Karst and Kunming: Limestone "Forest" Tree-o in Denver, Colorado

         

        This tree-o of limestone "trees" at City of Kunming Park in the Rosedale area of Denver, Colorado, piqued my curiosity about their origin in the limestone "forests" in Yunnan, China:

     The three limestone pieces from the humid climes of China are eroding very quickly in arid Colorado:

     The Stone Forest (Shilin) forms part of the South China karst region that extends over a surface of 500,000 square kilometers in Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi Provinces:

       Kunming represents one of the world’s most well-preserved examples of humid, tropical to subtropical karst landscapes. There are pinnacles, columns, mushroom- and tree- shaped features formed by limestone dissolution. The 270 million year old limestone "trees" have been likened to giant stalagmites even though they did not form in caves:

      
      Here is a good introduction to KARST TOPOGRAPHY.  


        According to Chinese legend, the stone forest is the birthplace of Ashima, a beautiful girl from the Yi people, an ethnic group from China, Viet Nam, and Thailand. After falling in love, she was forbidden to marry her chosen suitor and instead turned into a stone in the forest.

           

      

              If a stone tree falls in the stone forest. . .? (You must have seen that coming).

Rock on,

Steph

(Word Woman)

. . .And a few plum wonderful images of fruit from the 89 trees I helped plant on my friends' orchard in April, 2008. They were mostly just sticks with a few roots when we planted them. I recall the tamping down the earth around them quite vividly. . .

   The 89 live trees (not stone trees), although they do bear stone fruit!

     These are Flavor King pluots. We also planted Flavor Grenade pluots. . .Yes, they are that good and juicy.

      Just pulled the pin on one of these Flavor Grenades. Perfectly yin yangy.

The Aleph (see comment below from the morning of 9/14/14)

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     Lego, I believe Noosie's feline spirit is up here on Grays Peak in Colorado with Paul, the cat (not to be confused with Paul, the human), and Maizie:

Maizie at Kunming Park ("still" photos):

And the video:

Happy Almost Autumn! Enjoy.  .  .