An amazing tree that instantly arouses sympathy. Its gnarled, spavined and arthritic branches bespeak some forgotten torment overcome by its indomitable spirit.
My old hands, broken in the past, are beginning to look like that tree! As to the branch twistiness, could this be an explanation: at the end of a growing season a branch stops with a terminal bud. That's where the growing will resume in the spring, the lateral buds along the branch (from which sub branches may form) are chemically suppressed from trying to become the main branch when the growing season begins anew. In some trees this suppression may not function and the main branch stops growing at the place it paused at and starts growing elsewhere. The Sourwood tree of the American South is a good example! This explanation and all credit goes to Heather Wall and her truly marvelous Natural Wonders Substack. The Sourwood tree was discussed in an October 2023 essay she sent out to her subscribers (I'm one).
I think this is a possibility, but it is not species wide, just this odd cultivar. I have signed up for Heather's substack at https://naturalwonders.substack.com/
i love the word 'spavined' also - had to look that up .. it's a beautiful tree.
An amazing tree that instantly arouses sympathy. Its gnarled, spavined and arthritic branches bespeak some forgotten torment overcome by its indomitable spirit.
Spavined – now there's a word to wrestle with. Thank you for extending my vocabulary! I will have more spavined trees to share in the future...
My old hands, broken in the past, are beginning to look like that tree! As to the branch twistiness, could this be an explanation: at the end of a growing season a branch stops with a terminal bud. That's where the growing will resume in the spring, the lateral buds along the branch (from which sub branches may form) are chemically suppressed from trying to become the main branch when the growing season begins anew. In some trees this suppression may not function and the main branch stops growing at the place it paused at and starts growing elsewhere. The Sourwood tree of the American South is a good example! This explanation and all credit goes to Heather Wall and her truly marvelous Natural Wonders Substack. The Sourwood tree was discussed in an October 2023 essay she sent out to her subscribers (I'm one).
I think this is a possibility, but it is not species wide, just this odd cultivar. I have signed up for Heather's substack at https://naturalwonders.substack.com/
You won't regret it! And she should subscribe to yours!