Look Closer
How Low Can You Go?
Posted by Viewfinder (Bradenton, FL, United States) on 25 September 2007 in Plant & Nature and Portfolio.
This is a daguerrotype-style, post-processed photo of part of a gumbo-limbo tree growing at the DeSoto National Monument in Bradenton. I never heard of this kind of tree, nor had I ever seen one before moving to Bradenton. When I first saw a gumbo-limbo, it reminded me of a giant jade plant -- not because of the leaves, but because of the rubbery-looking growth patterns of the trunk and branches.
For those with inquiring minds, some factoids...
(courtesy Floridata.com, http://www.floridata.com/ref/B/burs_sim.cfm ) -- Gumbo-limbo is a medium sized fast-growing tree, that can attain height of 20-50 ft (6.1-15.2 m). The tree's massive trunk is 2-3 ft (0.6-0.9 m) in diameter and supports huge irregular branches and a spreading, rounded crown. The two largest gumbo-limbos in the US are at the St. Mary's Star of the Sea Church in Key West and on Captiva Island. In South Florida, gumbo-limbo has been called the tourist tree because of its red, flaking skin.
Hee-hee... Tourist tree. How low can you go?
Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z6
1/125 second
F/5.6
ISO 50
378 mm (35mm equiv.)