We don’t have many opportunities to see a tree from the inside out. Usually, we look at a tree’s bark and try to imagine what the tree looks like inside. Or, we see the stump of a tree that has been cut straight across. This interpretative plaque in the Wawona Grove of giant sequoias shows the anatomy of a sequoia tree.
I was grateful for that information when I was lucky enough to come across a tree on the way to Mirror Lake while visiting Yosemite Valley in Apri that allowed me to get an idea of what the tree really looked like from the inside.
I think that the tree was a cedar – based upon the remaining bark, and the very intense color of the wood inside.
I was interested in the way that the wood is ‘composting’ – here is a picture that shows that the wood is actually forming into ‘chips.’ Some of which have fallen into the stump cavity,
And some of which are still upright in the trunk:
And a little further on, I came across another fallen tree, whose sapwood seem actually to have been bent…
An interesting anatomy lesson!
Mary
Photos taken in Yosemite in April
Posted from Berkeley, CA 6/16/19
Mary's Travel Blog 