Bonsai Overlook
Battered But Not Broken
The South American Lenga tree is a survivor. It’s a deciduous tree or shrub native to the southern Andes range. It grows in areas with low temperatures down to −22 °F and abundant snow.
The northern half of its distribution is only in the Andes. It’s found at sea level in its southernmost natural environment. It can even survive in Tierra del Fuego, the southern tip of the New World.
The Lenga can reach heights of up to 100 feet with a trunk diameter of 5 feet In more northern regions, it grows only at heights above 3300 feet in the form of a shrub.
The dark green elliptic-shaped leaves are dark green and turn to yellow and reddish tones in autumn. The fruit is a small nut 4–7 mm long.
When shaped by the howling winds and icy temperatures of Patagonia, it can take on a bonsai appearance. That archetypal appearance makes it a distinctive foreground for photographs of Patagonia.
A bonsai shaped Lenga tree in a rainbow looming over our Zodiac as we return to our boat in the Patagonian fjords.
The Shot
This is another image of the same area as the waterfall described in my June 7 Land of Giants Friday Photo. If you look closely, you can see the falls in the lower left.
After the falls image, I flew a second drone flight up the glacial stream and higher up. This time, I was looking to include a foreground Lenga tree.
The shape of Lenga in the lower right seemed to complement the diagonal of the stream leading to the glacier. And the trees were starting to turn color (April is fall in South America) adding a pop of yellow to the scene.
Thanks for looking,
Chuck Derus