Pictures by John S. Quarterman, Lowndes County, Georgia, 8 September 2011.
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Moon above growing pines
One day after a rain, and a few days before a full moon:
Category Archives: Longleaf
Longleaf moon
Late afternoon, two days before the March full moon:
Same tree, full length, for scale: Continue reading
Harmless snake in the grass, 7 September 2011
It’s in the middle of this picture:
Here’s a video.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman, Lowndes County, Georgia, 7 September 2011.
You can see its tail move. Continue reading
Skeeter hawk on longleaf
Perched on a longleaf candle:
And on electric fence wire: Continue reading
Burned-over longleaf
“What? I didn’t do it!” says the yellow dog.
The yellow dog is right: I burned those trees! Before picture of one of them: Continue reading
Planted longleaf pines, 17 March 2011
Pinus palustris of various sizes.
We planted these trees four years ago.
This one is bolting up from grass stage.
Bottle brush stage (plus starting some branches): Continue reading
longleaf and wiregrass
The two plants that most characterize Georgia’s southern longleaf forests:
Pinus palustris and Aristida stricta.
These two are natives; they and their ancestors have lived on this spot
since the last ice age.
About Longleaf (Pinus palustris), wiregrass (Aristida stricta), and gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) by the Longleaf Alliance:
We believe that longleaf in any form is better than a cotton field; that longleaf and native ground cover (like wiregrass) is better than longleaf alone; that longleaf, wiregrass, and gopher tortoises are better than longleaf and wiregrass alone.
Picture of Pinus palustris and Aristida stricta by John S. Quarterman, Lowndes County, Georgia, 19 February 2011.
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Wiregrass
The plant that names our region: wiregrass, Aristida stricta:
Quail and gopher tortoises eat it. Many birds, reptiles, and small animals use it for covers. For centuries settlers grazed cattle on it. Burn it in May for it to make seed in October. It thrives in fire forests with longleaf pine.
Map of Wiregrass Georgia:
The region also extends into south Alabama and north Florida. There’s so little native wiregrass left that the only place t hat seems to have a map of the region is the Huxford Genealogical Society in Homerville, right in the center of Wiregrass Georgia.
Wiregrass with small dogs for scale:
This wiregrass is native; it’s been growing here for 15,000 y ears since the last Ice Age.
Pictures by John S. Quarterman, Lowndes County, Georgia, 19 Feb 2011.
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Ice stalagmites
28 F at 5AM this morning; 29 at dawn.
In the dog watering tub, a layer of ice, some in my hand here.
Down by the dirt pit, ice pushing out of the ground:
And a tiny longleaf in a field of icy clay:
Pictures by John S. Quarterman, Lowndes County, Georgia, 7 Dec 2010.
Longleaf sapling, not yet three years old
We planted this less than three years ago:
No pesticides: hand weeding. More than seven feet tall.
Picture by Gretchen Quarterman, Lowndes County, Georgia, 30 Sep 2010.
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