lavendertook

The wet weather brings out the the colors of tree bark and its residents--lichens, mosses, molds, and fungi. The live bark and fallen wood around here just blossomed with color during last month's rainy weather.

This is the bark of a tulip tree, along with its resident lichens and molds. The tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) has the most intricate bark tread of any tree I know, and I find them quite majestic. Their bark is the really expensive brand name winter tire of trees. We have many tall old tulip trees around the lake. I even have a fine specimen standing right outside my apartment window. The old oaks, maples, and sycamores can't hold a candle to the intricacy of these bark patterns. Even the grand old elm tree by the lake with its beautifully venerable bark is outpaced. And yes, consider this a challenge: if you know of any tree with a more intricate bark tread, then please post pics--I would love to see them.

I like the composition of the first pic better, but this one is a better photo for clarity.

I will post lots more pics of tulip tree bark tread so you can get a better idea of just how intricate it can be, along with some other barkish beauties. I really do love me some fine tree bark quite a lot.

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Date: 2013-07-11 11:08 am (UTC)

From:

spiralsheep

no subject

Sweet chestnuts have less intricate bark patterns but they spiral. The effect is difficult to cap but seen with the human eye, especially on a vast old tree, it's deeply impressive:

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/62897388

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenbuchan/8180028604/

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/resources-rx/images/1008/sweet-chestnut-14194-1.jpg

Close-up: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulmccoubrie/8075305717/

Date: 2013-07-15 03:11 am (UTC)

lavendertook

Thank you for the pics. Oh, that second cap is gorgeous! So much color! And I went and took a look through some of his past photostream--beautiful pics of Scotland and fungi.

Date: 2013-07-11 09:23 pm (UTC)

baranduin

Without knowing what it is, the closeups could easily be something else, like dried up mud. Really beautiful.

Date: 2013-07-15 03:14 am (UTC)

Between shirebound seeing my wood pics as stone formations and you seeing the bark as mud, I think I'm going to have to title these pics as Legolas' love letters to Gimli. (-:

Date: 2013-07-13 02:41 am (UTC)

zlabya

I'm amazed at the different types of lichen growing on the tree bark. Now I'll look more closely at the trees in our yard and neighborhood.

Edited Date: 2013-07-13 02:42 am (UTC)

Date: 2013-07-15 03:18 am (UTC)

And linking with my comment to your post, this afternoon I found little dots of bright lavender lichens or fungi at the base of an old oak by the lake. I hadn't seen that one before. My camera couldn't capture the color.