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"Ice Gem"
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"Ice Gem"

Kings River Falls Natural Area, Madison County, AR -- Early springtime.

After a night of just-freezing temperatures, water seeping over rocks near the falls froze around a few sprigs of liverwort and one perfect small leaf left over from the previous autumn. Sunlight, shadow and melting ice produced an Ozark gem. In photography, timing is everything -- moments after the exposure, this fragment broke loose from the bluff line.

  • "Ice Gem"
  • Beginnings and Endings
  • "Quercus Fulminatus" - the Lightning Oak<br /> <br /> Found in forest: One mature white oak, approximately 24" at base. Fully water-saturated by early spring rains and rising sap, just starting to bloom. If the question is "How do you make an 80-foot-tall oak tree explode?" then the answer is "Just add lightning."<br /> <br /> Leftmost frame: The only remaining upright portion of the tree, heartwood to taproot. The surrounding soil appeared to have been boiled. Several large sandstone boulders originally near the base of the tree were displaced 10-25 feet from the crater.<br /> <br /> Center frame: Largest remaining portions of the tree. Remnants of the trunk and several branches. Fragments - mostly shredded - ranging in size from 10-12 feet long to matchsticks littered the forest floor in a near-100-foot radius from the remaining stump.<br /> <br /> Rightmost frame: Bark fragment, discovered with neatly placed partial oak blossom beneath. A weirdly delicate arrangement, alongside the display of brute force.<br /> <br /> One finds the most amazing things in the woods...
  • Hop Hornbeam (Ostrya Virginiana) blossom - late June, 2013.<br /> <br /> Also known as "Ironwood" because this native understory hardwood tree produces very dense, resilient wood. Modern uses of the wood range from the mundane (tool handles), to the exotic (high-quality longbows). Historically, Ironwood was used in the Ozarks for any application where strength, durability and rot-resistance was important -- everything from fence posts to sled runners to aircraft propellers.<br /> <br /> Blossoms appear in late spring or early summer in the form of surprisingly delicate catkins. Later in the season, the color shifts becoming light tan to brown. In winter, the seeds are a food source for several native bird species.<br /> <br /> Detailed info, courtesy of the U.S. Forest Service, is available here: <a href="http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvics_manual/volume_2/ostrya/virginiana.htm">http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvics_manual/volume_2/ostrya/virginiana.htm</a>
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