Interesting Biomechanics

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

I hope you dont mind me playing about with your images Dmc? I reay wanted just to put my thoughts on it up see what you all feel?

 

Its a subject i get all giddy about, as much as i do fungi!

 

 

[D Mc]

I hope you dont mind me playing about with your images Dmc?

 

Don't mind at all, hama. In fact, I don't mind you doing the heavy lifting at all!

 

In the first pictures the two large trees are of the same era. When planted, the planting philosophy followed an orchard pattern....rows upon rows of trees. Tight plantings with very little space. I don't believe the radical twisting could have happened very late in life due to the magnitude of the twist.

 

On the last picture, the trees are oriented north and south of each other. The prevailing winds are out of the southwest. Winds rarely come from the east as your arrow indicates.

 

As long as you are working on this, perhaps you could answer the causal of the grain pattern in a Populus deltoides. It was an indistinct, typical straight trunk poplar on the outside. When split, I noticed this over-active, creative cellular flow. This is actually not that uncommon...but I just don't know the cause.

 

I look at these and similar natural occurrences in the tree world and am amazed at what I do not know.

 

Dave

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

This is just a pure hazard guess! I am not THAT clever!

 

I would asume, that being a poplar it has grown qiuckly, too quickly and has had micro buckles throughout its growth, nothing severe, just enough. The tree balancing a fine line between growth and investment of resources to rigidity and strength.

 

or it could just be genetics, like elm is knarly grained, horrible to split!

 

Aint trees the greatest puzzles, so much to learn and do.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

I would also predict if one took a core sample from those acers one would find the grain went helical at a late point, and not early. after all a tree "adapts" if it needs to go helical then it will, if not, it wont.

 

trees grow straight and tall in the forest, very little torsional growth will you see, bar the Prunus avium who is a twisted old soul from birth!

 

its only when a tree gets out above the canopy and starts to broaden does the slight helical start to show, at least thats what I find.

 

as far as I am concerned thus far torsion appears to be a strategy of optimisation, one that is utilised only when needed as it is also a weakness, a balance act of risk and benifits. if a prevailing wind continuosly pressures it it will bend its fibres to suit, to enhance its inner strength, but its a weakness, if suddenly its situation alters a tree that once directed those winds fails, and then leaves it exposed to new forces against the grain.

 

Monkey and me found some birches at straverton this year that showed a great deal of natural twist in thier form, this appears to have some advantages on failure, which appears to be a slow proscess, allows for gradual twist and turn until the major limbs find the ground.

 

its all rather fascinating!

[Bundle 2]

Birches also are a dumb "bastard" as Claus would put it. For no reason, they are contorted and bent and twisted etc....It is genetic to some extent I would suggest!

As to your comment about "advantage in failure"...consider this...?

The problem with that theory...( ahem ..! ) Wood is , as we know, not as strong in compression as it is in tension ( conifers excepted) I am talking now about the pop that Dave posted from usa...

The effect of the concertina (cannot spell that one..! ) is actually weaker in compression as a result of this. Have you read the Sterken paper yer Hama. He talks about this , after Mattheck & Breloer...

Think about the musical instrument the "squeeze box". It is thus made to make operation less tiring on the muso...in either direction...n'est pas!

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

I learnt a lot from those birches at staverton, and whilst it may take me some time to work out and write what I am suggesting I do now believe that this "Crazy B*****d" birch thing has a few advantages, and for a pioneer tree with a short existance "usualy" this would make fine genetic sense, and not as "crazy" as it may appear.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

I learnt a lot from those birches at staverton, and whilst it may take me some time to work out and write what I am suggesting I do now believe that this "Crazy B*****d" birch thing has a few advantages, and for a pioneer tree with a short existance "usualy" this would make fine genetic sense, and not as "crazy" as it may appear.

 

I would addd, there are as we all know, many ways to skin a cat, many strategies for getting round the cruel tricks the trials of life play on all organisms. trees have evolved many strategies in many paths, the birch it would seem has invested more in form than one might suspect.

 

Given time and a few more decent veteran birches to study and read and I may just have something interesting to say for a :laugh1:change!

[Bundle 2]

I certainly would nt call your postings dull Hama...!

Ill bet that "longevity" is the key here. That and the sheer "profusion" of the repoructive process of birch.....!

 

If I had a quid for every birch Ive killed, I d be a millionaire...lol!

[David Humphries]

Check the butress flare on this Oak.

 

poor thing is thinking it's a fig

 

 

The tension forces must be a tad more than significant.

 

 

Has Colybia in between the two cental butresses.

.

[Giles Hill]

I think this one tells it's own story.