A different sort of rainbow
As I’ve wandered in nature during the worsening drought in Texas, I’ve seen many plants that have looked stressed, along with some that have died from dehydration. In the case of the riverbank-loving bald cypress tree (Taxodium distichum), usually only the approach of winter causes the tree’s leaves to turn yellow, orange, red and brown as a prelude to falling off, but last week I saw a bald* cypress that was entering that stage already. It was on the west bank of Bull Creek, a stream that I was able for the first time to walk down the middle of because there wasn’t a drop of water in it. Attracted by the color of the reddening leaves against the clear blue sky overhead, I took the picture you see here, which seems to me to show an ironic sort of “rain”bow.
———
* People call the tree “bald” because, as opposed to evergreens, this species does lose its leaves and stands bare-branched through the winter.
(Visit the USDA website for more information about Taxodium distichum, including a clickable map showing where the species grows.)
© 2011 Steven Schwartzman
Oh, that is lovely! Love the details and the beautiful arch! Well done, Steve!
annejutras
August 11, 2011 at 6:38 AM
Merci, Anne. Your picture of a rainbow, taken August 2, appeared on August 3, the same day I took mine:
http://annejutras.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/quand-le-banal-se-transforme-en-remarquable/
Maybe I’m psychic.
Steve Schwartzman
August 11, 2011 at 6:49 AM
Well done. Simple, but dramatic!!
dhphotosite
August 11, 2011 at 8:19 AM
Thanks. One tendency I have in my photography is minimalism; I’m glad you found it effective here.
Steve Schwartzman
August 11, 2011 at 11:20 AM
beautiful and stunning pictures, so relaxing to look at.
thank you,
Lilith
August 11, 2011 at 8:15 PM
Thanks, Lilith. Actually “sunning” makes sense too.
Steve Schwartzman
August 11, 2011 at 9:02 PM
[…] abstract, minimalist view of a bald cypress “rainbow” seems to call for a more traditional landscape photograph so that those of you who are unfamiliar […]
Bald cypresses on Onion Creek « Portraits of Wildflowers
August 12, 2011 at 6:02 AM
Amazing…
Evelyn
August 16, 2011 at 8:44 PM
That’s what nature is.
Steve Schwartzman
August 16, 2011 at 9:09 PM
[…] the drought in Texas continues, many plants are feeling stressed. In some trees, like the bald cypress featured in a recent post, leaves have taken on an appearance that might make people think […]
Distressed sycamore leaf « Portraits of Wildflowers
August 17, 2011 at 5:51 AM
[…] upper left is the most prominent of the bald cypresses, whose “needles,” like those in the close-up of August 11, have turned warm […]
Distinctly indistinct « Portraits of Wildflowers
December 18, 2011 at 7:05 AM
[…] leaf alongside Bull Creek on August 3 (on the same outing that produced the picture of the bald cypress “rainbow”). Ants often move quickly on plants, as this one was doing; if that’s not the way the […]
Ant undaunted « Portraits of Wildflowers
January 18, 2012 at 5:12 AM
[…] with no lying on the ground or contortion necessary on your part—you can look back at a post from this blog’s early days, when the severe drought of 2011 brought on a premature changing and falling of some leaves. The […]
Balding cypress « Portraits of Wildflowers
January 7, 2013 at 6:24 AM
Truly beautiful.
Lynda
January 7, 2013 at 10:21 AM
Thank you.
Steve Schwartzman
January 7, 2013 at 12:31 PM
[…] Here my primary subject was the boulder, but if you’d like to see some bald cypresses in their own right, you can check out a photograph from 2007. For a less clear view (that’s a novelty, right?) you can see a bald cypress in fog. And if you’d like to exercise your imagination, there’s even a bald cypress “rainbow.” […]
Following the creek downstream from Hamilton Pool | Portraits of Wildflowers
September 13, 2013 at 6:18 AM
[…] Did the person mean a weird sort of rainbow? I have no idea, but the search led to a different sort of rainbow. […]
A fourth year of search engine fun | Portraits of Wildflowers
January 1, 2015 at 1:35 AM