Riverside scenes

...on one of my last days in Cambridge.

Bracts

Basswood trees (genus Tilia) have clusters of flowerbuds attached to long, pale green, leaflike bracts.  When I was a kid I used to pass a basswood every day on my way to swim practice, and I remember wondering what those messed-up looking leaves were.

From next to the Charles River.

European Beech

The dense maroon canopy does an impressive job of blocking sunlight.  I sat there while formatting illustrations into my science writing thesis.