It’s summer in the Northern Hemisphere, and from what I’ve been reading, it’s hotter than usual in many areas. Time to stand in the shade of trees where, I remember reading, the shade may be 15 degrees cooler than the shade of, say, a park pavilion. That cooling may be because of transpiration, the evaporation of water through the leaves, but I have to say there’s something much nicer about cooling off under a tree than cooling off almost anyplace else.
And so, a special appreciation of trees in this 26th edition of the Festival of Trees at Fox Haven Journal. Go there and look, if for no other reason than the pleasing writing and the images of looking up into trees. Check out as many links as you can, as well, for there are some fascinating stories, including one on exploding trees.
Thanks for sharing, I’d say that it is cooler under the trees!
I have read about the Neem tree aka, the “wonder tree” from India.
“A large Neem tree usually stands in the centre of each village, providing shade and cool underneath its branches – it is said that the temperature under a Neem tree is always two or three degrees cooler than in any other shade. ” Perhaps your correct and it is the shade of any tree, not just this one.
I am wondering if these are growing anywhere in Panama. In Spanish, I believe it is “Nim”., but not sure about that.
Terry
Eric, thanks for commenting. We should probably carry around thermometers to verify this statement and this sensation.
Terry, great quote! I checked the Trees and Shrubs of Panama website, maintained by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and found other members of the mahogany (Meliaceae) family to which the neem belongs, but not neem itself.
That’s not to say it can’t grow here, and I know that some gardeners are interested in growing it but I haven’t personally heard of anyone doing so.
Anyway, I’d certainly be curious to learn whether the shade of a neem tree is actually cooler than the shade of other trees. Density of leaf pattern, perhaps?