Strange flower and new lens

I added a new lens (AF-S VR Micro-NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED) to my kit recently and was trying it out today at Yoyogi Park.

One of the interesting things that I shot, was this strange little flower.  I was able to take a photo of one with petals and one without.  I wonder what kind of flower this is...

BTW - I have started a blog more focused on photo technique and equipment called F2.0 Photography. The latest post there has more photos taken in Yoyogi Park with this exceptional lens.

New glass wanted

Nikon just released this new super wide zoom lens for it's digital FX and film cameras.  The AF-S Nikkor 16-35mm f/4G ED VR looks like it may be the glass that I have been waiting for.  There's a short blurb about it on dpreview.com but you might as well read about it on the official Nikon website.

If you live in Japan, it's already listed on kakaku.com.  Prices in Japan on 15 February 2010 are shown starting at ¥116,790.