Blue palo verde (Parkinsonia florida)

Palo Verde is native to the Sonoran deserts of the American southwest and Mexico. Its name means “green stick” in Spanish referencing the bark’s bright green color. The tree is drought-deciduous, shedding its leaves most of the year and only leafing out after a rainfall. But fortunately, photosynthesis is performed by its green bark despite its lack of leaves.

The Identitatum Arborum collection of knitting patterns was created in conjunction with an art installation made for the Heritage Museums and Gardens in Sandwich, Massachusetts in summer 2016 for the Natural Threads exhibition. In that art installation I explored the idea of identity using trees as a metaphor.