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Fir Trees
Photograph by Norbert Rosing
Purple is a versatile color. Combining the fire of red with the serenity of blue, it has the ability to soothe as well as excite passion. Purple is prevalent in nature in everything from eggplants to amethysts, and humans have adopted it as a symbol of royalty.
Here, snow-covered fir trees appear lilac during sunrise in Germany's Black Forest. The forest is located in southwest Germany, where it is known as Schwarzwald.
(For more pictures of the amazing colors of our world, buy the National Geographic book Life in Color.)
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Festival Delegates
Photograph by Hans Hildenbrand, National Geographic
Delegates from Latvia pose during the Sokol Festival in Prague in this photo originally published in the January 1933 issue of National Geographic magazine.
(For more pictures of the amazing colors of our world, buy the National Geographic book Life in Color.)
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Provence
Photograph by Jim Richardson
Streetlights create a play of color on an empty street corner in Arles, a historic city in Provence, France, and the setting of many well-known works by Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh.
(For more pictures of the amazing colors of our world, buy the National Geographic book Life in Color.)
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Lavender Fields
Photograph by Gerd Ludwig
Purple tints land and sky as night falls over lavender fields at Tasmania's famed Bridestowe Estate. The plantation is one of the largest lavender farms in the world.
(For more pictures of the amazing colors of our world, buy the National Geographic book Life in Color.)
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Purple Crocuses
Photograph by Stacy Gold
A close-up shows purple crocuses flecked with bright yellow pollen in Washington, D.C.
(For more pictures of the amazing colors of our world, buy the National Geographic book Life in Color.)
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Tasmanian Bridge
Photograph by Sam Abell
Ross Bridge in Tasmania is cloaked in a mauve sunset. The beautiful sandstone span, built by convicts in 1836, is one of Australia's oldest and is decorated with an impressive array of carvings.
(For more pictures of the amazing colors of our world, buy the National Geographic book Life in Color.)
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Joshua Tree
Photograph by Tim Laman
A Joshua tree stands under a purple-black sky in California’s Mojave Desert. Native Americans once wove baskets and sandals from this tree's leaves and ate its buds and seeds.
(For more pictures of the amazing colors of our world, buy the National Geographic book Life in Color.)
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Purple Nudibranch
Photograph by Tim Laman
A lavender-colored nudibranch feeds on hydroids near Vatu-i-Ra, Fiji. Related to sea slugs, nudibranchs are shell-less mollusks that display some of the most vibrant colors found anywhere in nature.
(For more pictures of the amazing colors of our world, buy the National Geographic book Life in Color.)
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Polar Bears at Twilight
Photograph by Paul Nicklen
Two polar bears spar in the snow as a magenta sunset descends over Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. Scientists fear that the shifting Arctic climate could threaten the species' survival.
(For more pictures of the amazing colors of our world, buy the National Geographic book Life in Color.)
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Anemonefish
Photograph by Paul Sutherland
An anemonefish hovers over its purple host near Sulawesi, Indonesia. These colorful fish have a layer of mucous that keeps the anemone from stinging it.
(For more pictures of the amazing colors of our world, buy the National Geographic book Life in Color.)
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Saudi Arabia Dunes
Photograph by Reza
Glow from the distant Shaybah oil field turns the Saudi Arabian sky purple as a man dances atop a nearby sand dune. Saudi Arabia controls about a fourth of all the world's proven oil reserves.
(For more pictures of the amazing colors of our world, buy the National Geographic book Life in Color.)
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Holi Festival
Photograph by Cary Wolinsky, National Geographic
Colored powder mixed with water rains down on women at a festival in India. The Holi Festival, also known as the Festival of Colors, is known for its colorful chaos.
(For more pictures of the amazing colors of our world, buy the National Geographic book Life in Color.)
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Purple Sea Star
Photograph by Wolcott Henry
This brilliant purple sea star was photographed in the waters off Sulawesi, Indonesia. Though they are commonly called starfish, these animals are not fish at all. They are echinoderms, closely related to sea urchins.
(For more pictures of the amazing colors of our world, buy the National Geographic book Life in Color.)
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Lechwe at Twilight
Photograph by Beverly Joubert
Lechwe rest as the setting sun casts a purple glow over Botswana's Okavango Delta. Well adapted to wetland environments, these antelope typically feed on the delta's semiaquatic grasses.
(For more pictures of the amazing colors of our world, buy the National Geographic book Life in Color.)
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