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Cypress Knees

Photography Flowers/Plants posted on Mar 10, 2014
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Description


Photo taken at Tickfaw State Park in Louisiana two days ago. Note: The unusual wooden cone shaped projections are called cypress knees. Surprisingly, if you do a little homework on these you'll find that scientists aren't sure what their function is. Speculation once was that they aid in oxygenation of the cypress tree root system. No evidence exists that this is true. When knees are removed from a cypress...it continues to thrive just fine. Today it is speculated that they may simply aid in stabilizing the trees in soft, swampy ground.

Comments (26)


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SunriseGirl

2:16PM | Mon, 10 March 2014

Interesting info. Thanks forsharing this swampy scene.

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jayfar

2:21PM | Mon, 10 March 2014

A lovely picture and most interesting Bill.

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durleybeachbum

2:33PM | Mon, 10 March 2014

That is absolutely fascinating! I thought they were decayed stumps till now!

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T.Rex

2:39PM | Mon, 10 March 2014

Or could they simply be remains of tree trunks that have fallen and rotted? Or putative trunks that have not grown any further for some reason? Nice photo of unusual sight and nice mirroring in the water. Keep up the good work! So now we know approximately where you are! :-)

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ArtistKimberly

3:23PM | Mon, 10 March 2014

Beautiful,

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jendellas

5:31PM | Mon, 10 March 2014

Very interesting, great photo. X

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bobrgallegos

5:54PM | Mon, 10 March 2014

Great capture and very interesting narrative!!

alanwilliams

6:02PM | Mon, 10 March 2014

superb and very unusual

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Faemike55

7:12PM | Mon, 10 March 2014

Great capture here Bill!

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goodoleboy

8:00PM | Mon, 10 March 2014

Louisiana, where I did my Army basic training. Terrific mood in this wonderful capture of the Cypress Knees, looking awesome in their swampy milieu, Bill.

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flavia49

8:34PM | Mon, 10 March 2014

excellent!!

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MrsRatbag

8:40PM | Mon, 10 March 2014

Wonder what the feet at the end of those shins look like! I never knew why they were called knees, but they are quite scenic. Lovely capture!

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auntietk

9:41PM | Mon, 10 March 2014

Whatever they're for, they're fascinating! I had always expected cypress knees to be more of a bent, almost jointed root. Ain't travel grand? :)

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photosynthesis

1:38AM | Tue, 11 March 2014

Never seen these before - fascinating. Though it looks like you could impale yourself on them if you're not careful...

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kenmo

8:34AM | Tue, 11 March 2014

Very interesting landscape and terrain....

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Adobe_One_Kenobi

10:22AM | Tue, 11 March 2014

Could have been nature age old way of stopping Brachiosaurus etc from eating the leaves, by sticking in their feet Nifty shot Bill

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helanker

10:49AM | Tue, 11 March 2014

WOW ! Amazing nature again. I thought the same as Andrea :-) A very beautiful shot.

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ocoee53

11:06AM | Thu, 13 March 2014

Great shot. I’ve always thought they look like wooden stalagmites. Many years ago I found a cypress swamp here in East Tennessee, which I had thought was too far north for cypress. At the time I had a canoe but no camera. Now, sadly, I have a camera but no canoe!

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kgb224

8:00AM | Sat, 15 March 2014

Superb capture Bill. God bless.

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RodS Online Now!

2:39PM | Sat, 15 March 2014

A great shot of these structures, Bill, and fascinating information as well. Nature still has a few puzzles for us...

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Richardphotos

10:53PM | Sat, 15 March 2014

there are several around Dallas area. I know from trying to buy some cypress that there is none locally to be bought, at least I found none(if I did, it would be very expensive). outstanding capture

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debbielove

7:44AM | Mon, 17 March 2014

Like something out the movie 'Southern Comfort'.. Excellent shot Bill... Creepy and very cool. Rob

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anahata.c

9:09AM | Wed, 19 March 2014

the cyprus knees look like cyprus missile silos, though I don't think trees have evolved that much, lol...You did a fine job of managing so much visual stuff, and so many visual motions and crossovers, etc. The center is quietly dominated by the water, flowing from bottom to top; and that's not easy, considering how much visual interference you have to deal with, from everything around it. The water of course goes in other directions too. You also have a heavier left side than right side---all those thick trunks on the left. But the left is balanced by the longer and visually lighter (and more sinewy) right side. This may all sound like small details, but when you have to deal with all this visual massing, those larger balances of texture, line, etc, pull images like this together. It's intuitively balanced and contrasted. Also intimate and peaceful, for all that activity. (I think those "knees," by the way, are actually trolls who, when everyone disappears, get up and do a dance. I expect them to sing, "hey ho, hey ho, it's off to work we go..." But I look like a bit of a troll, so I have a special affinity for trolls.) (My parents were trolls, and my ancestors were tree-trunks. A little known fact. It'll be in my bio, which is coming out in May. I'll give you guys an advance copy...) Very thoughtful and sensitive work with a very teeming subject, Bill.

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moochagoo

1:15PM | Mon, 24 March 2014

They are always looking strange.

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jocko500

9:53PM | Fri, 28 March 2014

they are illegal to cut. this is cool

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danapommet

4:13PM | Sun, 30 March 2014

This is an outstanding photo Bill and since we have lots of Cypress Swamps surrounding us, I always thought the 'knees' were new slow growing cypress trees. Google - here I come!!!


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Photograph Details
F Numberf/6.3
MakeCanon
ModelCanon EOS 5D Mark III
Shutter Speed1/200
ISO Speed400
Focal Length70

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