alexdelfava
Needle-like Leaves
This photo was taken on 30/1/17 in the long leaf pine forest B on UNCW's campus. I assume it's a juvenile long leaf pine tree; however, I have no experience identifying plants so that could be wrong. The intriguing thing I found about the plant is the needle shaped leaves. These leaves have a very low surface area with which to absorb sunlight. As a result of this, needle-like leaves can often be found higher up in the tree canopy to limit the amount of sunlight the plant takes in. These leaves can also last multiple seasons, which is beneficial for the organism because it doesn't have to expend energy to making more leaves every season. In addition, the leaves can be used to gather sunlight in the winter during times of moderate temperatures.
Needle-like Leaves
This photo was taken on 30/1/17 in the long leaf pine forest B on UNCW's campus. I assume it's a juvenile long leaf pine tree; however, I have no experience identifying plants so that could be wrong. The intriguing thing I found about the plant is the needle shaped leaves. These leaves have a very low surface area with which to absorb sunlight. As a result of this, needle-like leaves can often be found higher up in the tree canopy to limit the amount of sunlight the plant takes in. These leaves can also last multiple seasons, which is beneficial for the organism because it doesn't have to expend energy to making more leaves every season. In addition, the leaves can be used to gather sunlight in the winter during times of moderate temperatures.