A flock of starlings flies over Lake Leman on an autumn morning in the Lavaux near Grandvaux, Switzerland October 20, 2016. (Photo by Denis Balibouse/Reuters)
The bloodwood tree (Pterocarpus angolensis) is a deciduous tree with a high canopy, reaching about 15m in height and has dark bark. The red sap is used traditionally as a dye and in some areas mixed with animal fat to make a cosmetic for faces and bodies. It is also believed to have magical properties for the curing of problems concerning blood, apparently because of its close resemblance to blood. The name bloodwood for these trees stems from the dark red to brown sap that accumulates on wounds on the trunks.
A Japanese white-eye is seen on a branch of cherry blossoms at Kyoto Imperial Palace on March 26, 2010 in Kyoto, Japan. (Photo by Akihiro I/Getty Images)
An unexpected side-effect of the flooding in parts of Pakistan has been that millions of spiders climbed up into the trees to escape the rising flood waters. Because of the scale of the flooding and the fact that the water has taken so long to recede, many trees have become cocooned in spiders’ webs.
Wang Yue, a senior at Dalian Industry University, uses her paintbrush to turn ugly tree holes into lovely views in Shijiazhuang, capital city of Hebei Province.