a botanical term for a dead organ held onto by a tree – I’m thinking leaves here. Going over Bluett Pass where the larches turn golden in fall and now, given their marcescent leaves (needle clutches) from last year, look messily brownly dead, the new needles, present already in the larches in Seattle’s Arboretum, not yet emergent. Oaks are big on marcescence, as are lireodendrons. There is little visual beauty to marcescent foliage. Think how witch hazel blossoms have to compete with brown clumps of last year’s leaves. No wonder many send out such compelling sweet aroma you savor with eyes closed.