Graham wrote
>
> I don't know what is keeping this tree up, much less how it gets nourishment
> to
> the foliage. It looks like it is uprooting itself with a view to walking off
> and
> finding a better spot. One with a little less sh.. er fertiliser.
>
> Olympus OM2 SP : Zuiko 35mm f2 : green filter : Kodak T400CN
> http://www.geebeephoto.com/2005/05168.htm
>
> Graham
> http://geebeephoto.com
Looks like a very old and damaged hawthorn?
Sheep sheltering under it have carted a lot of the soil from around the roots,
away on their hooves; something has wounded the trunk with the result that
all the heartwood has rotted and all that remains of the trunk is a shell of
living sapwood. Most of the older branches have died, rotted and fallen off
(because the damaged trunk and roots could no longer support their way of
life), so that only small branches from adventitive buds are now growing.
Just goes to show just how some plants (and animals) will hang on to life
against all odds.
Reminds me of a photo of a similar-looking very old Olive tree in Tuscany,
Italy, in a remaindered book I bought a couple of days ago: TREES, A
Celebration in Photographs. ISBN 1-86953-143-4, pp 160. Published David
Bateman, Author Graeme Matthews (a NZ photographer I had not previously
heard of), introduction by David Bellamy. It's a classic large coffee-table
book, with a lot of very inspirational shots. Good value for $NZ 20.
Brian
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