Something is Out of Place

 

Have you ever been walking through the woods thinking about something else—like, say, Percy's Tom More—when suddenly something seems out of place?  You stop and look around, focused now, wondering what is bothering you.  Then your eyes find this tree (pictured) and the disorientation heightens.  "What the . . . ?  Where am I?"

The lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) has an extensive range—from Wyoming almost to Alaska—but it does not occur in southern Utah.  Curiously I made this picture about ten miles from my house.  Have I, like David Douglas, discovered a species previously unknown to man?  The Pinus ruralwaysii?

Probably not.  I was walking in the Parowan Canyon WMU.  It is near the highway.  There were two lodgepole pines growing in the woods, along with three Austrian pines (Pinus nigra).  Someone must have planted them.  I'm not sure why.