Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Nature Notes - Barking up the Wrong Tree

I was hanging out on my parents' back porch the other day, just watching the leaves kind of bobbing around in the breeze. And, something about the maple closest to the porch caught my eye. Here is a photo of it. Look at the bark. Look at the pattern of where it is rough and where it is smooth. Does that remind you of anything?
Stretch marks! LOL! I wondered whether I was crazy to think that...but, look at the smooth part and then the lines of cracked bark. Anyway, I was interested enough to look it up. And sure enough, I found out that trees with smooth bark, like the birch tree, have bark that is elastic. It stretches and stays smooth as the tree grows. Other trees have rough bark because it is not elastic, so it cracks and "heals" as the tree grows. The maple that I have photographed apparently has fairly smooth, fairly elastic bark. It only cracks some of the time. Here is a photo that really illustrates this. See how there is cracking down on the part of the bark where more growth has occurred? But, on the narrower branches further up the bark is smooth?
I am linking this post up with Nature Notes over at RamblingWoods.com. Click the link and check it out! It is a great place to learn about and share about nature!

13 comments:

  1. Too funny. It is sort of like stretch marks. I was surprised not to get any because I got huge when I had my daughter. Then again that was so long ago, I may have forgotten getting them.

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    1. No you probably didn't get any cause you would still have them if you did! Thanks for coming by. :)

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  2. Oh this is just great....... a tree with stretch marks!!! lol

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  3. Neat! It never occurred to me that these were stretch marks. :)

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    1. Me either until I looked at this one tree!

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  4. Oh this is too funny Libby..I have them..plenty from my one child...I didn't know this about trees and it is so interesting. Great post for Nature Notes..thank you....Michelle

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    1. Yea. I got a kick put of it when I looked it up! Thanks for hosting. :)

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  5. Fine observation of the tree. I was thinking of a scar. Maybe Harry Potter's head.

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  6. Thanks Leora! Lol! I like the Harry Potter reference. :)

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  7. A tree with stretch marks, I am glad to see it is not just me. HAHA!! Great post and I enjoyed your photos.

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  8. Lol! That's one angles on trees I haven't thought about! Loved the thought...and the photos!!

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  9. Trees with stretch marks - who knew? Fascinating :)

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