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| Tree Spirit? |
Before my visit to Sica (shee-chah) Hollow in northeast South Dakota, I was warned by the
State Parks website that "Sioux legends of Sica Hollow recall mysterious happenings, and you can still feel the eerie spell today." Actually I was looking forward to it (of course) and when I saw this curious shadow I suspected a Spirit was lurking close by, maybe even riding on my shoulder!
Just kidding, sorry. The shadows on the bark were cast by tattered leaves of a nearby sapling. But I was still pleased. It was American Basswood, one of several new trees I met on the trip.
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| Tattered basswood leaves and their shadows. |
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| "TILIA AMERICANA. American Linden." by Isaac Sprague; courtesy BHL on Flickr. |
Hiking in this basswood–maple forest was a new experience. It's hard to photograph a tree when there are so many and the canopy is so thick ... not something I'm used to.
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| American Basswood—trunk on right; green (not tinged red) leaves lower center. |
This is my contribution to 2023's first monthly gathering of tree-followers, kindly
hosted by The Squirrelbasket. I haven't yet chosen a new tree, so I'm posting about a memorable one from last year. Does tree-following sound interesting? If so, do join us :)
The Basswood flowers are fun. Great post--great photos and information. I found your perspectives on hiking with a thick tree canopy interesting. We hike open areas here, but nothing like the wide open expanses of the west, which we've also hiked on occasion during trips out that way. It's such a wild feeling to see such great distances in Wyoming, Colorado, etc.
ReplyDeleteThat was all very fascinating - loved the black shadows.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's interesting to know you have yet another variety of Tilia. I can never even differentiate the ones we have in the UK, which also interbreed to make it even more confusing.
All the best for 2023 :)
Thanks SB. Oh I know about interbreeding trees! Nice to find a simple one.
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