What is it Wednesday archive: November 7, 2018

 

Can you identify what's in this photo?

 

 

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

 

 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

 

 

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

 after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on

November 7, 2018. 

 

 

 

And the answer is....

 

 

These are the needles of a white pine tree,

but instead of the familiar dark green, these needles are turning yellow. 

That is because evergreen trees drop their “leaves” (needles) too – just not all of them at one time. In this photo you can see the still dark green needles of this summer’s growth on the end of the twig in the bottom left. The yellow needles, which will soon fall to the ground, are the parts of the tree that were new growth last summer. Needles from the years before that stay green too, giving white pines a curious “striped” look this time of year that is also strikingly beautiful.

White pines have the longest and softest needles of the evergreens found naturally in Pennsylvania. Though it is hard to see in this photo, the needles of white pines also grow on the twig in clusters of five, making it easy to identify white pine trees.

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!