Travel Tips

It used to be that when I traveled, I'd look at people, and buildings, and mountains, water, you know, things that really stand out. But recently, I took a course in tree identification (of trees in the Pacific Northwest), and now when I walk around, suddenly, the trees jump out at me. It's neat to be walking down a street, and suddenly a tree pops out at you that you would never have even realized was there. And you know what it's called, in English OR Latin! Yes!

On the left is my computer scribble of a tree that is plentiful around the world. Whenever you see those straight lines of trees that are really skinny and tall, with nice fluttery leaves and puffy cotton in the spring, chances are that they are Lombardy poplars. People like them because they can be planted in long rows to act as a big, tall fence that serve as a windscreen. Plus, they look cool!

They are thought to have originated in China hundreds of years ago, but in China, they were big round bushy trees. So what happened?

Well, a mutation happened. A mutation that made the branches stick straight up instead of out, like normal trees' branches. Sticking straight up is not very efficient for the tree, because it doesn't maximize the surface area upon which to catch sunrays for photosynthesis. So probably if this mutation had been left to its own devices, it would have died out (you know, Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest). But as it happened, the Chinese took a liking to its unique form, and decided to propagate the tree.

The other interesting bit about this tree is that the mutation is found only in males! So all trees had to have been propagated from cuttings of a single male tree in China, hundreds of years ago! (This tree can't be planted using seeds). And now they have spread everywhere!

So the next time you're walking around, change your field of vision, and you're sure to see these trees.