Fences revisited
As I have noted before, I am a fan of fences. In agricultural landscapes, they have the obvious use of dividing land. However, these boundaries are not zero-dimensional lines on a map or scratched in the ground. They have their own niche within the landscape system, often different from the tracts which the divide. As such they sometimes play an important role in the ecology of the area as corridors, refuges, relicts and more.
This particular fence protects a garden plot, right next to someone’s house. The plot itself is not currently under cultivation, though it will be within the next few months. A few months after that, it will be under water as the annual floods come up. I thought that it was interesting more for its use as a drying rack.
The leaves in the foreground are used for smoking– you roll your tobacco in them, and it gives a particular flavor to the smoke. This style of smoking is popular among older men in the villages. The leaves are grown locally, while the tobacco usually comes from Kampong Cham Province. It is really strong stuff– I think that I would need at least 20 years of smoking practice before I build the necessary constitution for these guys. I was told that these particular leaves are from the ជើងចាប tree, which suggests that it might be Dasymaschalon lomentaceum Finet et Gagnep (Annonaceae). However, I need to get a good look at the tree before I can say that with any degree of certainty.
