Doug, it's always neat and impressive isn't it when we see trees growing out of what appears to be impossible conditions?
I've seen such stuff on the southwest coast of Hawaii, near the lava fields, and up at the treeline in high alpine granite spires. (Not spots I've cycled to.) It can be amazing how tenacious life can be, what sort of tough circumstances it can still find a way to live through.
One of the things I most like about traveling. Getting to see how people live life, how wildlife copes, how different places can be ... yet how similar.