The next morning, we find the ground strewn with flowers — a gift from the storm. They have been wrested from the leafy canopy of tulip trees, which at our site are well over 100 feet tall.
Week 8 of spring in my NY Times series
nybg:
Taylor Kubota of Science Online has a terrific Q&A with NYBG’s Dean and Vice President for Science, James S. Miller. He even divulges one of the coolest parts of being a botanist: You get to name plants after your family members!
I’m brimming with botanical pride!
Poetry Pairing for Spring
New York Times Learning Network paired my piece on spring with a poem by Li-Young Lee called, “Secret Life” - I love it!
New York Times series: “Spring Comes to a NYC Woodland”
The frame of the photograph above will not change between now and the summer solstice on June 20. But everything within it will.
If so, please come and say hello. I’m speaking with the amazing Yasser Ansari of Project Noah on building connections to nature in urban environments on Friday. See you in Austin!
First Photos of 298 Million Year Old Forest Unveiled.
“ Scientists have just released the first photos of the incredible 298 million year old buried forest that was recently found below a coal mine in Yuda, China. The extensive array of tree and plant fossils that were photographed were found still arranged in a forest landscape - a first for fossil discovery. The entire forest was covered by fallen ash, which erupted from an ancient volcano, preserving it for eternity.
Had it not been for the volcanic eruption, the Permian Era forest and trees would’ve been transformed into coal over the millions of years that have passed since it thrived on the super continent of Pangea.
The vegetation and animal species that grew over the layer of volcanic ash have compressed to form the coal mine that lies above the discovered site.
The fossil forest is located in Inner Mongolia, in the northern region of the Helanshan Mountains.
The area preserved by the volcanic ash is suspected to be a staggering 6.2 miles in length - almost the full length of the coal mine, which is 7.72 square miles in area.
Thus far, the scientists have explored only 10,763 square feet of the ashen fossil forest, uncovering a multitude of leaf, tree, and plant fossils, some of which still bearing a greenish hue.An array of ferns have been found in addition to extinct trees with leaves still attached to the stem, and branches leading down to their trunks.
The volcanic fossils give an accurate indication of where each plant grew in relation to the others in the forest.
Scientists were lead by University of Pennsylvania’s Hermann Pfefferkorn.
The team will continue to explore and document this “Permian vegetational Pompeii.”
They will continue to catalog this nearly 300 million year time capsule as they go on. “
(via dendroica)
Happy Winter Solstice! A preview of the final Autumn Unfolds (my NYTimes series) that posts tomorrow - a shot of Inwood Hill Park in Manhattan. Note the sharp light and long shadows. Winter has arrived!
A new way to see urban nature - my New York Times video
Poetry Pairing | ‘That Time of Year Thou Mayst in Me Behold’
The New York Times’ Learning Network paired my “Autumn Unfolds” series to a Shakespearean sonnet. Not too shabby!
My friend Matthew Will’s cabinet of curiosities. What’s in yours?
