Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883

Tree Talk: Nature's winter palette

It's been a long winter. We've had our fair share of cold, snow, and even unseasonable rain, turning roads and streets into treacherous icy sheets. Look outside and your eyes are met with a sea of white – unless you look more closely...

Evergreens or conifers (the trees produce cones, hence the term "conifer") provide a hint of spring with subtle hues of green. While short-needled Colorado spruce trees are not native to North Dakota, they are one of the most common trees found in communities across the state. Those people who planted spruce, pines and junipers knew we needed a colorful visual antidote for the long, dreary Dakota winters.

Some fruit-bearing plants produce fruit that hangs on beyond the harvest season. This gives the winter-scape some color and provides a buffet for wildlife. Mountain-ash (not a true ash, but a member of the rose family and which is a beautiful ornamental tree) produce clusters of bitter red-orange fruit that are a good source of Vitamin C and are favored by many different species of winter birds. The berries are subject to fermentation if they freeze and then thaw – with reports of inebriated birds staggering about and flying erratically after eating their fill of fermented mountain-ash berries. The seeds are indigestible, so birds are responsible for "planting" mountain-ash trees across their feeding range. A number of flowering crabapple cultivars produce persistent fruits as well, with an attractive show of small red pomes.

The leafless forms of deciduous trees stand stoically in the frigid cold, offering a perch for flocks of hungry sparrows. With a bit of practice, one can identify between the distinctive silhouettes of ash, elm, maple and linden – the most common shade trees likely found along North Dakota streets. Note the diamond-shaped formations of ash bark, the vase-shape of an elm canopy, and the gray flaky bark of a silver maple. Redosier dogwood shrubs have unmistakable blood-red stems that contrast vividly with the snow.

Snow. We see it as white, but it is actually colorless or translucent. Snowflakes are formed when water vapor condenses around a dust particle and then crystallizes into a simple, six-sided prism. Most flakes branch out, grow or merge with other flakes as they fall to the ground, creating countless variations in the final product. It's a safe bet that no two snowflakes are exactly alike. Light does not pass through it easily like it would through glass, but is reflected off each snowflake's multi-faceted surface. This scattering of reflected light diffuses the color spectrum, causing snow to appear as white. It's the same principle that makes the sky look blue (and just as confusing, but just go with it).

North Dakota has a reputation for setting dubious records - some set by Mother Nature, while others are inspired by creative people. In February of 2007, a record 8,962 snow angels were created simultaneously by people on the state capitol grounds in Bismarck. A human palette of snowy artwork yet unmatched.

 
 
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