There is a phenomenon observed among trees called, among other things, "crown shyness." As the picture below shows, some trees will grow in a way that is not yet understood, but which results in the crowns of the trees giving each other room, growing to use the space available without encroaching on each other. It struck me this morning that we see the very opposite in Haldir's description of the trees in Southern Mirkwood, and he certainly seems to regard it as a sign that not all is well there.
‘There lies the fastness of Southern Mirkwood,’ said Haldir. ‘It is clad in a forest of dark fir, where the trees strive one against another and their branches rot and wither.
(FR 2.vi.351)
As Walter S. Judd and Graham A. Judd remark in their 2017 book, Flora of Middle-earth, p. 152: "under Sauron's evil influence the trees had become selfish, the forest perverted, in striking contrast to the forests of Lothlórien...."
Tolkien was knowledgeable about trees and quite observant, as his descriptions of the natural world make clear. While I have no idea whether he was aware of this phenomenon, first remarked on by scientists in the 1920s, he could have noticed it himself. I have to wonder.
 |
| (Dag Peak, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons) |
The photo was taken in early spring, which coincidentally is the time to plant willow stakes. Willows need lots of sun (unless they're creepy old huorns). I found out the hard way that places which seem to get a lot of sun in spring can be totally shaded by midsummer. Those willows didn't do well. On my second try, I imagined the foliage much thicker and didn't count on the gaps still being there. Much better success.
ReplyDelete