"Lightning tree"

 

A rare sight spotted on the open field in the taman, according to AI:

...  this branching, vein-like pattern in the grass is almost certainly caused by a recent lightning strike.

The True Cause: A Lightning Strike

When cloud-to-ground lightning hits an open lawn, the massive electrical discharge radiates outward through the upper layer of thatch, grass roots, and soil moisture.

• The Branching Pattern: The current takes the path of least resistance, branching out like a root system (known as a Lichtenberg figure or dendritic pattern).
• Instant Heat Damage: The extreme heat instantly vaporizes moisture inside the grass blades and roots, searing the turf along the electricity's exact path and leaving these narrow, bleached, or dead channels.

This specific branching, tree-like electrical discharge design is called a Lichtenberg figure.

• Lichtenberg Figures: Named after the German physicist Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, who first discovered and studied these branching patterns while conducting experiments with high-voltage static electricity.
• Alternative Names: When these patterns occur naturally via lightning strikes, they are also frequently referred to as "lightning trees" or "lightning flowers".

Why the Pattern Forms

The branching shape occurs because electricity follows the path of least resistance. As the high-voltage current from the strike races through the moist grass blades and upper thatch layer, it repeatedly forks outward into smaller and smaller paths, leaving behind this distinct fractalline footprint.