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Anemona ponta rosa
Anemona ponta rosa











anemona ponta rosa

Old cells are sloughed off as a chalky residue, brushing off onto my fingers as a whitish powder.Īspen root systems can remain dormant for centuries, awaiting the right conditions for regrowth. In contrast, the cells of aspen periderm continually reproduce and expand to keep pace with the tree's increasing diameter. In many tree species, new bark cells grow beneath the old layer of dead cells which, as the trunk expands, splits apart to form furrows and wrinkles, as in firs or cottonwoods. Aspen bark has a smooth outer membrane or periderm, thin and highly permeable. The shelter of a grove protects young suckers from sun-scald damage as well. Young trees formed by this process reap the benefits of a reliable store of nutrients and moisture and have a better chance of survival than a seedling dependent on its own roots for nourishment. A parent tree sends up new sprouts called suckers from its own root system once it is firmly established. Although catkin flowers appear in early spring and germination by seed does occur, most aspen groves are the result of natural cloning. Gazing at the downed aspen log and the numerous other standing trees in the grove, I realize that part of this success may be attributed to the tree's singular method of reproduction. It stretches the entire breadth of Canada and covers a broad range of territory across the western U.S., from Alaska to New Mexico. Quaking aspen ( Populus tremuloides) is the most widely distributed tree species in North America. With aspen visible from my bedroom window, and with daily walks through their sheltering groves, my observations and sketches of them have taught me to revere the trees both for their interactions with their world and for their intrinsic beauty. My interest lies not only with aspen's interaction with other species, but with its own biology. Aspen's importance, to the montane ecosystem as a whole and to the myriad of creatures who turn the groves into microhabitats, is immeasurable. Aspen has always held a special place in my perception but since beginning my nature journals, I've come to appreciate more fully its great array of ecological roles. As my eyes increasingly opened to the events of the natural world, I began to perceive the key place aspen holds in supporting and sustaining the biodiversity of our region. I began to keep a nature journal, documenting in words and drawings what I observed around me. Four years ago, my family moved to ten acres of land adjourning the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. I have lived most of my life in the Pikes Peak region of Colorado, among aspen and conifer forests. I run my hands over the smooth bark, thinking of the intense spring winds that probably caused this tree's downfall. This is Ganoderma applanatum, a fungus that attacks and weakens the bases of older aspens, rendering them susceptible to windfall. Old branches, gray with weathering, still arch over fronds of false solomon's seal and golden banner, while at the opposite end of the trunk, white ruffles of shelf fungus sprout from scarred bark tissue. I have stepped and stumbled over it many times while wandering our corner of the forest on the west shoulder of Pikes Peak, but this time I stop and sit quietly down. Across the ground before me, overgrown with grasses and vegetation that seem determined to bind it to the earth, stretches a fallen aspen log. Wind rustles the branches as I step among the trees. Restless leaves sift the ever-brilliant Colorado sun into undulating patterns, wavering across the pale trunks of an aspen grove.













Anemona ponta rosa