Friday, December 23, 2011

Observation: Palm sentinels of California landscape.........

The slender palms topped with a crown of fronds, appear as if piercing the cloud -speckled blue sky. In an abstract thought, these palms seem to me as the sentinels of California.


A circular crown of a Thread palm (Washingtonia robusta) against the blue sky. I see an artistic beauty in this symmetrical pattern of the fronds arranged in a whorl, hope you do too..

Typical California sky...where palms reach to the sky..

A row of wind-bent lanky thread palms... noticed the twist in the trunk at almost the same locus...assume, a strong gale blowing from the front irreversibly bent these towering monocots. I salute their resilience against the high wind.

It's the fan shaped frond of thread palm ....from the leaf blades of a young palm, beautiful strands of fibers are dangling. The artistically-arranged  leaf stalks have toothed edges, said to be capable of causing injury. The full-grown palm has a monumental height, so inspecting these fine details are not possible at that stage.


Delicate flowers of Thread palms in dropping clusters, swaying garcefully stroked by the cold wind...despite blooming up high, bees hover about collecting nectar...


Soon, they will turn into tiny nuts...

Surya in front of a row of Washingtonia palms in Los Angeles Zoo. The green fronds enhance the landscape beauty. But, the dry, tinder-like saggy leaves still attached to the trunks render the palms an unkempt look, also pose the threats of fire hazards. To avert the menace, arborists are employed to trim the palms.

Its  fronds with curly fibrous threads....

A clean-shaven and a bearded California fan palm soaking in the setting sun...

A row of palms by the shore......its La Jolla....

The fronds are tied to give them a neat shape.....


I remember this grove is on the shore of Ocean beach........

A n island of Canary island palms......

This Avenue is in my neighborhood in Irvine, framing the Santa Ana mountains........

Pretty curtains.......

Bees are collecting nectars, birds forage on the flowers too........

These tiny fruits are food too, for birds and squirrels.......

The panicles at different stages......

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