The Memory of Trees.

Some trees are thousands of years old. I’ve often thought that wouldn’t it be great if we could tap into the memory of what a tree had experienced whilst it sat there all those years.

There is a 4,800 year-old Bristlecone Pine which grows high in the White Mountains of eastern California. Named after the Biblical figure that lived for 969 years, the Methuselah Tree grows in the Methuselah Grove, which is in Inyo National Forest’s “Forest of Ancients,” where it is surrounded by other ancient trees. The exact location of the tree, though, is kept secret to protect it against vandalism.

Edmund Schulman and Tom Harlan took samples from the tree in 1957 and they discovered it was 4,789 years old. It is estimated that the tree germinated in 2832 BCE, making Methuselah one of the oldest known living trees and non-clonal organism in the entire world. A germination date of 2832 BCE makes Methuselah older even than the Egyptian Pyramids. What a memories that tree would hold!

A recent photography club challenge had the subject of trees and combined with not being able to travel far during restrictions because of the virus gave me the incentive to study some trees on my local walk.

Old trees which had been felled and reduced to just stumps gave some interesting graphic shapes.

This image of a tree reminds me of Edvard Munch’s painting, The Scream.
Gnarled and fissured trees have interesting textures.
I spotted this old tree stump on a hilltop on a recent walk and loved the sculptured effect it gave off.
A more close up shot of the tree sculpture above.
Groups of trees can prove an interesting composition.

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