Marcescence
Marcescence is the retention of dead plant organs that normally are shed. It is most obvious in deciduous trees that retain leaves through the winter. Several trees normally have marcescent leaves such as oak (Quercus),beech (Fagus) and hornbeam (Carpinus), or marcescent stipules as in some but not all species of willows (Salix). Marcescent leaves of pin oak (Quercus palustris) complete development of their abscission layer in the spring. The base of the petiole remains alive over the winter. Many other trees may have marcescent leaves in seasons where an early freeze kills the leaves before the abscission layer develops or completes development. Diseases or pests can also kill leaves before they can develop an abscission layer.
Marcescent leaves may be retained indefinitely and do not break off until mechanical forces (wind for instance) cause the dry and brittle petioles to snap.
Many palms form a skirt-like or shuttlecock-like crown of marcescent leaves under new growth that may persist for years before being shed. In some species only juveniles retain dead leaves and marcescence in palms is considered a primitive trait.
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by Borrowers
Mercy Bound
by: BorrowersLate last night I awoke in a dream
To the sound of a voice that was almost a scream
>From out of the city and out of the street
Out where the wind hits the cold concrete
It's cold outside
Darkness your enemy
No place to hide
The voice said this to me
In your doorways I have shivered
In your alleys I have gone to ground
But I will be delivered
Someday I will be mercy bound
I dreamed again it was West LA
On a crowded street on a hot summer day
She was alone
Three months late and beginning to show
In a midriff blouse she would soon outgrow
She had no one to call and no way home
And in my mind I knew I'd seen myself
But in our blindness it always seems like someone else
There I was a rag a bone
A remnant in your lost and found
I was for once truly alone
Longing to be mercy bound
And I knew that I would wander
As a child in the forest till they found me
And I called out to them but could not penetrate
The silence all around me
And when I wake I know you'll comfort me
And I won't sleep again for an eternity
But others lie awake at night
In desperation more profound
And the coming of the morning light
Will not see them mercy bound
And some will never dream again
>From sleeping on the ground
Longing to belong
And dying to be mercy bound
Oh please don't stop your dreaming