It’s higher than any other tree in the world. Polylepis woodland is a distinctive, high-elevation Andean forest habitat that occurs above cloud level (3,500-5,000 m) as patches of woody vegetation surrounded by paramo (e.g., Festuca species) or puna (e.g., Ichu species) grass and shrub (e.g., Baccharis species) communities. These high-altitude woodlands tend to be relicts of a once-widespread habitat and comprise mainly evergreen trees of the genusPolylepis (Rosaceae) which are highly drought tolerant. The trunk and branches are laminated with brown-reddish bark that peels off in paper-like sheets as a protection against extremely low temperatures, and often have mosses and lichens growing on them.
The original/inspirational photo:
For this week photo series, decided to go with different angles to better showcase the unique and intriguing texture displayed by the tree.
Enjoy as you please, and thanks for stopping by! ♥
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3rdculturechildren 
Great collection of photos for this challenge! Lovely capture of the texture of the bark
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Thank you very much, Janaline… 😮
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Great photos! Thank you for the pingback.
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Always a pleasure to share! 😮
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What a fascinating tree. How long do they live? They remind me of the Bristlecone Pine in the Serrias that lives to over a 1,000 years.
Ron
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Ron – thanks for taking the time to stop by, check it out, and bring out some questions. I don’t believe they [the trees] live as long as the Bristlecone Pines, but, despite the ‘apparently short’ life cycle, they are the only ones who can handle the high altitudes of the Andes, and grow extremely tall… Thank you for pointing out some good info my way… now, you just got me curious to check out the Serrias!!! Take care, R.
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Great images! Enjoy reading the interesting facts. Thank you so much for the pingback 🙂
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You’re more than welcome, Amy! Glad you liked them! 😮
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Those trees are awesome. Txs for the pingback.
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Great to know! Glad you enjoyed the pics!
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Indeed I did. Thanks for posting them.
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The pleasure is mine to share! 😮
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Fascinating! I wonder if people use it for something. I’ll just have to google that. 🙂 Thank you for posting these and also for the ping back. 🙂
If you don’t mind, could you tell me how you are able to pingback that many people? In my Zemata options in my dashboard, only a few blogs pop up. Do you manually add blogs to our list of blogs to check out?
Thanks for your support and inspiration!
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Hi Josette – really glad you liked it! About the pingback, I just manually add the bloggers, from the weekly challenge… if you look below the post, you’ll see a list of people included… let me know if it works for you – always glad to help1 😮
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Ah, so you copy and past the title and then link it via the linking icon, right? Thanks so much for filling in this gap! I thought people new something I didn’t about Zemata. Now I feel like I’m in the in-crowd. lol… I must say that I think it’s truly commendable that you go through that work to link. Thanks! Any tips on how to make it easier?
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As a tip, try the trackbacks/pingbacks offered by WordPress, from the Weekly Challenge Page… that might help… 😮 Good Luck and keep on blogging! 😮
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Great shots, I like the landscape close-up of the cut off portion.
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Thanks… my favorite tree from our front yard! 😮 Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
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Thanks for visiting me – is entry I really like … and I love the different angles – and the close ups.
Excellent entry. It’s like the tree was made of silk paper. Amazing.
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Thanks for your kind words – it’s always a pleasure to visit other blogs and check their interpretations/takes on the theme… I really love this tree and the texture of its trunk… it does feel like silk paper when you peel it! 😮
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Really like – the look of the tree … never seen anything like it – it also looks like saved chocolate. *smile
Great photos.
Thanks for coming back to me.
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Super interesting factoids! Lovely images! Thanks for the pingback!
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Glad you enjoyed it – and it’s always a pleasure to share! 😮 Thanks for stopping by and sharing your impressions – much appreciated!
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