Another Metamorphosis - Cupressus sempervirens cones

in Amazing Nature β€’ 2 years ago

I will start my post with the warning that it will most likely become huge. πŸ˜† Huge with regard to the photographic material at my disposal at the moment, which I have taken in my endless observations this year.

And secondly, since these posts of mine are designed to express my wonder and admiration at the amazingness of nature, and not to be a scientific treatise, don't expect me to give you any exact scientific data here (which can be read anyway somewhere else).
Quite the opposite - through my photos I just intend to take you somewhere.
Where could be this somewhere? Of course in the world of the photographed subject. Even if I don't know this object well, well from a scientific point of view.

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I will just give you one name - cypress.

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And more precisely - Cupressus sempervirens.

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This should be the exact name of this tree.

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No, it's not a shrub. I would have say a shrub first, but it has a well-shaped trunk, although it is not a very large tree.

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And today we'll gonna speak about its cones, or seeds.

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When I decided to begin to shoot this tree (they are actually three trees next to each other), it was late May.
And this was the day when I took all these first pictures.

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And what struck me most this day was again the presence of seeds in various stages of development on their branches.
Because you've already saw the very young ones above.

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And here are other in different stages.

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The next pictures were taken in the beginning of June:

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The seed cones are already very well shaped.

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But wait, do you notice something here? πŸ€”
The cone shape, exactly.

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I don't know about you, but I wondered for a very long time why these seed cones are different shapes. Are the three trees next to each other different types of cypress and have different cones?

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No, it's not because of that.
It's about male and female cones.

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And here comes the most interesting part of the post, captured at the end of June.
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This part was actually the reason for writing the whole post.

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When I first saw this on the cones, I wondered if something strange was going on with them. Isn't this some kind of disease? 😁

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Yes, it seemed that something unusual was happening to exactly these ones here, while the other looked fine.

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So fine:
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Yet at the same time, there were cones on the trees at this stage, so this was a clear sign that nothing unusual is happening to the others.
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But still.

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I needed more time, more observations to understand the essence of things and draw my conclusions.

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And these are now the same cones, photographed 3 days afterwards.

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Plus some new ones.

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The transformation is already deepening and spreading over a larger area.

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Branches needed to be hold with hand in order to be photographed, because the wind in these days was too strong.

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But I had to continue my observation.

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So these are already the pictures from the next day.

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There is a progress, even just for one day.

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(in another day)

I think I already understand some things, but what is still unclear to me is why just some of the cones are undergoing this process.

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See here:

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that's an incredible contrast (do you remember my post about the lemon tree?)

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(in another day)

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It has something to do with pollination and maturing perhaps -

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  • things that, as I told you, I am not quite aware of.

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(in another day)

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Yet, there is something that always comes to my mind while observing such transformations - such serious processes:

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I can't help but ask myself the question - is it painful?

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I know, it probably sounds weird. Here we are talking about plant things and... did the scientists and researchers already find out whether plants have feelings and senses?

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(These last pictures were the last taken for the project. So they are the most current in terms of the entire captured process.)

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I'm talking about everything alive in the natural world.
You know what incredible transformations I am referring to.
Imagine a butterfly. And what about the grasshopper's exoskeleton?

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(This day, there was again a very strong wind, so cones and branches needed to be hold by hand and it was though very difficult to focus on them.)

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So, what about maturing of cones? πŸ€”

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I think, there is not much difference.

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What do you think, nature lovers? πŸŒ²πŸ’š


Copyright: @soulsdetour


Hive.jpgSoul's Detour is a project started by me years ago when I had a blog about historical and not so popular tourist destinations in Eastern Belgium, West Germany and Luxembourg. Nowadays, this blog no longer exists, but I'm still here - passionate about architecture, art and mysteries and eager to share my discoveries and point of view with you.
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Bang, I did it again... I just rehived your post!
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Keep growing!🌱 We’ve reposted this.🌳

U are one patient person. :D

Never had a chance to track cone birth, I guess cause they go brownish at that stage and not so attractive, but when green, picking up undeveloped cones was my thing!

They smell so good!

I really admire her patience to follow through some topics...

Picking green cones...sometimes the resin sticks to your fingers, LMAO :P
The smell is awesome, indeed :)
!PIZZA

That's true, I'm not so patient, but I am consistent and persistent in my attempts to clarify things and processes that are unknown and unclear to me (which natural process is clear in principle - each one is an incredible miracle 😊)

I enjoyed that waxy sticky smelly cone cover. :D

Weird, I know! :P

Pleasantly weird, true :D :P
!PIZZA

Ha ha, I wouldn't say I'm patient at all πŸ˜ƒ Things just really changed for me in the last years because of the circumstances. And observing nature became something like a meditative practice. Quite calming and reassuring.
I think the cypress cones are a bit specific, not so 'common' thing, that is why they attracted my attention this year and inspired me to capture them over a few months.
!PIZZA

Thanks to your patience I got chance to see it too! :)

😊
!PIZZA

Not the same as worm to butterfly but still impressive and beautiful! :)
!PIZZA

For me, these processes are comparable, that's why I mentioned them. I could think of no other comparison from the animal world - the other dimension of Nature.
I'm glad you like it, although, you know, I explained why pictures are of this quality - too much wind and using the phone camera, which is always at my disposal, unlike the DSLR.
!LUV

Β 2 years agoΒ (edited)Β 

PIZZA! PIZZA! PIZZA! PIZZA!

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RULE:

  • Always reference the source of pictures and information that you use in texts, even if they are your own .. WE DO NOT TOLERATE PLAGIARISM !
Β 2 years agoΒ (edited)Β 

Hey, would you explain what do you mean by that?

Do you mean, it is plagiarism when I use my own pictures but I haven't marked any one of them as mine exclusive property?

Nope! I explain to you, Amazing nature is a community with a scientific approach, "leaving aside post reflection, or travel", we encourage our users to create content with an ecological contribution! how do you do it? describing a little the ecology or taxonomy of the photographed species and IT IS ESSENTIAL when describing something in our post to use bibliographic sources! your post has nothing wrong or you would already be silenced! I am motivating you to receive better rewards, remember that we are not a photography community!

Β 2 years agoΒ (edited)Β 

Every time I post in this community, I review its rules to make sure nothing has changed in the meantime. Every time I read the following: "Dedicated to all Nature-Lovers out and their posts, no matter if Zoology, Botany, Landscapes or Philosophy ^^" and also: "...Thus we expect more than just plain pictures and are eager to read the motivation behind every single picture that you are sharing". I think I have always followed this, explaining my love of nature and what prompted me to take these pictures. There is no mention of a requirement for sourced scientific data. And I've never done that either because it's not my style of blogging. So maybe you should change your rules so that it is clear and understood by everyone what your real posting requirements are.

@hive-127788
Just to make the things absolutely clear, I personally took all those photos with a device I own.

don't see the negative part see this part :(Always reference the source of pictures and information that you use in texts, even if they are your own)

There is nothing to be sourced here: my own pictures and my own text - thoughts and experience.

Β 2 years agoΒ (edited)Β 

Of course, I understand your suggestion.

The only thing I don't understand is what your suggestion has to do with the initial plagiarism accusation with which you started this whole discussion.

MISS no one accused you of plagiarism you created a confusion, this is how it is written in the rules look:

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It clearly says that in addition to demanding certain conditions we do not tolerate plagiarism! in short, take into account our advice for your next post!