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Today I’m taking part in the Macro Monday photo challenge. If you like what you see, I encourage you to subscribe so you can enjoy the new photos I post a few times a week.
The manzanita tree is very common in Southern California. It’s one of those trees / shrubs that does well in a dry climate and can resist drought. Manzanita is Spanish for “little apple” and the tree grows large berries the size of, you guessed it, little apples. This is what the tree looks like as a whole. And yes, if you’re wondering, the sky really was that blue the day I took this photo in the mountains. I could just stare at this blue sky the whole day.

What I find interesting in this manzanita tree is its bark. It tends to peel to reveal new bark underneath, and as it does, the old bark curls up, which makes for a peculiar look. This is what a branch with peeling bark looks like overall.

Here’s a close-up of this manzanita tree bark. I love how the sunlight makes it look even more reddish orange than it really is.

And if the tree bark underneath is still very new, it looks quite green, a nice contrast with the red peeling bark. You can click on this image for a larger view.

I hope you enjoyed my selections for this Macro Monday.