Brienzer See 5 by jcv2

Photography • Landscape • posted on Feb 28, 2006

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Description

Thank you so much for correcting me yesterday on the bug - especially Michel and Magali - it was indeed the fire bug (Pyrrhocoris apterus) or 'punaise de feu' / 'gendarme suisse' in French! Been here so frequently in spring and summer I always saw the trees bearing green leaves. And that made me miss the detail that winter shows me right now, the spherical shapes in this tree. It's the mistletoe (Viscum album), a parasite (stealing nutrients from the tree) that is spread by birds eating the seeds, and after being digested the birds leave the sticky seeds on other trees. The leaves of this mistletoe are evergreen and can be seen well after fall. It's remarkable, but the Netherlands mark the northern border of these parasites, above the Rhine its appearance is limited to the northern islands which tells me it needs enough warmth (the islands have an even more moderate climate, surrounded by water of the North Sea and the Wadden Sea), and in the south (somewhere halfway France) these mistletoes do not appear only on poplars, but on other trees as well (like pine trees). Some say this is a subspecies, others say it is the same species. Minolta X-700 (Fuji Sensia 100, 70 mm) Thanks for your attention and your always valuable comments

Comments (42)

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Loloe

5:18PM | Tue, 28 February 2006

Like Nathalie I didn't know this was a parasite! Super shot! Bravo!!!Ang good night!

logiloglu

6:46PM | Tue, 28 February 2006

beautiful nature impression. wonderful capture. #:O)

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maggiemai

7:38PM | Tue, 28 February 2006

Romantic mistletoe! I never knew it grew like this in bunches in treetops. A friend in Wales took some similar pictures and I was very surprised to learn this is where mistletoe comes from. :-) Your photo looks so pretty with the blue and brown together. :-)

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tmathise

7:41PM | Tue, 28 February 2006

Nice capture my friend, love those mountains and that mistletoe. Have a fantastic Wednesday!

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nongo

9:40PM | Tue, 28 February 2006

Well I guess that mistletoe has a lot in common with the human race, both sucking the life out of its host!!!!! Excellent educational image Jan-Carel!!!! The folks that harvest it for the holidays, do the trees a big favor!!!!

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Luka_30

2:36AM | Wed, 01 March 2006

Beautiful shot, winter realy unveils some new views!

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Margana

5:47PM | Wed, 01 March 2006

Fascinating...I never knew mistletoe was a parasitic plant.Thank you for teaching me something today.Love the mountains in the background...looks like such a lovely place...A wonderful capture,Jan-Carel.-M :^)

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jocko500

8:01PM | Wed, 01 March 2006

super looking

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squirrel2005

8:06AM | Thu, 02 March 2006

WOW! Interesting reading.And lovely photo!!

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redchilicat

6:18PM | Thu, 02 March 2006

Mistletoe (among other parasites) can be found in trees here in Florida too! Beautiful capture!

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Cosine

9:08PM | Thu, 02 March 2006

I, too, thought they were squirrels' nests at first. We have both here in Oregon, so I always have to look closely to see which it is. Thanks for the botany lesson along with a great photo.

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