Trees, Shrubs and Conifers: Pinus bungeana bark, 1 by malusman

malusman wrote:
Since we've been in a feuding mentality lately, I thought I'd dredge up an old one and see what becomes of it. Normally I wouldn't but I ran into a picture in my archives which raised a question in my mind. What factors play a part in expression of bark color on Lacebark Pine. Vv and I discussed it a bit a while a back and I don't remember what really was decided, if anything. Being an obstinate creature, I held onto my beliefs regardless of the outcome. Since it's snowing and blowing again today, I skipped out of work and was aimlessly opening folders of images from years past. I ran into an image of Lacebark Pine from Spring Grove Cemetery and this thread was born. Wikipedia describes the bark as:

Quoting:Its smooth, grey-green bark gradually sheds in round scales to reveal patches of pale yellow, which turn olive-brown, red and purple on exposure to light.

This description just about fits the picture that VV posted in the earlier thread to a tee. Also, it is fairly similar the tree that I saw at SGC. It is interesting to note that the colors being revealed on the smaller branches are a yellow/green and are very similar to those on the older trunks. Not a dramatic shift in color over a period of years. Now contrast it with the trees at the Dawes Arboretum which have branches and trunks expressing white/silver/gray, even on the smaller branches. Again, not a lot of color shifting over the years. This leads me to my question: are the colors expressed a matter of genetics or environment? I think that I proved in the earlier thread that there is a fungus(or something) that grows on the bark that makes a greenish tinge but doesn't affect the overall color drastically but doesn't explain the variance in the images that I'm posting. Since I can't seem to make links work lately, I've one picture with this post and one following. The first shows the described bark; the second shows the silvery form.

Best Regards,
Ernie