Winter Trees

”…having prepared their buds

against a sure winter

the wise trees

stand sleeping in the cold”

(William Carlos Williams, 1883-1963)

While our web pages were migrating to the new site this past fall (thank you Brad Thome), I was tasked with coming up with a more “modern” leaf logo. I decided that an actual 2023 leaf would be about as modern as one can get. So, my walks with Luna were frequently interrupted as I picked up leaf after leaf, re-acquainting myself in the process with the differences between bur and white oak shapes, while she sniffed her favorite spots a little longer.

I discarded the torn and the chewed, liking some leaves for their symmetric, “representative” lines, others for wonkiness. My dining tables soon resembled my unraked front yard. Brock’s Microorganisms textbook served as an excellent weight for flattening my choice specimens – and was a fitting tool. 

Oak in winter

brown leaves rattle, cling

shelter buds, collect snow-praise

reluctant to fall

                -Slapnick 2024

People know the raspy clatter of winter prairie dock leaves. There is also the softer rustle of oak leaves that fail to fall when others, like maple, aspen, hickory, and birch leaves are competing with migrating birds for sky space. Some oaks, beech, witch hazel and others keep many withering leaves all winter. Even my Japanese maple held on to most of its leaves one year. “The retention of dead plant organs that are normally shed” is called marcescence. To wither, but not fall. …Eventually of course, these slowly decaying leaves do fall (think wind, rain, heavy snow), and leaf buds start the cycle of new tree growth in spring.

So, why keep old leaves? Some (Wikipedia) suggest that a late leaf fall helps fertilize a tree when it needs it most. Or, as my photo above shows, the oak leaf petioles look like they may protect the buds a bit, possible collecting snow, maybe reducing deer browse. But I still wonder….

It looks like some trees decide on purpose to keep their leaves. Of course one might explain not forming a leaf abscission layer by postulating a lack of certain enzymes or a re-mixing of plant hormones in conjunction with day length. Nevertheless, it looks like to me that the tree can control this process, even ignoring some environmental cues, in “deciding” not to let go. 

My drawing illustrates the normal leaf abscission process. Latin for “cut away,” it also refers to the loss of flowers and fruits (limbs too, but that’s another subject entirely).

New Year

The

giant tree,

thinking spring,

gently, slowly, nudges

leaves from last year’s hold.

– Slapnick 2024