Tag Archives: trees

Winter botany quiz #4

Posted on April 2, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

Back to botany mode¹, and in that vein there are a couple of botanically-oriented carnivals with new issues just out.  The first is Berry Go Round #15 at Mary Farmer’s A Neotropical Savanna. An expert botanist herself, Mary presents a … Continue reading →

Posted in Cupressaceae, Pinaceae | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Trees of Lake Tahoe – The Pines

Posted on March 28, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

The coniferous forest of the Sierra are the grandest and most beautiful in the world, and grow in a delightful climate on the most interesting and accessible of mountain-ranges…–John Muir, The Mountains of California (1894) During the early 1990’s while … Continue reading →

Posted in Pinaceae | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 41 Comments

Winter botany quiz #3

Posted on March 24, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

I won’t be coy about the location of these trees, all of which were photographed within the Lake Tahoe Basin during my recent trip. A further clue: I have already alluded to these species in a previous post. Once again, … Continue reading →

Posted in Pinaceae | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Sand Harbor Overlook, Nevada

Posted on March 23, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

Lake Tahoe is fabulously beautiful from almost any perspective. There are certain places around the lake, however, whose beauty is so striking, so stunning, that one begins to believe they must have been copied from a starving artist’s painting or … Continue reading →

Posted in Pinaceae | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Pyramid Creek Geological Area

Posted on March 21, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

On the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada, Hwy 50 follows the American River Valley on its way up to Echo Summit before dropping precipitously into Lake Tahoe Basin. A few miles from the summit and 13 miles east of … Continue reading →

Posted in Cupressaceae, Pinaceae | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Emerald Bay State Park – Vikingsholm and Rubicon Trails

Posted on March 19, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

I had attempted to hike the Eagle Falls Trail two days ago, but deep snow stopped us just below the Upper Falls before reaching the lake. I had noticed, however, that the lower elevations on the west shore of Emerald … Continue reading →

Posted in Pinaceae | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Born of glaciers

Posted on March 17, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

Three months of camp life on Lake Tahoe would restore an Egyptian mummy to his pristine vigor, and give him an appetite like an alligator.–Mark Twain, Roughing It (1872) When Mark Twain first laid eyes upon Lake Tahoe in 1861, … Continue reading →

Posted in [No taxon] | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Sanctuary for the Betulaceae

Posted on February 25, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

Nestled on the eastern side of the St. Francois Mountains, where the craggy exposures of the Ozarks most ancient rocks begin to subside underneath the Cambrian sandstones laid down over them, lies Hawn State Park – considered by many to … Continue reading →

Posted in Betulaceae, Buprestidae, Cerambycidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments