Tyler Starr
17 October 2008 from 1500-1515
Location: The Star Trees
Weather: 62 ̊ F, no wind, sunny
General: I realized that I had not yet done an observation on the Star Trees, which seemed odd considering their imposing presence on campus. I walked into the middle of the 5 Giant Sequoias, and began observing. I first noticed the ground, littered with long, brown pine needles, as well as small, about 1-2 inch pinecones. I find is surprising that such a gigantic organism produces such small pinecones. Many of them had an interesting texture (see picture), while others had the classic pinecone type feel. I next went up close to the trunks of one of the trees. Its bark is actually very soft and spongy, perhaps because it is so large and the outer layers are so old. It has many grooves, which are filled with various insects and cobwebs. I wonder how deep into the soil the roots must extend in order to support such a tall, massive structure. Next, I looked up. I noticed that 4 of the trees focus nearly all of their growth to the outside of the ring in order to capitalize on the open sunlight. The tree on the North, however, doesn’t receive as much sunlight via this method, so it has been growing branches toward the middle of the ring as well. One tree had a fairly large branch, maybe 8 inches in diameter, which hangs pretty low down. I decided to feel how sturdy the branch was, and was surprised to find that it was very bendy and flexible. It seems strange to me that trees as massive as these ones are, at the same time, so fragile feeling.
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