Mark P Betts
The Mighty Cottonwoods of White Sands National Monument
Why mighty? Because, unlike the trees and Ents of Fangorn Forest, these cottonwoods can not move. When a dune migrates past them, they have no choice but to grow furiously upward, trying to keep their crowns above the encroaching sand.
Eventually the sand dune moves on and the tree re-emerges. The crowns are grotesque, a product of the attempt to get as many leaves as possible above the sand dune.
The crest of the dune has just migrated past this old tree. It did have green leaves at the top but I don't know if it survived the ordeal - I hope it did.
When you are walking around in the dune field and you see a "bush" that is growing on the crest of the dune, it might just be something much different.
The only place any of the plants can get water is at the base of the dunes where the dunes rest on the hard playa surface. Even the soap yuccas on the dunes have their roots down at the playa hard pan level.
S0A7433
The Mighty Cottonwoods of White Sands National Monument
Why mighty? Because, unlike the trees and Ents of Fangorn Forest, these cottonwoods can not move. When a dune migrates past them, they have no choice but to grow furiously upward, trying to keep their crowns above the encroaching sand.
Eventually the sand dune moves on and the tree re-emerges. The crowns are grotesque, a product of the attempt to get as many leaves as possible above the sand dune.
The crest of the dune has just migrated past this old tree. It did have green leaves at the top but I don't know if it survived the ordeal - I hope it did.
When you are walking around in the dune field and you see a "bush" that is growing on the crest of the dune, it might just be something much different.
The only place any of the plants can get water is at the base of the dunes where the dunes rest on the hard playa surface. Even the soap yuccas on the dunes have their roots down at the playa hard pan level.
S0A7433