Pitch Pine (Pinus rigida) and with needles growing from its trunk, being photobombed by a Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus).
Redbud (Cercis canadensis) with flower buds emerging from its trunk.
Who would have thought Redbud and Pitch Pine have something in common.
These are cauliflorous trees. They have flowers that emerge from their main trunk or larger branches. It is thought that this makes the flowers and fruit more easily accessed for pollination and dispersal of their seeds.
And the word cauliflorous has nothing to do with cauliflower.
