Trees

Banyan trees here in Goa are my fav. Home to king cobras, saddhus and perma-fried hippies alike. Too bad they are being felled left right and centre to make way for apartment blocks.

Banksia integrifolia

Socotra Dragon Tree / Dracaena Cinnabari / Dragon Blood Tree
(on Socotra, Yemen, Arabia)

These can get really, really tree like. So one time when I was a kid we were staying in a guesthouse somewhere and they had one of these in the garden and my brother and I were climbing it and then we got towards the top and all of a sudden we were grabbing straight into the needles.

Not cool.

  On 2/1/2021 at 9:38 PM, ignatius said:

my street this fall. all leaves gone now after the leafpocalypse

columbia park.. more or less in the neighborhood. i pass it on bike rides on some routes. 

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So sexxayy. Portland has the best parks. 

My wife has family close to Laurelhurst Park. I love that place.

  On 2/2/2021 at 5:18 AM, kichiguy said:

Banyan trees here in Goa are my fav. Home to king cobras, saddhus and perma-fried hippies alike. Too bad they are being felled left right and centre to make way for apartment blocks.

 

 

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I remember seeing those on Okinawa, about the only trees I ever enjoyed climbing on. You could easily hang out in them as a kid. 

I've been fascinated by aspens ever since my wife pointed them out the first time I visited the Lincoln forest in NM. They grow as connected colonies and the largest is in Utah. It is estimated to be 80,000 years old, 100+ acres in overall footprint and the heaviest single organism on earth.

The story of Prometheus is tragic. It was the oldest non-clonal tree known and ironically confirmed when it was cut down.

The current record holder living - and hopefully to become the longest living known - is called Methuselah and is  4,852 years old. It's exact location is secret and protected by the USFS.

I work in surveying and I had to review a lot of railroad surveys in Far West Texas over a year ago. Some of them were recorded by Jacob Kuechler who along with being a land surveyor was an early pioneer of dendrochronology. It was cool to review copies of his original notes. He was a German Texan and notably one who had to flee the state to Mexico during the Civil War. He along with other non-Anglo immigrants refused to be conscripted into Confederate militias. Many of his peers were killed or captured and executed.

  On 2/3/2021 at 4:25 AM, J3FF3R00 said:

 

So sexxayy. Portland has the best parks. 

 

My wife has family close to Laurelhurst Park. I love that place.

yeah.. there are great parks and outdoor spaces. these days the city plays whack-a-mole clearing camps out of the parks, sidewalks, medians etc.. there was a big one in laurelhurst park most of last year. eventually got swept but i think it's partially back. there's real problems ballooning in this town. whole west coast is pretty rough in places really. boondockers. 

but the trees.. yes. epic and everywhere greenery is a nice thing. 

Acers are easy on the eye. They get around a bit too

  On 2/2/2021 at 10:29 AM, prdctvsm said:

Banksia integrifolia

Banksy makes trees too? weird

  On 2/2/2021 at 10:31 AM, MaartenVC said:

Socotra Dragon Tree / Dracaena Cinnabari / Dragon Blood Tree
(on Socotra, Yemen, Arabia)


 

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those trees and those similar 'odd' ones (to my Western eyes) always look so prehistoric*. absolutely love them.

(will probably post some cool ancient trees itt one day unless someone else does)

  On 2/3/2021 at 4:38 AM, joshuatxuk said:

I've been fascinated by aspens ever since my wife pointed them out the first time I visited the Lincoln forest in NM. They grow as connected colonies and the largest is in Utah. It is estimated to be 80,000 years old, 100+ acres in overall footprint and the heaviest single organism on earth.

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yes! one of my spots i'd love to visit one day. seems only fitting to visit this eternal beauty in the short time i happen to be sharing the planet with them.

  On 2/3/2021 at 4:50 AM, joshuatxuk said:

The story of Prometheus is tragic. It was the oldest non-clonal tree known and ironically confirmed when it was cut down.

The current record holder living - and hopefully to become the longest living known - is called Methuselah and is  4,852 years old. It's exact location is secret and protected by the USFS.

I work in surveying and I had to review a lot of railroad surveys in Far West Texas over a year ago. Some of them were recorded by Jacob Kuechler who along with being a land surveyor was an early pioneer of dendrochronology. It was cool to review copies of his original notes. He was a German Texan and notably one who had to flee the state to Mexico during the Civil War. He along with other non-Anglo immigrants refused to be conscripted into Confederate militias. Many of his peers were killed or captured and executed.

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had heard about Prometheus/Methuselah at some point, didn't realize the groves were in Nevada tho, interesting. i bet those places are really interesting to visit, never gone hiking in Western America yet (White Sands is my westmost nature venture thus far). didn't know about the Kuechler or those immigrants refusing to join in the Civil War either, really cool you got to see copies of the original stuff from that long ago directly related to your area of expertise.

  On 2/3/2021 at 5:28 PM, cwmbrancity said:

Acers are easy on the eye. They get around a bit too

don't think i've ever heard of them, but they look lush. thick leaves but also with some varied layering makes for a nice look, and obv the colors are popping

  On 2/3/2021 at 4:25 AM, J3FF3R00 said:

My wife has family close to Laurelhurst Park. I love that place.

gorgeous knotty babe in that link

Canada has some cool trees I guess? The Great Bear Rainforest is pretty exceptional:

This image below is from right around the Ontario/Quebec border.

  On 2/2/2021 at 5:18 AM, kichiguy said:

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is that @diatoms???

fucking palmtrees...

these are some of the oldest palms in L.A., planted back in the 1870's:

not sure how widespread this knowledge is, but everyone knows palms are synonymous with SoCal / L.A. the ones pictured above are the only species native to California. all the other varieties were imported back in the late 1800's/early 1900's as L.A. started rapidly developing. they began to be planted by Christian missionaries, as the palm can be tied to Christian imagery (e.g., palm Sunday). and then when Hollywood and the California dream vibe took off, they were trying to replicate tourist places in southern Europe, and the palms became symbols of warm weather, vacation, relaxing, etc.

any time I visit Southern California, I'm always so jealous of all the incredible front yards you see in even an average looking neighborhood. tons of interesting looking and colorful plants and trees that thrive there thanks to no freezes killing/damaging them, unlike what happens here in Texas. it sucks that its blazing hot here for so much of the year, and then we get like one freeze in January that will knock out a lot of the tropicals.

  On 2/3/2021 at 4:50 AM, joshuatxuk said:

The story of Prometheus is tragic. It was the oldest non-clonal tree known and ironically confirmed when it was cut down.

The current record holder living - and hopefully to become the longest living known - is called Methuselah and is  4,852 years old. It's exact location is secret and protected by the USFS.

I work in surveying and I had to review a lot of railroad surveys in Far West Texas over a year ago. Some of them were recorded by Jacob Kuechler who along with being a land surveyor was an early pioneer of dendrochronology. It was cool to review copies of his original notes. He was a German Texan and notably one who had to flee the state to Mexico during the Civil War. He along with other non-Anglo immigrants refused to be conscripted into Confederate militias. Many of his peers were killed or captured and executed.

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That story is indeed awful. My wife and I went up to the Bristlecone Pine forest where Prometheus & Methuselah were/are and it is a crazy place. It's on top of a mountain about 10,000 ft elevation overlooking death valley to one side and over to mount whitney on the other. Those trees are literally like the only living things up there and they grow out of this slate rock that looks like some massive black shattered ceramic tile or something. It's pretty wild. The drive up the mountain is terrifying because it's basically a single lane dirt road on the mountainside and big LandRover's practically run you off. Worth the trip tho if you're ever in CA/NV.

  On 2/3/2021 at 8:04 PM, zero said:

not sure how widespread this knowledge is, but everyone knows palms are synonymous with SoCal / L.A. the ones pictured above are the only species native to California. all the other varieties were imported back in the late 1800's/early 1900's as L.A. started rapidly developing. they began to be planted by Christian missionaries, as the palm can be tied to Christian imagery (e.g., palm Sunday). and then when Hollywood and the California dream vibe took off, they were trying to replicate tourist places in southern Europe, and the palms became symbols of warm weather, vacation, relaxing, etc.

any time I visit Southern California, I'm always so jealous of all the incredible front yards you see in even an average looking neighborhood. tons of interesting looking and colorful plants and trees that thrive there thanks to no freezes killing/damaging them, unlike what happens here in Texas. it sucks that its blazing hot here for so much of the year, and then we get like one freeze in January that will knock out a lot of the tropicals.

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Not to be a naysayer/downer but those yards only look the way they do because people pump an absurd amount of irrigated water on them. LA hardly gets rain. If you ever drive through Beverly Hills or other ritzy neighborhoods, the streets have streams of yard runoff that sometimes stretch for several blocks. It's pretty shocking how much water just gets wasted when its been in a perma-drought for years.

  On 2/3/2021 at 8:51 PM, J3FF3R00 said:

Not to be a naysayer/downer but those yards only look the way they do because people pump an absurd amount of irrigated water on them. LA hardly gets rain. If you ever drive through Beverly Hills or other ritzy neighborhoods, the streets have streams of yard runoff that sometimes stretch for several blocks. It's pretty shocking how much water just gets wasted when its been in a perma-drought for years.

good point, but I suppose I was thinking of all the cacti / succulent type plants people plant there that are supposed to not need as much water - xeriscaping or whatever it's called. yeah growing a grass yard in southern California would seem to be an uphill battle thanks to the little rain fall that happens there.

  On 2/3/2021 at 8:51 PM, J3FF3R00 said:

 

Not to be a naysayer/downer but those yards only look the way they do because people pump an absurd amount of irrigated water on them. LA hardly gets rain. If you ever drive through Beverly Hills or other ritzy neighborhoods, the streets have streams of yard runoff that sometimes stretch for several blocks. It's pretty shocking how much water just gets wasted when its been in a perma-drought for years.

Yeah I visited LA in 2013 and you can tell a drought was happening in all of the non-upper class neighborhoods. Fines are a drop in the bucket for the wealthy and major financial incentive for anyone living paycheck to paycheck. 

Parts of California are some of the most tapped out in the world. There are pockets of the San Joaquin Valley that have literally dropped a few stories in ground elevation. The amount of water diverted to agriculture is incredible.

https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/location-maximum-land-subsidence-us-levels-1925-and-1977
https://www.usgs.gov/centers/ca-water-ls

Example in Mexico City (albeit that's another can of worms, the city was literally built upon a lake/marsh basin)

West Texas has had it's examples from drilling and fracking and mid-century oversights in the form of sinkholes and and ruined springs.
 

  On 2/3/2021 at 7:19 PM, whosebrian said:

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I want this!!! Beautiful!

“I love a tree more than a man.”

— Ludwig van Beethoven

Some more Ficus from my side. These Living Root Bridges took my breath away when I saw them a few years ago. What really stood out was how the knowledge to build and maintain these bridges passes down from generation to generation (trees planted 250 years ago etc). Beyond bridges, the Khasi Tribe's also make living root ladders and even bleachers!

^Pretty advanced biotechnology there. 

  On 2/3/2021 at 11:44 PM, xox said:

“I love a tree more than a man.”

— Ludwig van Beethoven

me and Beethoven are soul brothers. if only he was as talented musically as i am.

  On 2/3/2021 at 11:23 PM, joshuatxuk said:

Yeah I visited LA in 2013 and you can tell a drought was happening in all of the non-upper class neighborhoods. Fines are a drop in the bucket for the wealthy and major financial incentive for anyone living paycheck to paycheck. 

Parts of California are some of the most tapped out in the world. There are pockets of the San Joaquin Valley that have literally dropped a few stories in ground elevation. The amount of water diverted to agriculture is incredible.
 

https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/location-maximum-land-subsidence-us-levels-1925-and-1977
https://www.usgs.gov/centers/ca-water-ls

Example in Mexico City (albeit that's another can of worms, the city was literally built upon a lake/marsh basin)

West Texas has had it's examples from drilling and fracking and mid-century oversights in the form of sinkholes and and ruined springs.
 

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whoa. that's disturbing.

  On 2/3/2021 at 7:19 PM, whosebrian said:

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nice, that last one looks heavily painted tho. not that i kept up with the bonsai thing in general but i started watching the below channel a year or so ago and never realized just how often they do that sort of thing, and lots of other techniques are pretty strange... implanting bark onto other trees, obviously lots of grafting and so forth...makes it seem like some sort of bastardized monster of 'beauty' which doesn't appeal to me really. interesting for sure, i mean look how awesome those first two are, but my personal sensibilities tend towards the purer for something like that

  On 2/6/2021 at 4:14 PM, auxien said:

me and Beethoven are soul brothers. if only he was as talented musically as i am.

 

If that’s the case, you are my soul brother 

...but yes, his tracks were kind of hit or miss at best! He should have tried harder, right?! And that deafness? That was an excuse, a lie to hide the fact that he was just another mediocre composer. 
But hey... he didn’t fool us!