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  • Ryland Creek
  • About The Ryland Creek Novels
    • Book I: The Last Coon Hunter
    • Book II: An Exceptional Hound
    • Book III: The Legends of Ryland Creek
    • Book IV: The Master of Hounds
    • Book V: The Forest Ghost
    • Book VI: The Time of the Backroads (Coming Fall 2022)
  • Buy Ryland Creek: Books
    • Ryland Creek Saga: Print Books
  • Blog: In a place called Painted Post
  • Ryland Creek E-Newsletter Sign Up (Free!)
  • Reader Reviews for The Ryland Creek series
  • Meet the Author:Joseph Gary Crance
  • Leave A Reader Review
  • Other local authors
    • A.V. Rogers
    • Dave Muffley
    • Dutch Van Alstin
    • Glenn Sapir
    • Judy Janowski
    • Michelle Pointis Burns
Ryland Creek

Something of a Twist

10/4/2020

1 Comment

 
PictureA White Oak also growing conks in the forests of Painted Post.
While many of the photographs of the autumn leaves have been spectacular this season (and with 2020—being 2020—everyone could use a break), here’s a look at what’s below the canopy.

 Am I just hungry?

Does anyone else see a stack of pancakes?  If so, shouldn't they be growing in a sugar maple?  A white oak with a split trunk and conks growing in between.


PictureA maples with a twist in the Painted Post region
What's a Story Without a Twist?

The next picture—that of an ancient maple’s twisted trunk—caused me to do some research.  At first, the twist in this tree made me think it was two trees grown together as one. (And I haven’t totally abandoned that theory.)

But it made me wonder: Do certain species tend to have twisted trunks?  I can’t think of a single silver maple of any maturity—from New York to Ohio—that didn’t have some to considerable twist in its trunk.

So, I did some research.

One website stated outright that there aren’t any species of trees with trunks that always twist, but  (and this theory was backed up per another few websites) any twisted tree's trunk was more the result of  growing (meaning harsh winters and high winds) conditions.

Perhaps that’s true—but I suspect there’s a notable correlation between tree species that can survive in those bitter environments, and thus it seems like certain species' trunks will twist more than another because they can grow in those hard-to-survive places.

PictureA Chestnut of "Rock" Oak with split trunk
​This last picture shows a chestnut oak (also and perhaps more commonly known as a rock oak) with a split trunk with its two trunk twisted around one another. 

What caused the initial split in its trunk so many years ago?  Soil conditions? Weather conditions? Deer browsing? Other? Hard saying.

​Nonetheless, it shows a fascinate twist to behold.

1 Comment
Judy Janowski
10/4/2020 08:40:54 am

I posted something similar on my Life Is a Garden Party page this week. Checked out this bright orange maple tree across the road by the creek this week. It has two trunks. Wondered if two seedlings or if weather conditions caused it. There was another tree of a different species grafted to it. Was going to ask you to ask your dad about it.

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