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Nursery logs are extremely common in our forests. They occur when younger trees germinate and then grow out of the stump or trunk of a fallen dead tree, consuming its nutrients. Somehow I've never noticed one doing what this one was doing, actually growing through and in and out of a stump. I'm not sure exactly how it can do that, but there you have it. Most of the trees in this area were Sitka spruce, so I imagine that's what these are, but I'm not sure. Quinault Rainforest, Olympic National Park, Washington.
Embedded
Nursery logs are extremely common in our forests. They occur when younger trees germinate and then grow out of the stump or trunk of a fallen dead tree, consuming its nutrients. Somehow I've never noticed one doing what this one was doing, actually growing through and in and out of a stump. I'm not sure exactly how it can do that, but there you have it. Most of the trees in this area were Sitka spruce, so I imagine that's what these are, but I'm not sure. Quinault Rainforest, Olympic National Park, Washington.