The loss of violet

[steuard]

I was thinking about color this morning (yes, I do these things), and I was struck by a disturbing thought: when did I last see violet? Not purple, which I see all the time, but actual violet. [I'm not the first person to wonder this: here's a very thorough discussionPurple, as you no doubt recall, is a compound color: it's what we perceive when we

Comments

[kirinn]

I'm doing pretty well by this measure, since I happened to get to see a really bright rainbow in person just a few weeks ago.

But presumably you could also reset your clock with a decent prism...

Hmm, I wonder if true-violet LEDs are commercially available? Can you get a cellophane filter that's true violet pass-through? Are most purplish flowers violet or mixtures? I'd bet there's at least some that reflect true violet strongly, given there are some that reflect ultraviolet patterns...

[kirinn]

...and after reading some of the linked article, I suddenly realized I have *experimental evidence* of true-violet flowers. There's a certain kind of Iris I've found growing around here several times that looks deep purple (err, violet) to the eye but inevitably comes out deep blue on my iPhone camera. Bingo!

[steuard]

Oh, awesome! Or disappointing, depending on how you look at it. (The whole time I've been thinking about this, I've had to keep fighting back the urge to say, "I'll just find a picture with Google..." or, just now, "Send me a picture of what they really look like!")

[kirinn]

Well, I can upload the picture of what they *don't* really look like. The one below is definitely a deep violet in person. And meanwhile, I noticed I also have several pictures of flowers on my phone that *do* look purple, meaning that unlike the Iris they're reflecting red wavelengths.

[steuard]

That's really striking and beautiful even in this picture, but yeah, I'd love to see what it really looks like.

[kirinn]

Clock reset to: tonight! Awfully good rainbow weather around here lately. Not sure I've ever seen so many bright ones outside the tropics.