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definition of burr

The word burr has a number of meanings that are related.

It can refer to a whirring sound, such as a phone ringing tone or the sound of cogs turning, or a rough pronunciation of the letter r, especially with a uvular trill as in a Northumberland accent.

Similarly it can also mean a rough edge or ridge left on an object (especially of metal) by a tool.

But the choice of the word burr in this context refers to its most common - referring to a rounded growth on a tree.

They are caused by the growth of wood grain around a foreign object, a localised virus or fungus infection in the tree, which leads to the formation of many small knots formed from dormant buds.

Like galls, burrs are abnormal growths on a tree, and the two are often used interchangeably. But galls are not limited to trees, growing on any part of a plant, and commonly caused by insects or disease.

Burr, on the other hand, only occur on trees and the reason for their misshapen form is often unknown. Sometimes burrs occur at spots on a tree that can sprout into a new branch when conditions are right (i.e., epicormic buds). However, genetics, injury, environmental conditions, and reasons unknown to scan  activate the dormant bud and cause it to grow abnormally into a burl - rather like a tumour.

Burrs can therefore be associated with past injury, acting as the tree’s way of sealing it up and protecting itself, similar to scar tissue on an animal.

Just as burrs are beautiful, and create the unique character of the tree, so too are the ways we each grow around the circumstances of our environment, and challenges to our health and well-being. It is this commonality that attracted me to begin slowing myself down to draw tress and celebrate the manner in which they are what they are - warts and all.

Closely Observed Trees