I saw trees sort of like that when I went to Greece... *counts*... thirteen years ago now - leaves that were dark green underneath and silver on top, but bigger than in my story. When the wind blew it looked like the tree was glittering in the sun. Utterly lovely, but I never asked what they were. They stuck in my imagination.

And, glad you liked! Yeah, the schmoopage thing was a fantastic idea - I leapt at the chance to embrace my inner schmoopiness (which is cleverly hidden under an outer layer of... schmoopiness). *g*