Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Tamarack

One of the interesting trees on the slopes around the Aerie is the Tamarack. This is a deciduous conifer that turns a beautiful golden brown in the fall before the needles all fall off. Here are a few small ones growing alongside the driveway.
Tamarack 01

One of the Jersey guys who hunts from a camp up the hill called them “mutant pines.” And this from a guy who lives and works in the Pine Barrens of NJ where the pitch pines NEED fire to open their cones and send out needles from the trunk a week or two after the embers die.
Tamarack 02
(The wind was blowing pretty good when I took this and several other pictures trying to capture the golden glow of the tamarack needles. Doesn’t do it justice. Only a full tree would but I’m too lazy today to go for a hike.

1 comment:

Gun Trash said...

I had seen the word Tamarack before but associated it with this craft outlet on the WV turnpike and never gave much thought to just what the word meant. I really didn't know it was a type of pine.

Thank you. Even an old dog like me can learn something new, after all!