Boojum tree

Valley—sliding down California past Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and Orange County—to the aptly named city of Phoenix, Arizona. When we arrived, we found a desert brimming with abundance, from horned owls and saguaro cacti to the Fouquieria columnaris. The Fouquieria columnaris? The Fouquieria columnaris is a tree that grows to 50 feet with branches like spiny twigs that stick out at right angles. Short waxy leafs cover the whole thing. It blooms in the summer and fall; the flowers occur in hanging clusters that are a creamy yellow with a honey scent. It is a remarkable looking plant, something my wife compared to an upside down parsnip. The Fouquieria columnaris is not particular about the type of soil in which it is planted, and, as our tour guide at the Phoenix-area Boyce Thompson Arboretum explains, when a specimen was brought north from the Baja peninsula, the first English botanist to lay eyes on it, Godfrey Sykes, thought it so spectacular that it could only resemble the fantasy creature from Lewis Carroll’s nonsensical poem The Hunting of the Snark, and so he dubbed it “Boojum”. It’s fitting that the Boojum name stuck, having been bequeathed in Tucson to a tree endemic to Mexico by man born in England. Arizona is like that. It bears itself with a most unique kind of balance, indescribable except to say that it lacks linearity. About three weeks into our residence, we take a daytrip to Sedona. The Phoenician pilgrimage to Sedona is analogous to the Washingtonian…

Adults aren 't the only ones who are affected by poverty. Children are affected in ways that aren 't seen by everyone. Every day a child goes to school they have to live with the fact that their family is struggling. Children are smarter than what adults think and they know when they are different than the majority of their classmates. From the clothes they wear to the food they eat, children know. Most children who have lived in poverty their whole life know no different, the ones who came from…

When thinking of a tree, it is easy to imagine a strong plant, established firmly into the soil, with a thick substantial trunk and vast outreaching branches. However, what does not typically come to mind is a scrawny seedling, with its new roots hardly ingrained into the soil. One with a toothpick of a trunk that is struggling to support itself. The fact of the matter is that every tremendous tree started as a measly sapling, but not every sapling is able to grow into a tree. The forest can be…

One fall day, on a cool, crisp morning it was quiet enough to hear an acorn fall from the trees, making a soft plunk plunk sound on a nearby leaf. My family and I journeyed out into the deep muddy woods that was sparkling from the way the sun was hitting the fresh dew. The sun was reflecting off our Ranger just right to make it look a sparkly, vibrant shade of red. We were driving on bumpy, muddy trails to check the trail cameras, which were hanging on the trees with a strap and a bright…

Deforestation is Linked to Tiger’s Heading Towards Extinction We have all heard about the beauty of a rain forest and the majestic animals that hide in the shadows, perched in monstrous trees are chirping colorful birds, while basking in the sunlight. The rain forest holds many homes to beautiful and almost forgotten animals such as Tiger’s who are on a brink of extinction. Also, the beautiful trees are producing clean air for everything to live healthier because they are part of carbon…

I took a step. Beams of light blinded my eyes as the dense foliage above me turned into ochre as they descended from the autumnal boughs of the sycamore tree. The trees aligned themselves in front of me and began to undress themselves as their leaves pirouetted gracefully towards the ground. The gentle wind fanned my skin as it rushed to hug my legs, acting like a magnet to the hairs of my face. The dewy smell of yesterday’s rain embraced the grass; the leaves kissed the soles of my feet as a…

The Effects On Deforestation On People In South America Deforestation in South America has lots of different effects on many different things like animals, people, and the world. It doesn’t just affect that specific place, if affects the world. Most fruit and cereals we buy come from tropical places that are being cut down and someday soon we are going to really feel the consequences and it’s going to hurt. The place that is currently the worst is South America. We get so many foods are…

This was repeated for soil, rock, tree, False Brome, etc. for complete analysis. If this was a pull plot, False Brome was pulled within the quadrat and the surrounding area. If this was a pull plot, the steps for determining coverage of plants were repeated. At the corners of the quadrat, tree density was measured by finding the nearest sapling and tree in the direction of the quadrat corner. Using the DBH tape, diameter of the trees and saplings were recorded and tree species was recorded. This…

country. Dominant Plants and their Adaptations In the Savanna there are many diverse plants and many trees. To name a few there is the Acacia Senegal, Baobab, Bermudagrass, Candelabra tree, Elephant tree, and the Gum tree Eucalyptus. The Acacia Senegal is a small thorny tree. The Baobab is a very big tree which appears in the Lion King which is where Rafiki lives. Then there is the Bermuda tree which is a tree that is drought resistant which is very important since during the winter there is…

That meant it wasn’t going to be seen from inside the compound. The outside, however, was another story. She wasn’t sure if anyone did outside sweeps of the compound, but it would make sense, so she had to cover it up. She’d cashed in a favour from an old friend, to help her drag a tree branch, covered in leaves, to put over the hole. It wasn’t the best cover, if someone were to be suspicious of the fallen tree and moved it, her progress would’ve all been for nothing. But, luckily, it seemed…