Yesterday was cloudy and rainy in the morning so we waited until afternoon to go check out the heron rookery along the Port Royal Cypress Wetlands Trail.
Wetlands is apparently the new-fangled name for what used to be called a swamp.
The flowers are pink azaleas, which are spectacular this year.
Bald cypress are some of the oldest trees in America. There are some in the water near Mobile, Alabama that can't even be carbon dated because they are older than 50,000 years!
At their base they have these knobby projections that are called knees, cypress knees.
Scientists aren't quite sure of their function but they may serve to anchor the trees in the soft, muddy soil.
In the 1950s lamps made from cypress knees were considered fashionable home decor. My parents brought home a knee from their first trip to Florida and I was fascinated with it, especially its name. I'd never seen a bald cypress tree so I pictured the tree as having legs with knees and ankles instead of a trunk. No one enlightened me so I happily kept this fanciful notion until I was a lot older.
I think my dad did make a lamp from the one they brought home, or maybe it just sat around au naturel on the fireplace mantle or something.
This one is for sale on Etsy as a "vintage" item for $162. Knowing my dad, I'm sure he didn't pay more than $2 for our cypress knee.
I'll show you the main event we came for, the rookery, in my next post.
Posted with Blogsy
Fascinating story about the cypress and its knees.
ReplyDeleteI don't know those trees, interesting to read about them.
ReplyDeleteHa ha - Wetlands does sound more "upper class" than "swamps'.
ReplyDeleteLovely to note the AZALEAS. With only two weeks to go before
I am kept up most of the night with "THE MASTERS" at Augusta, Ga,
I should imagine the magnificent blooms along the fairways will
be out in an absolutely stunning display.
Will "Small White Ball Walloper" Paul be trooping off to Augusta National
with you in tow???
Oh how I would have loved to have visited that city in Georgia,
for reasons beyond belief, the rest of Georgia but NOT Augusta??
How I curse now this misfortune, especially as all 5 trips to Atlanta
were all well over one week at the least in duration.
Cheers from a lovely Autumn sunny morning in Brisbane - minus beautiful blooming
Azaleas.
Cheers
Colin
PS: Young Mason might like golf????
Nope, we will not be attending The Masters, but the Writer will have a press pass to the Heritage on Hilton Head Island in April and I'll probably go along one day. You should see all the work going on on HHI, planting and sprucing things up for that week. They have been spraying the flowering bushes with cold water, trying to keep them from blooming early and not being in bloom for the Heritage. Actually, Mason is very into dribbling basketballs right now. The bigger the ball, the better.
DeleteOh - just looked up the dates for 2016. I always thought this Heritage Tournament was
Deletepre-Augusta but it is the week after.
I most certainly would be in tow with Paul. I look forward to your report on magnificent
Hilton Head Island. Heaps of Aussies to be found residing there - golfers and tennis players
(past and still active ones) have homes for the US circuit and easy and quicker access to
European tournaments - travel time is cut down considerably - ha ha.
Cheers
Colin
This is a new one for us, we know Port Royal, but not cypress wetland trail.
ReplyDeleteIt's right by the old schoolhouse restaurant, left side as you are going into town. Maybe 3/4 mile long.
DeleteUnbelievably old trees! I hope our generation doesn't kill them with pollution of one form or another. Those knobbly things look a bit like the aerial roots of the mangrove trees, which also live in water.
ReplyDeleteWe were gifted some knees, one was carved...boy is that wood hard! I have seen them painted like Sata Claus. I was told the knees grow back:) Those Azaleas are drop dead gorgeous:)
ReplyDeleteInteresting about the trees.
ReplyDeleteWe have Wetlands, not called swamps either, same as yours.
You certainly are enjoying so many more lovely scenes and images now than what we are observing right now in Minnesota.
ReplyDeleteI never knew cypress knees grew like that. Actually I always thought they were just part of the tree. I've enjoyed your posts all the way back to the armadillo story. I love the dog getting a bath. :) The big beautiful azaleas are one of the main things I remember about growing up near Charleston SC.
ReplyDeleteI have seen these, "trees with knees", in swamps before. Made for an interesting lamp!
ReplyDeleteI've seen those knees in Southern Illinois a long time ago. I thought they were for breathing or something like that, but I was only guessing. So strange.
ReplyDeleteLove those gorgeous azaleas and interest cypress with "knees" Blizzard forecast for southern Minnesota tomorrow. Bet you won't be missing that...:)
ReplyDeleteLove the trees, they are so different from what we have around here. The lamps made from the knees reminded me of the clock we had in our house when I was young from Petrified wood.
ReplyDeleteI always love a rainy spring day... :) wonderful captures.
ReplyDelete