False colour scanning electron micrograph of stellate leaf hairs on the surface of the hoary mullein Verbascum pulverulentum. This is a perennial herbaceous wild plant, which grows in France. Germany & England. The stellate leaf hairs are typical of alpine plants exposed to strong light & drying winds. They serve a biological function for the leaf by limiting transpiration & reducing surface temperature. The density of the hairs lends the leaf a white appearance. It is held that the hairs were scrapped from the leaves, rolled like cotton & used as wicks in the lamps of the neolithic flint miners at Grimes Graves, Norfolk. Magnification: X 37 at 35mm size. Original is BW print B745/079.