Trees, Shrubs and Conifers: Pinus bungeana bark, 0 by malusman

malusman wrote:
Hi everyone,

Who's ready to have a good laugh at my expense? I went out to photograph a particular Lacebark Pine in the nursery. It's a nice, dense one and I was certain that it would prove my point. As a matter of fact, I did photograph it and it did seem to hold up a good majority of my belief. I was about to walk back to the truck when I took a look at a neighboring tree. It had had a large portion of it split off in an ice storm about 6-7 years ago and the bark has now gone a nice olive and silvery color. I have added a picture of one specific part of it that really made clear what was going on in my little mystery plot. As I studied it, a new theory began to grow in my mind. A piece of bark falls off revealing a yellow/green surface below it. Depending on how much light it is exposed to, the color transitions from yellow/green to green to olive, etc. If it is revealed to a lot of light, some of it goes white. If not too much light, it stays more neutral. With the few trees that we have, I've not seen the progession to the red tones (my favorite colors on the trees) so I suppose that it comes in at a later date. So, if a tree sheds a lot of bark at once, there will be a a corresponding yellow/green look. If the trunk is exposed to a lot of light (as well as the other elements) it will rapidly progress through the greens and neutrals (or perhaps bypass some steps?) and change to a silvery color. As these thoughts were running through my mind, I thought to myself, "Golly, that progression idea sounds kinda familiar." Perhaps like the quote in my first post? I could have saved myself the running around, theorizing, mental agony, etc. if I'd have just paid close attention to the image from Spring Grove. There is still a lot of old bark that's been shed but still hanging around in crotches or just barely hanging on. Very good evidence of a mass exfoliation to reveal a lot of yellow/green trunk. Couple that with the bright blue quote next to it and it's a no-brainer! Oh well, it was a good mental excersize to keep the old thinker in good shape. As far as VV's quite humorous commentary on 'Spring Ghost": I have wondered about that myself. As a matter of fact, I brazenly suggested the same thing right here at DG, minus the intrigue.

Quoting:Scott,

Who won the arm-wrestling contest? P. b. 'Spring Ghost' is a product of its good fortune of being limbed up and exposed to light for a good number of years to let Housewife #3 scrub whatever she scrubs. Otherwise, it would still be growing in relative anonymity there at the Dawes

To be honest, as I look at the pictures of it, it does appear a bit more attractive than other Lacebarks. But then, I've been fooled by appearances before haven't I? Perhaps I'd better lay off of the Lacebarks for a while.


So, I have this theory about Parrotia bark....................

Regards,
Ernie