Kassie Hovarda

We've seen birds and we've seen lions or goats on trees...

But have we seen old-fashioned tree-surgeons actually at work?

Back in 1970 that's what they looked like while pruning trees on Kennedy Ave., city of Thessaloniki, Greece

That's how the world famous Umbrella Tree in the garden of Villa Balbianello on Lake Como, Italy, is still pruned to take its unique shape...

📸 Michail Pappous

PS Don't they look, too, like birds?

資料來源:

Kassie Hovarda

Hong Kong tree trimming fatality

A female tree worker died earlier this morning when the boom of a truck mounted platform/bucket truck suffered a structural failure.

The woman -Tsang Choi-yu, 55, was trimming trees along the edge of the street with a colleague. The two were working from the fibreglass platform of a 22 metre Benelligru 6000PL22RC truck mounted lift, which is sign written as belonging to Hong Kong West Tree Team - part of the government's Leisure and Cultural Services Department, which is also where the two tree workers are employed. They were working at a height of around seven metres when the upper boom seems to have sheared off just before the knuckle joint with the main boom.

The upper boom dropped dramatically, striking the main boom catapulting something from the platform. Thankfully the two occupants remained in the bucket, thanks to their harnesses and short lanyards. The platform came to rest at a height of around three to four metres. It was quickly clear however that they were both hurt, one of them seriously requiring her to be rescued.

They were rushed to hospital where the man was treated for a broken rib, while the woman sadly passed away shortly after arrival.

A statement from the Labour Department said that it is investigating a fatal work accident that occurred in Western District this morning in which a woman died in the accident and that it had immediately dispatched staff to the scene to investigate the cause of the incident.

We will update this if and when we learn more.

The following video shows a little of what happened

UPDATE

The upper boom appears to have suffered from a catastrophic failure just where it joins the articulating connection to the lower boom

資料來源:

https://vertikal.net/en/news/story/38279/hong-kong-tree-trimming-fatality?acceptCookies=1&fbclid=IwAR0dFzTEXx2JLmE-bQQVKzZNV-xWSSg5PEkwrzdpvwYYBGjYn9fj6FBO0eQ

 Disease killing 'Europe's oldest' elm tree

What is believed to be Europe's oldest elm tree has succumbed to Dutch Elm Disease and is dying, say experts.

The wych elm at Beauly in the Highlands is almost 800 years old, with references to the tree found in records going back to medieval times.

Historic Environment Scotland (HES) has laser-scanned the elm as part of work to document ancient Scottish trees.

HES has previously used the technology to create digital images of historic buildings.

The tree is at Beauly Priory, which was built for monks of the Valliscaulian order.

• 'Lord of the Rings' elm wins tree of the year

• Warm weather helped spread tree disease

Sarah Franklin, a landscape manager at HES, said historical documents confirmed the existence of the elm at the time the priory was established in the 1230s.

資料來源:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-58013952

 Fleshy Structures Associated with Ovule Protection and Seed Dispersal in Gymnosperms: A Systematic and Evolutionary Overview

Figure 1. Illustration of some seed-associated fleshy structures found in selected gymnosperm species. Colors point out the different morphologies of the fleshy reproductive structures: (a–c) fleshy sarcotesta; (d,e) fleshy epimatium on a fleshy receptacle; (f) aril on a fleshy receptacle; (g) aril; (h) aril overgrowing from the base of the seed as a supra-integument; (i) best interpreted as an aril; (j) fusion of bract-scale complexes; (k) fleshy sarcotesta; (l) fleshy bracts.

資料來源:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07352689.2021.1938397

Fire Tower at Mt Beenak Victoria - 1910.

Mount Beenak is a mountain in Victoria, Australia 65 km from Melbourne.

The fire spotter would go up the tree every couple of hours to check for fires. He travelled around a few of these sites. All that remains of the original tower is a tree stump with some metal stakes in the side that used to act as a ladder.

Before this tower was built, there used to be a plank of wood in a large Mountain Ash.

資料來源:

http://www.firelookoutsdownunder.com/Victoria/mtbeenak.html