Claudio Contreras / Prickly pear (Opuntia sp.) growing on coastline, Socorro Island, Revillagigedo Archipelago National Park (Socorro Islands), Pacific Ocean, Western Mexico, November, Honorary Mention in the third natio...

Jack Dykinga / Hairy bird's foot morning glory (Ipomoea leptotoma) flower over Prickly pair (Opuntia sp) Catalina State Park, near Tucson, Arizona, USA, August.

Floris van Breugel / Beavertail cactus (Opuntia basilaris) in otherwise stark desert, Alabama Hills, Owen's Valley, California, USA May

Alex Mustard / Backlit detail of branching fire coral (Millepora alcicornis) showing the hair like polyps, filled with stinging nematocysts. East End, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. Caribbean Sea.

Jack Dykinga / Great horned owl (Bubo virginianus) chicks nesting in saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea), near Oracle, Sonoran Desert, Arizona, USA, May.

Jack Dykinga / Sunset light on twisted Saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) Sonoran Desert National Monument, Arizona, USA, April.

Ann & Steve Toon / Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) curled up sleeping in autumn leaves, UK, June, captive.

Juan Carlos Munoz / Quiver tree (Aloe dichotoma) Kokerboom Forest, Nieuwoudtville, Namaqualand, Northern Cape province, South Africa, September 2012.

Enrique Lopez-Tapia / Spiny tree trunk (Pachypodium sp) Berenty Reserve, Madagascar.

Franco Banfi,Franco Banfi / Ornate ghostpipefish, (Solenostomus paradoxus) Raja Ampat, Irian Jaya, West Papua, Indonesia, Pacific Ocean

Rolf Nussbaumer / Northern mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) adult fighting with Golden-fronted Woodpecker (Melanerpes aurifrons) female over Texas Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia lindheimeri) Dinero, Lake Corpus Christi, S...

John Abbott / Giant prickly pear cactus (Opuntia echios var. gigantea) amongst carpetweed, Plazas Island, Galapagos