Not in the existential sense, but why spend your limited time on Earth looking at this website? Lots of other stuff to do. You could be playing backgammon. Or watching your kids’ lacrosse match. Or inventing an exciting new style of shoelace. Maybe baking some muffins or learning Sanskrit. Instead, you’re looking at this website. And we hope it amuses. If you have an interest in natural history, particularly that of the Piedmont region of the Eastern United States, you may find it diverting and possibly informative. And quit honestly, much more relevant than Sanskrit.
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Pinus echinata, the Shortleaf Pine
Pinus echinata, the Shortleaf pine, is another common pine tree in the Piedmont. They are very similar to Loblolly pines. Both trees are tall, thin and have no branches on the lower part of the tree. The easiest way to discern between the two is to find a cone, but this can be annoying if …
Pinus taeda, the Loblolly Pine
Pinus taeda, the Loblolly pine, is probably the most common tree in the central Piedmont of North Carolina. (Okay, found a note saying that it “accounts for over one-half of the standing pine volume” which sounds pretty damn common.) Or if not the most common, at least it is damn common. They are large trees, …
Know your Pines
There are five pines you may encounter in the Piedmont. Just ignore everything you buy from the garden center, we’re talking about out in the woods. Two are very common, three less so, but one of the three less common ones gets people REAL excited. So useful to know all five. First, what’s a pine …
About the Author
The administrator of this website is a slightly crabby middle aged woman who keeps bees, has trained cats, serves as webmaster for some rather snazzy non-profits, used to speak two separate Bantu languages but has forgotten nearly everything, does far too much needlework and studied non-linear dynamics at one point. So don’t be challenging her sciency mojo. In general, she has had far too weird of a life to fit into this web page.
If you’re interested in some assistance with your presence upon the inter webs, you’re welcome to send her a note.
Or if you know the Lugwere word for hedgehog, which she used to know and regrets forgetting.
About the Frog
The frog is a Cope’s Grey Tree Frog, Hyla chrysoscelis. There’s a curious story involving its genetics. It’s worth a thought.