Thursday, November 6, 2014

Deciduous? Coniferous? Or What?

When I was a little kid, I drew two kinds of trees:
the round ones (deciduous), and
the triangular ones (coniferous).
Because those are the two types of trees, right?
(Simple minded, just maybe?)

Now, we do have some confusing ones that look like they would be deciduous, but their leaves are thick and waxy, and don't drop in the winter.  Think rhododendrons, azaleas, and madronas.

Okay, so there are three kinds of trees ;D

And then there are larches.

As we were driving over the pass (think high altitude) Kerry was reminiscing about a trip we took up to Banff and Jasper, in Canada, and talking about some unique trees there, and how he wished he could see them again, "but it's too bad they don't grow here."

...as I was photographing them out the car window and asking him to stop.

"You mean, larch trees, like these?"


Larch trees are tricky.
Most of the year, they look like a normal coniferous evergreen tree.
You know, like a big Christmas tree.


But in the fall, their blue-green needles (leaves)
turn golden and eventually drop.


We hit it at just the right time :D


With the sun shining through them, they seemed to glow.


I'm glad we stopped, because as the highway sloped down this valley we quit seeing them, as these are Alpine Larch, and only grow at high elevations.


I'm amazed at the diversity God put on the earth - so far beyond what is necessary!
Beauty, for no reason, but for His glory :D

7 comments:

Monica said...

Wow! Never seen anything like that before! Thanks for sharing it.

Sara McD said...

I don't think I've ever seen a larch. Very pretty!

I think holly's a nice evergreen.

Herding Grasshoppers said...

Sara, SEE! There you go! Blowing holes in my (overly simplistic) tree categorization ;D

Sara McD said...

LOL, well I wasn't trying to do that because, honestly conifers almost all look alike to me. I am trying though.

BTW, I was going to write that I'm pretty sure azaleas and rhododendrons are deciduous in my neck of the woods but then I looked it up and apparently there are both deciduous and evergreen varieties. I learn something new every time I come here.

Herding Grasshoppers said...

Really? Deciduous? I had no idea! So I learned something new, too :D

Mrs. Doug said...

Called Tamarack in our part of the world. I think the needles on ours are different... shorter or something.

Tamarack is the wood used to make wooden snowshoes because it can be steamed and bent and the hardens well. I guess now few people remember wooden snowshoes. Snowshoes are all "high tech" now and much lighter materials are used. There's something beautiful about a nice pair of wooden snowshoes though.
The Tamarack were beautiful this year around here. I've spotted more than in past years 'cause they stood out like bright lights in the woods after all the other trees had lost their leaves. We had a glorious fall in New England this year.

Herding Grasshoppers said...

Yes, it sounds like there are several varieties. I think they're wonderful! It's so unexpected to have what looks "evergreen" turn such a gorgeous color and drop its needles :D