Resourceful Ironwood

Mar 11, 2019
2019-03-09-08.44.23

A small ironwood, Carpinus caroliniana, on the edge of Lincoln Pond in the Helderbergs. It looks like high water at some point almost drowned it. But not quite. On the right hand stem, a lateral has become the new leader. How did it happen?

Cropped
From one side, it looks like both stems are decayed and the plant is doomed.
2019-03-09-08.44.46
But on the other side, it has sprouted a fresh crop of roots. They likely used the existing internal root system of the big lateral branch! Phoenix regeneration by means of roots.

Thanks to Laura Potter for spotting this!

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