#inosculation

[zegalba]

Inosculation, a natural phenomenon in which trunks, roots or branches of two trees grow together. When branches or roots from different trees are in prolonged intimate contact, they often abrade each other exposing their inner tissues, which may eventually fuse.

[fatchance]

The cottonwoods here are putting on a dramatic late-fall display of color. These mighty trees are at the Holy Trinity Monastery in St. David, Arizona, only a short walk from the dense cottonwood galleries on the banks of the San Pedro River.

The tree on the right is the biggest cottonwood I've ever seen. I estimate its diameter at breast hight at about 9 feet, or 2.5 meters. Because of its multiple trunks I think it might have grown from several individuals that conjoined at some point through a process called inosculation – proof that you never know where a kiss might lead.

Frémont's cottonwood (Populus fremontii) at Holy Trinity Monastery, St. David, Arizona.

[graciedart]

mina needed new armor

[a-dream-seeking-light]

soey milk | yeonriji: inosculation | 60 x 48 inches | oil and collage on linen | 2020

[2squeakyshoes]

The process of two trees fusing together is called inosculation. The resulting tree is known in forestry as a gemel.

[nudebabitz]

Your last story has many quote-worthy moments (it made my forever child free heart skip a beat, i admit it. You have a gft, my friend) but i am still here : "Three years they’d flirted around the edges of something greater between, push and pull, antagonistic and tender, unyielding until something snapped, and they’d kissed, one fateful night, drunk off of something far stronger than the drinks at the karaoke bar. Kissed and brought each other into each other's lives, thoroughly intertwined, irrevocably joined." Idek why, again the story is great all around, for many reasons and not only the obvious ones lol- it's like with the prof AU or my personal, all time favourite, "an affair,three ways", i need to know everything, the past and future and the present...gah. All this to say, you're really great and i'm happy you write, and that youhappened to like Kate and Anthony and that we're both here rn ... :)

First of all--thank you :,,) This ask would've been nice and so welcome any day, but it's specifically lovely today as I've been having a weird couple of days with writing and irl stuff, but I also got some personal news today that's not so great, and this really made me smile, and so I really want to thank you for this! <3

I'm so touched that you liked that oneshot--and that you love the Prof AU and the cheating au! Those are some AUs I'm the most proud of. I'm also so touched to hear it made your own childfree heart skip a beat :,) <3 that's so sweet.

That quote is so interesting for you to mention specifically, and I'm chuffed to hear you liked it! With PWPs/oneshots in general, I find that world-building is so important to make stories feel immersive. I'm the sort of writer who really values making sure the world of the story feels real and realized, and, if it's PWP, that the kink/porn feels earned, that there's a level of emotional investment and heft so that it all feels realized. Just writing a breeding kink for the sake of it wasn't something I could do, lol! In this instance, since I'm establishing the kink within the context of an established relationship, it was important to me that the relationship felt familiar and real. That was sort of in two bits--first, in that sentence, that summed up their entire history and the start of the relationship, and then them living together quickly after getting together, and the familiarity with which they do chores together (Anthony cooking dinner+doing laundry when Kate walks in, Kate picking up things for them at the department store). That sentence was did a lot of heavy lifting lol, as it really did condense years of their backstory into one bit. It was a tricky one and I'm glad to hear it stood out to you in a good way!

I totally get the need to know more haha. I feel that way with any fic I'm a fan of. With this AU, I imagined them meeting at a holiday party where they're there with mutual friends. I mention offhandedly that they both work on Wall St; they do vague finance jobs for different firms. In my mind, Anthony and Simon both work at the same firm, and Simon and Kate are friendly, and he invites her along to the holiday party. Simon introduces her to Anthony then, and it's not really an enemies to lovers arc, but they have a little antagonistic banter, ya know? In real life, who is really having a enemies to lovers arc lol ya know? People just meet people, and they exist on the periphery of their life, and sometimes you don't like someone! I think these two thought the other person was hot, kept running into one another in social settings because they're both friends with Simon, and then with Simon and Daphne getting married, they continue to bump into one another. So you have this three year period where they go from feeling like "oh this person is hot but kind of rude" to feeling ambivalent, to thinking the other person is funny/a good laugh, to sort of looking forward to being the person they can hang with at a party when they don't want to be there, to sort of having a crush on the other person but not making a move. And it's three years, so they're dating other people throughout that time, so maybe the timing just isn't right. But they go from being in the same social circle to being friends, you know how it works, that sort of slow build. They realize they like spending time together, they realize there's feelings, they're both single, and they end up the last ones at a karaoke bar after Simon's birthday party. Anthony offers to walk Kate home and they kiss and have a one night stand with the understanding that it's going to be more! Like at this point they were already friends who know stuff about one another's families lol, and have a good understanding of each other, and, like I said, have been crushing on and off/not single at the same time. But yeah, after that night, it moves pretty quickly from there. Kate's lease happens to be up six months into the relationship and he insists she move in with him, they're both very happy together, and know that the relationship is heading towards marriage.

That's the long version of that sentence :)

Thanks for reading, and thanks so much for the ask <3 I'm really grateful to be here with you <333

[thebashfulbotanist]

This tree is an example of a gemel, or two conjoined trees that fused together in a process called inosculation - essentially, self-grafting. This is pretty common in thin-barked trees like apple trees, blackthorn, beech, and olives, but pretty rare in thick-barked Douglas fir trees like this one. This tree has a lot of damage from boring beetles, possibly by Douglas fir beetles, Denroctonus pseudotsugae (I could be wrong, though). Being fused together might have weakened the tree, making it susceptible to beetle attack. 

[honestlytrulytired]

close to you