Catching up today with last week's nature study outing, as I have a question for nature-loving readers. This time we spent a very warm and sunny morning at a county park about five miles outside of town. As far as county parks go, this one was tiny--just four acres! But besides having little rock coves and a creek to explore, it also provided a history lesson: we were able to see rock mortars and petroglyphs from the Ohlone Indians, dating back thousands of years. Very neat.
And my question: in one area, the exposed tree roots had these strange spirals. Are these just lovely carvings, or does this happen naturally? And if so, from what?
Hey C,
ReplyDeleteMy guess on the tree roots is that you are seeing a horizontal cross-section of the fibrous tissue in the tree roots. The curly-Q looking stuff I would bet is the xylem:
http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/P/plant_stem.html
Best guess. :)
Jenni
Thanks for the tip, Jenni! Off to check Google Images for what you described... :)
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