Bark Larks

When the days are wild and wet and the skies leaden it's nice to enjoy the skeletal forms of trees with their different bark textures and colours.  In a rare moment of sunshine, I photographed a few examples - all of which are very different from each other.  The dry papery bark of the Paper Bark Maple (Acer Griseum), the frosted silver white bark of the Silver Birches (in this case: a Betula Silver Queen and a Jaquemontii) and lastly; the highly polished and peeling bark of a Tibetan Cherry (Prunus Serrula).  It looks as if someone has been round it with a tin of Kiwi Parade Gloss dark tan boot polish!  The Birches photographed are still relatively young trees and were planted about 5 years ago.  Other varieties of Birch don't show their silver bark until much older remaining brown for their young life.  Although it can't be seen in the photograph, the 2 trees between the silver Birches are snake bark maples (Acer Davidii).  They too have striking bark which will become more apparent as they mature.