John jack Repenning (1993)	

	msprng.gif is a GIF picture of a large tree growing wild in
	Yellowstone National Park.  (I believe it's a Lodgepole Pine,
	but I neglected to look closely.)  This tree illustrates the
	same growth peculiarity as does the one in ystcny.gif.

	The tree has three trunks arising from a common root-mass.
	The root-mass itself is the part I found particularly
	interesting: what appears to be something like two thirds of
	it is entirely out of the ground.  At some point in the past
	(or perhaps progressively), the tree must have been laid flat,
	perhaps by erosion or snow weight.  Subsequently, it has
	corrected its growth by arcing around back to vertical.  This
	is a common tree shape throughout the park.

	The mass of roots hanging in the air is large, suggesting that
	the roll-over happened recently (after a large root-ball
	developed).  Yet the tree itself has bent through a
	substantial arc - nearly 180 degrees - and is quite thick
	(around one foot) through the bend, suggesting it bent long
	ago, and has been growing and thickening ever since.

	Perhaps the airborne roots are still active, when the ground
	is covered with snow?  This area is snow-covered for much of
	the year, perhaps nine months.  That might explain things: the
	root really are still active, three quarters of the time, so
	they've continued to grow even though they're airborne one
	quarter of the time.

	Anyway, I found the configuration fascinating.