) with paddles around in Soos Creek on a chilly Pacific Northwest winter day in Kent, Washington. See more at: www.richleighton.com #NorthAmerica #photography #nature #naturephotography #wildlife #WildAmerica #photooftheday #PNW #PacificNW #PacificNorthwest #Kent #KingCounty #birdsofinstagram #SoosCreek #Washington #Anas #Anasplatyrhynchos #animal #bird #birdwatching #dabblingduck #duck #fowl #hunting #ornithology #summer #mallard #drake #ducksofinstagram #duckhunting

Chocolate Daisy This wonderfully attractive one-inch, desert-loving daisy is found throughout much of the American Southwest where it blooms year-round as long as it doesn't come in contact with frost. Best seen in the morning hours, this local member of the aster family begins to droop in the midday heat. Want to know something amazing about this particular flower? It smells just like chocolate! These were photographed in the Chihuahuan Desert in rural Socorro County, New Mexico while I was searching to horned lizards. See more at: www.richleighton.com #NorthAmerica #photography #photographer #nature #naturephotography #naturephotographer #wildlife #WildAmerica #photooftheday #Asteraceae #Berlandialyrata #Berlandiera #ChihuahuanDesert #LaJoya #NationalWildlifeRefuge #NewMexico #SevilletaNationalWildlifeRefuge #SocorroCounty #aster #botany #chocolatedaisy #daisy #flower #flowersofinstagram #native #southwest #spring #sunflower #wildflower #yellow

Slender White Piperia Orchid (Piperia candida) Easily distinguishable from the other four native species of piperia orchids in the Pacific Northwest, the slender white piperia (Piperia candida) is the only one with a spur (a small horn-like appendage growing underneath each flower) that is equal to or shorter than the lip (the bottom part that looks like a wide "lower petal"), and also has white flowers. Two other species fit this description, but both of those have green to yellowish-green flowers. It is also one of the westernmost species, found growing geographically near the Pacific Ocean in California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Alaska. This one was found growing near the Deschutes River in rural Thurston County, just west of Mount Rainier in Washington State. See more at: www.richleighton.com #NorthAmerica #photography #photographer #nature #naturephotography #naturephotographer #wildlife #WildAmerica #photooftheday #NANP #endangered #protected #terrestrial #flower #native #orchid #Orchidaceae #plant #orchidsofinstagram #wildflower #nativeorchid #botany #Orchidaceae #PNW #PacificNorthwest #Piperia #Piperiacandida #Washington #Yelm #slenderwhitepiperia

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ABOUT

Hi, my name is Rich Leighton and I'm a full-time, professional commercial/nature photographer and master naturalist who spends my working hours (and a way too much of my free time) photographing the incredible nature and wildlife all over North America.

Nature Galleries

Landscapes

Butterflies

Birds

Mammalss

Invertebrates

Reptiles

Amphibians

Native Orchids

Wildflowers by Color

Wildflowers by Family

Carnivorous Plants

Mushrooms and Lichens

Botanicals

All subjects are photographed in their natural environments. No animals are in captivity or posed, and all plants, including orchids, are native and non-cultivated.

All images and content are property of Leighton Photography & Imaging and cannot be reproduced without permission.
All rights reserved. Copyright © 2006-2026.