Saturday, January 21, 2012

LITTLE LEAF


The courtyard tree is the city is a Chinese Elm, Ulmus parvifolia, a pretty deciduous elm from China and the East. It is hardy with an upright trunk of attractive flaking reddish browny tan bark and the branches arch and spread like umbrella spokes and in summer contain the little yard in a luscious green.

Parvi-folia: little leaf, poor insignificant leaf. It is a lovely leaf I think, small and delicate, with slightly serrated margins and strong ribbing to give it strength, and character. Now, we are just one month past the midsummer solstice, and already age is wearying them though autumn seems so distant still.

Some are falling with a full compliment of chlorophyll, green, and settle and wither on the table alongside my favorite rocks.


But with each day, more and more are yellowing, their energy systems run down, and lighter drift in the air. And in the breeze and float their fall is broken by the delicate lacework of the spiders whose lacy webs stretch from most unlikely place to most unlikely place.


The spiders and their webs are welcome (if not that sticky surprise on your face) and now with markers, are so much easier to dodge and preserve.



3 comments:

Scott said...

Hi,
Been doing some wandering myself. Stopped By Prufrocks. Liked your thoughts. I appreciate observation.Parvifolia was introduced in the states after Dutch Elm disease decimated U.americana. Excellent discussion of it's attributes. Especially liked your feelings on the leaf.

wanderer said...

Hello Herringbone. Thank you for your kind words and I've already been down your path (thanks to Susan) and love the design, the lovely layering of form and content whose depths I will dwell in. Your world is such a contrast to ours. Even beyond the seasons. But then the same.

Susan Scheid said...

The leaves in the spiderwebs are so delicately elegant. Good eye for catching them. Many of us would have passed them by, but you remind us always to stop and look.