This bark brought to mind a circuit board or
the surface of a computer chip. I encountered
it at the U.S. Botanic Garden, which is right
next to the grounds of the U.S. Capitol
Building in Washington, DC. This is the
bark of a strangler fig tree (Ficus aurea).
This is the bark of a London
plane (Platanus x acerifolia)
in NYC's Central Park. It
was raining that day; urban
foresters know that trees
mitigate surface runoff by
collecting rainfall on their
branches and trunk. The
rain gives the bark even
richer color contrast.
This is the trunk of an old
naked coral tree (Erythrina
coralloides). While I was
looking through the lens, I felt
like I was on a wide freeway
with more lanes than cars.
38 CityTREES
