Botanical Phoenix: Charred Palms

HEARTS of ASH

The husks of charred stumps retain the reserves of life that emanate in due time. Arid savannahs that are prone to wildfires, hardens the vegetation.

The Forest Grasstree of Queensland's Magnetic Island, stand along the fire-brazen hill sides of the island's slopes. Like petrified figures captured in time, they hold their black ashen frames in a posture of patience. The gum trees above, whose fallen seeds burst in the heat of the recent fires, shades the companion grasstree as their hibernating core once again shows life with the emergence of a fresh green frill, grassy fronds lifting from the dried fractal center.

The carbonized remnants of torched leaves creates overlapping scales, shimmering with ebony brilliance in the sunlight like some large undulating serpent. Their teeth, brittle and exposed.

Forest Grasstree (Botanical Phoenix) Series, Digital Photographs.