Thursday, March 2, 2017

Behold the Trees in Summer!

Dr Abe V Rotor

Drynaria fern covers the limbs of a century old acacia tree in Tagudin, Ilocos Sur.  As the tree loses its leaves during the dry. cold Amihan season, the fern profusely blooms.  Towards summer the tree grows back its crown, and the fern takes the back seat, living on filtered sunlight and rain trapped by the tree. 
 Mutualism: the fern its foothold on the tree,
the tree on organic matter from the fern;
together the home of a myriad organisms
each a role in a system they must earn.   


   
Fire tree (Delonix regia) fills the sky in summer with bright red inflorescence 
which daintily fall to the ground. University of the Philippines, Diliman, QC.
The sky is red, but it's not war;
it's celebration - lei and confetti
in the summer sky and ground,
the work of an unseen deity. 

    


Narra (Pterocarpus indicus) regains its crown in summer, while lianas perched on its branches take a breath. Being deciduous, its leaves fall off leaving the tree bare. Soon like in spring, new leaves form and the tree once more stands regal and proud, true to its being the country's national tree.

What secret has the narra the flagship
of our environment and culture?
don't ask the logger and the craftman;
just sit in its shade, it's God sent. ~

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