Everyone has heard of the “bee’s knees.” But what about the “tree’s knees?” Yes, just like bees, some trees have knees. The bald cypress, Taxodium distichum, native to the southeastern United States, can have spectacular knees. Like the golden larch (Pseudolarix amabilis), dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides), all larch species (Larix spp.), and the Chinese swamp cypress (Glyptostroboides pensilis), the bald cypress, as the common name would suggest, is a deciduous conifer, with magnificent copper to bronze colors…
Posts tagged as “Ned Friedman”
“Ice flowers?” Never heard of them. That is, until last Tuesday, when the buzz at the Arboretum was all about the ice flowers on Isodon henryi (593-2010*A; 鄂西香茶菜), a Chinese perennial herbaceous plant in the mint family. Needless to say, I was there first thing the next morning! And this is what I saw.
The Arnold Arboretum came into existence on March 29, 1872, and is marking 150 years of preserving biodiversity and connecting plants and people. As part of the anniversary celebrations, the Arnold Arboretum welcomes everyone to the first public-observance of its traditional Lilac Sunday event since 2019.
Plant graduation season, an annual rite of passage at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, is an occasion for pomp and circumstance as well as a reminder of our connections to nature and the power of plants.
