ghost trees
Bleached skeletal trunks
Ghost trees are dead or dying trees that appear pale or skeletal against their surroundings.
The term often refers specifically to trees killed by saltwater intrusion in coastal areas, where rising seas poison freshwater forests and leave bleached trunks standing: Ghost trees along the Carolina coast mark where the ocean is advancing.
The phrase also describes trees killed by fire, disease, or drought that remain upright as gray or white remnants.
- leaflessHaving no foliage
- silhouettesOutlined shapes without detail
- deadwoodUnproductive people or things
- spectralGhostlike or wavelength-related
- ephemeralLasting very briefly
frost · petrification · dryads · arboreal · sacred groves · Yellowstone · haunted forest · snags · mineralization · folklore legends · branches · birches · bark · bleached wood · pales · mist · fog · climate change