A Traveler and his Cat exploring America.





Wednesday, November 18, 2015

More Madrone


The busy background disrupts from the main subject.  Not much can be done about that. 
But they are very photogenic nonetheless.

The Madrone grows only along the western coast of North America from British Columbia down to San Francisco Bay with a smattering of spots south of, then becoming very rare nearer Santa Barbara.  As the tree matures the bark peels away like sunburned skin.  The greenish under layer is very cool to the touch in comparison to the air temperature.  That is why they are sometimes referred to as the refrigerator tree.  Why these trees are scarred as they are I couldn't find a reason.  They do survive fires and this could be fire scars.

9 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

such a brilliant bark or scorched underskin.

biebkriebels said...

They look as if you painted them yourself....

s.c said...

The bark has an amazing red color. Wonder if the tree has also a medical purpose.

The Furry Gnome said...

Amazing red bark!

RedPat said...

So unusual looking!

Spare Parts and Pics said...

Really unusual and pretty. I'll bet a wood carver could make some beautiful things out of this wood. Reminds me a bit of the manzanita we get in the S CA chaparral areas. It has reddish bark, but not nearly this intense. It also survives fire well, and I think the seeds need fire to germinate.

Rose said...

They are really interesting...

genie said...

These Mardone trees are amazing. I like the contrast of the older one in the post before this one with these. Quite a striking difference. Bud just ran a HUGE race this weekend...now 2 in a row. I posted about it tonight. I cannot believe he survived. The weather was grim but his hip survived. Hope he did not damage it any further. Keep up that walking. We will be in touch.

EG CameraGirl said...

How interesting that they survive fires!