Winter trees: last chance?
I'm hoping this is my last winter trees post for this season, as surely spring is just a week or two away, right?
A need to stretch my legs let me discover these wonderful trees at a rest area somewhere between Springfield (Illinois) and St. Louis. Mainly sycamores, which are probably the best trees to see around here in the sunlight against a blue late winter sky.
I started snapping photos because of this oak that was just covered with galls:
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| Have you ever seen so many galls? |
And that led my eye to one of the sycamores that still held seed pods -- not galls even though they look very similar:
Then it was just time spent enjoying the smooth bark of these beauties, their forms half-lit and half in shadow...
...and even the picnic table shelter's roof looked good to me:
Surely when it's time for my next trip the leaves will be visible, right?
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Your pictures are beautiful. What do you suppose caused so many galls? Any idea?
Jean: I suspect it might be that this is one of the only oak trees in the vicinity, as the rest area was surrounded by farmland. I'm not a gall expert though.
Fingers crossed although they are beautiful in their own right.
Beautiful! Thanks for sharing.
Why, the unmitigated gall! They are fascinating and I've never seen an oak with so many. Beautiful smooth bark and blue sky!
Peter always answers every question I ask in my posts. :)