Robert HardingExcuse-us for being cheesy but as Valentine’s Day approaches we’ve put together a gallery of heart-shaped things found in nature, from puddles to islands to flowers and frigate-birds’ pouches. The heart as a symbol of love originally developed in the 15th century and became more widely popular in the 16th century.
Heart-shaped cactus (Michael Weber/Robert Harding)
Aerial view, heart-shaped group of trees, Ruhr area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany (Hans Blossey/Robert Harding)
Heart shaped flowers (Henryk T. Kaiser/Robert Harding)
Aerial image of heart shaped orchard, near Huish Hill earthwork, Wiltshire, England (Last Refuge/Robert Harding)
Aerial view of the ocean floor, heart-shaped reef, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, South Pacific, Australia (Michael Weber/Robert Harding)
Growth rings of an oak, oak forest in the Madonie, Palermo province, Sicily, Italy (White Star/Monica Gumm/Robert Harding)
Heart-shaped cloud beside lighthouse, Fluegge, Fehmarn Island, Baltic Sea, Schleswig Holstein, Northern Germany (Wolfgang Diederich/Robert Harding)
Golden autumn leaf in shape of a heart (Dirk V. Mallinckrodt/Robert Harding)
Heart-shaped pool in saltmarsh, Scotland (Niall Benvie/Robert Harding)
Heart-shaped pebble (Niall Benvie/Robert Harding)
Heart shaped yellow lichen, Swiss Alps (Patrick Frischknecht/Robert Harding)
Male Frigate bird with red gular pouch that is inflated during the breeding season to attract a mate, Galapagos, Ecuador (Konrad Wothe/Robert Harding)
Person standing by heart shaped puddle (Andy Grellmann/Fstop/Robert Harding)
See more heart-shapes in nature here