Door County is home to a curious sort of old growth forest.
The rocky promontories that are typical of the bay side of the peninsula are home to some very old cedars.
Like the ancient white cedar that you see to the left.
Without any soil you’ll find these guys growing out from the rocky cliff-face - their roots exposed but clinging tenaciously to the fissures in the dolostone.
This is hardly ideal habitat. Wind whipped exposure. Ice shoves in the winter. Drought brought on by fast drainage during the summer. Yet these cedars persist – sometimes putting on a growth ring only as wide as the width of a single cell in a year’s time.
The tree in the picture may possibly be many hundreds of years old. There is a very good chance it witnessed the arrival of Jean Nicolet in 1634.
Makes you wish the darn thing could talk, eh?
The rocky promontories that are typical of the bay side of the peninsula are home to some very old cedars.
Like the ancient white cedar that you see to the left.
Without any soil you’ll find these guys growing out from the rocky cliff-face - their roots exposed but clinging tenaciously to the fissures in the dolostone.
This is hardly ideal habitat. Wind whipped exposure. Ice shoves in the winter. Drought brought on by fast drainage during the summer. Yet these cedars persist – sometimes putting on a growth ring only as wide as the width of a single cell in a year’s time.
The tree in the picture may possibly be many hundreds of years old. There is a very good chance it witnessed the arrival of Jean Nicolet in 1634.
Makes you wish the darn thing could talk, eh?
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