Madagascar? Baobab Tree Avenue

In my impression, the forest is composed of many straight, lush trees, nothing special. But the world is so big that everything is strange! There are also some special forests in the world. Some of them have curved trunks at the bottom, some have fat trunks that can store food and water, some trees grow in water, and more strangely, there are rainbow colored bark. You must be very curious. Let's have a look!

Madagascar? Baobab Tree Avenue

When the fruit of the baobab tree is ripe, monkeys will go to pick the fruit in groups, hence the name "baobab tree". The baobab tree has a large but soft trunk, which has no wood use value, but can be used as a storage room to store a lot of water and food. Interestingly, local residents often hollowed out tree trunks and moved in to live, forming a very unique nature "cottage".

The spiny insectivores stay cool by blowing snot bubbles, researchers report January 18 in Biology Letters. The bubbles pop, keeping the critters’ noses moist. As it evaporates, this moisture draws heat away from a blood-filled sinus in the echidna’s beak, helping to cool the animal’s blood.
Short-beaked echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus) look a bit like hedgehogs but are really monotremes — egg-laying mammals unique to Australia and New Guinea (SN: 11/18/16). Previous lab studies showed that temperatures above 35° Celsius (95° Fahrenheit) should kill echidnas. But echidnas don’t seem to have gotten the memo. They live everywhere from tropical rainforests to deserts to snow-capped peaks, leaving scientists with a physiological puzzle.

Mammals evaporate water to keep cool when temperatures climb above their body temperatures, says environmental physiologist Christine Cooper of Curtin University in Perth, Australia. “Lots of mammals do that by either licking, sweating or panting,” she says. “Echidnas weren’t believed to be able to do that.” But it’s known that the critters blow snot bubbles when it gets hot.

So, armed with a heat-vision camera and a telephoto lens, Cooper and environmental physiologist Philip Withers of the University of Western Australia in Perth drove through nature reserves in Western Australia once a month for a year to film echidnas.

In infrared, the warmest parts of the echidnas’ spiny bodies glowed in oranges, yellows and whites. But the video revealed that the tips of their noses were dark purple blobs, kept cool as moisture from their snot bubbles evaporated. Echidnas might also lose heat through their bellies and legs, the researchers report, while their spikes could act as an insulator.
“Finding a way of doing this work in the field is pretty exciting,” says physiological ecologist Stewart Nicol of the University of Tasmania in Hobart, Australia, who was not involved in the study. “You can understand animals and see how they’re responding to their normal environment.” The next step, he says, is to quantify how much heat echidnas really lose through their noses and other body parts.

Kazakhstan Forest Lake

The forest lake in Kazakhstan is formed by the landslide caused by the 1911 earthquake. It is 400 meters long, 30 meters deep at maximum and 2000 meters above sea level. Snow Mountain Spruce was submerged in the water, and bare trunks were exposed above the water. Above the water is spruce that has been in existence for more than 100 years, while under the water is a different picture. Due to the high altitude, the water is very cold, but there are still branches and needles underwater. Water often changes color, which is caused by lime and other minerals at the bottom of the water a century ago.

Socotra Island Dragon Blood Forest

Dracaena dracunculus and desert rose are very unique plants in Socotra Island. The dense crown of dracaena dracunculus is like an inverted umbrella, which can provide enough shade to reduce evaporation, and also can protect the seeds under the shade, so they generally grow densely. Dracaena dracunculus is an evergreen tree. Because its sap is dark red, it is called Dracaena dracunculus. The rough and short appearance of desert roses is very consistent with the image of alien creatures. The "desert rose" on the cliff is quite special. It grows directly into the stone without soil. The bark is shiny like rubber, and beautiful pink flowers grow on the top of the branches.

Poland? Meandering forest

In the winding forest in western Poland, most of the trees were planted in the 1930s. Most trees grow parallel to the ground at first, but after a certain period of time, they turn 90 degrees upward, so they are called meandering forests locally. It is generally believed that it is the use of certain tools or technologies to make trees grow like this, but why this is so, the method and motivation are still a mystery.

Rainbow Eucalyptus Forest in Maui Island

There is a special tree - rainbow eucalyptus on Maui Island, Hawaii, USA. It is called rainbow eucalyptus because of its colorful bark. Its bark will change color over time. The position of the newly shed bark is replaced by the bright green endothelium. As time goes by, the bark gradually changes color, from bright green to blue and then to purple. Different colors represent different ages of the bark.

Yili Apricot Valley, China

Every year, these hills turn into a sea of pink and white flowers. As the largest apricot garden in Xinjiang, this flower represents the beginning of the fruiting season, and also makes the apricot valley a rare fairyland in the world.

Brazil Jiabaoguo Forest

At first glance, the fruits covered on these trees are a little scary. These are Jiabao fruits, which grow along the trunk as a whole. Because the fruit shape and flavor are similar to grapes, it enjoys the reputation of delicious "tropical grapes". In addition to being eaten raw, fresh fruits can also be made into candied fruits, jams and flavorful Jiabao fruit wine.

Dadfre Forest, Namibia

This incredible "forest" is the dream of every nature photographer. The bright orange sand dunes and the burnt black trees make the place look like a beautiful painting. About 900 years ago, the trees sprouted and suffered heavy rain. Soon after the rain evaporated, the trees died. The dry climate prevented the trees from rotting, but after centuries of sun exposure, they gradually became dark.