Fire Children Circles
I have been fascinated by the circles of oaks, madrones, manzanitas and redwoods in the Santa Cruz Sandhills in Henry Cowell, Quail Hollow and elsewhere. I learned from my Manzanita ID Field Guide that manzanitas sprout like this after a fire has killed the original trunk, but left the burl, often underground! Or a tree has been chopped down, often in the case of old-growth redwoods, leaving the roots and burl underground, to sprout these "Fire Children Rings".... I invented this name out of a need to describe the phenomena to myself, as I often did for plant names before discovering iNatch.
I love the tenacity of these plants and their fire-adaptivity: evidence of the flexibility of DNA to respond to any situation.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/55308354
Observations
Photos / Sounds
What
Crinite Manzanita (Arctostaphylos crustacea ssp. crinita)Observer
lilithohlson
Photos / Sounds
What
Oaks (Genus Quercus)Observer
lilithohlsonDescription
Up near the observation deck and Eagle Creek in Henry Cowell. I call these "Rings of Fire Children" since as far as I can tell, this happens when the mother plant dies/burns and the children sprout from the burl!
Comments
Sandhill plants sprout from burls underground after fire or death. I call them Fire Children Rings
Add a Comment