It's been one of those kind of weeks at work, so apologies for too few entries. On the other hand, a nod of appreciation to boobook48@Flickr (aka Lorraine Phelan) for sharing this photograph of a serene scene from Loch Maree, Scotland. Thank you!
Wikipedia provides a well-rounded look at the historical and biological importance of Loch Maree, so that's worth a read.
Broadly distributed through much of Eurasia, the Scots pines of Loch Maree represent, I suppose, the northwestern present extent of the species, though there are a few populations further west in Portugal and Spain, and it is found further north throughout Scandinavia, Finland and Russia. It also previously occurred naturally in Ireland, but was extirpated there. The Loch Maree population is special; to directly quote The Gymnosperm Database entry for Pinus sylvestris: "Trees from the extreme west of the range, in NW Scotland (Loch Maree area, Wester Ross)...show resin chemistry and adaptations to oceanic climates not found in the rest of the species' range. These trees are thought to have survived the ice ages on nunataks off NW Ireland and/or W Scotland, or are possibly derived from Spanish populations (Forrest 1980, 1982; Kinloch et al. 1986); as yet there has been no research as to whether this small endangered population deserves taxonomic recognition."
Lovely photo, I want to go there someday.
Janeal Thompson
Lamar, CO
Yes - definitely calling out to go there. Beautiful, and thank you for this post
Beautiful photograph. The stillness is much appreciated.
Wow, those are beautiful trees! Such a contrast to the scrubby trees that result when Scots pine is planted here in the US.
The arrangement of light and dark areas in this photo lends itself particularly well to rotating a laptop screen to vary color intensity and saturation levels. Almost like watching a time lapse video of an entire day from dawn to dusk. Lovely to view and interesting to learn about adaptations to the local conditions.
Lovely photograph, thank you. Scotch pines do well here in MN and I have seen many wonderful trees with flaking orange bark.
Pinus sylvestris is truly circumpolar and ours on both sides of both oceans towards the North Pole. Some taxonomists consider P. sylvestris and P. densiflora to be so closely related as to be different versions of the same thing. The jury is still out on that . We should recognize that Pinus sylvestris do much better culturally when there are cool night temperatures, which is why they look so much better in the more northern climates . There are southern ecotypes however and they show clear distinctions compared to the northern forms. A unique race occurs in Mongolia with needles that turn yellow come fall and winter. Much like the discussion a few weeks back about Abies lasiocarpa , the extremes of a population could result in eventual divergence into separate species.
It looks like a perfect place to settle in with my paints. The perfect combination of beautiful land forms, water, sky ( reflected in this case) and botanical elements.
At first glance I thought this was an oil painting! A lovely place to sit and gaze.
There's a lovely meditative quality to this photo. Calming.
Scene of the famous duck paste tragedy of 1926 or was it 1923?
..don't forget to click on the picture to be able to go full page..
just simply lovely
daniel astronomy a day web site today's photo
was taken at hidden lake territorial park
near yellow knife northwest territories canada
the lights are green and trees in dakness tall fine what kind of tree
a fine companion to your photo today - taken one month ago
bonjour
A very beautiful picture. Was just in Scotland and appreciated the efforts being made to reforest Scotland since we didn't visit very many locations where this view is possible. It is the International Year of Forests and the Forestry Commission had organized many special events. Also, the Royal Botanical Garden Edinburgh has an International Conifer Conservation Programme. Given how many threatened and endangered conifer species there are, it was heartening to know of its existence.
http://www.rbge.org.uk/science/genetics-and-conservation/international-conifer-conservation-programme
We very much enjoyed our sojourn there, but do bring your warm clothes and raincoats, even if you plan to visit Scotland in the summer!
Ah, lovely Loch Maree, I think it is the most beautiful of all the lochs in Scotland. Fantastic sighting of red deer on crags above, dominant male roaring to see off other males from his harem. BUT, prospective visitors to Scotland in the summer months, be warned of the Scottish Midge, a tiny biting insect which you can barely see but has fangs like Dracula. Take lots of repellent and a hat with netting to protect your face.