Another photo challenge, and amazingly, I had another photo that might work for this week’s theme: Pattern. This is a close-up of the spiny bark of the Madagascar Palm (pachypodium lamerei), taken at the US Botanic Garden last month. It is not really a palm; it’s in the succulent/cactus family. When you look at the tree from afar, its spines are neatly splayed across the trunk in diagonal rows, forming a diamond-like pattern. But this pattern is best observed from afar–if the 2.5-inch spines don’t already say “keep away,” the fact that all parts of the tree are also poisonous (if ingested) reinforces the message.
Perennial Pastimes 
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