Purple is a versatile (多面性的) color. Combining the fire of red with the serenity (安详，宁静) of blue, it has the ability to soothe (安抚) as well as excite passion. Purple is prevalent (普遍的) in nature in everything from eggplants (茄子) to amethysts (紫水晶), and humans have adopted it as a symbol of royalty. 
Here, Ross Bridge in Tasmania (澳大利亚的塔斯马尼亚州) is cloaked (像斗篷一样披上) in a mauve (淡紫色) sunset. The beautiful sandstone (砂岩) span (桥拱), built by convicts (囚犯) in 1836, is one of Australia's oldest and is decorated with an impressive array of (一大批) carvings (雕刻).
Towering lavender (薰衣草般的紫色) clouds loom (逼近) like misty mountains over the coast of Scotland's Isle of Skye. Skye is one of the Inner Hebrides, a group of islands off Scotland's west coast.
Two polar bears (北极熊) spar (轻轻捶击) in the snow as a magenta (品红，洋红) sunset descends over Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. Scientists fear that the shifting Arctic climate could threaten the species' survival.
A close-up (特写镜头) shows purple violets (紫罗兰) flecked with (以...作为点缀) bright yellow pollen (花粉) in Washington, D.C. Violet is the common name for this plant genus, but they are more properly called violas.
Lechwe (驴羚) rest as the setting sun casts (投射) a purple glow (光辉) over Botswana's Okavango Delta. Well adapted to wetland environments, these antelope (羚羊) typically feed on the delta's semiaquatic (半水生的) grasses.
Dragon dancers rehearse (排练) for Double Ten Day—Taiwan's annual celebration of the end of China's last dynasty. Their performance includes men "fighting" a dragon amid whirling (旋转的) clouds of purple smoke.
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 (棘皮类动物), closely related to sea urchins (海胆).
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.
Purple tints (染色，着色) land and sky as night falls over lavender fields at Tasmania's famed (著名的) Bridestowe Estate. The plantation is one of the largest lavender farms in the world.