Small Talk 25 - Trees
If you're feeling discouraged by the present state of humanity, you might consider seeking the company of a tree. There are probably trees within a short walk of where you're reading this. You can go take a look, study the branches and bark, the last few leaves clinging to stems, and you'll feel better. One of the many great things about trees is that they don't go anywhere. Unlike other charismatic organisms, trees are an incredibly reliable source of connection to nature. And yet, we pass them all the time and don't always take notice. It's been a while since we've had some small talk, and now it's autumn, so let's consider the trees.
A few weeks ago, I stood in the presence of the world's largest tree, as measured by sheer mass—the giant sequoia we call the General Sherman. Undoubtedly, the tree calls itself something else, since it's been around for more than 2,000 years. This enormous plant stands 25 feet in diameter and 275 feet tall. There are taller and wider trees, but none that we know of have more volume in a single trunk. It stands in a grove of giant trees in Sequoia National Park, and in person it has an overwhelming presence. This giant fills you with awe and a sense that these massive organisms have a... well, a self, I guess. As if they could speak to you, if you were patient enough—and imagine the stories they could tell! It's impossible to know whether this comes from the tree or from our primate imaginations, but either way, it's wonderful. Thank goodness we didn't cut them all down.
The fossil record suggests that trees appeared on Earth at least 385 million years ago. For comparison, that's at least 100 million years before the first dinosaurs. It's about 60 times longer than hominids have roamed the planet. (Before trees, there were giant fungi! But that's for another Small Talk.) These early trees, the Wattieza, appear related to ferns, but grew up to 26 feet, in large forests, and had the signature tree trunk with vascular systems that pumped water and nutrients up from soil. Clearly, evolution got this design right, because today there are more than 60,000 tree species.
There are so many fascinating things to know about trees. Baobab trees, whose trunks measure up to 36 feet across, can store 30,000 gallons of water. And all trees are hydraulic wonders—giant sequoias pump as much as 1,000 gallons of water in a day. The sap of the tropical manchineel tree is so toxic that rain dripping from its leaves will blister your skin. Aspen groves are often a single tree, genetically speaking—the trunks are clones that share a common root structure. You can observe that aspen shoots all change color at the same time, and have similar branch structures. Speaking of color, deciduous trees become red, orange, or yellow in the fall because they stop producing green chlorophyll. The remaining pigment is always present. White oaks can produce as many as 10,000 acorns in a year, and support several hundred different species of insects, birds, and mammals. (So if you want to plant a tree, consider the white oak.)
There are also a lot of silly myths about trees, as there are about most things these days. The internet is full of stories like the 'Walking Palm,' Socratea exorrhiza, of central American rain forests, reported to move into sunlight by shooting new roots. In this way, it supposedly walks across the forest floor. As cool as it sounds, it's not true (you might say, it's a rock fact). So, stay vigilant.
In recent years, scientists have identified novel ways that trees communicate with each other. In a forest, vast networks of underground fungi transfer chemical signals from tree to tree. If one tree is suffering from infestation or disease, the nearby trees will boost their defense systems. It's hard not to think of this as a kind of collaboration, or even sentience. But regardless, the emerging knowledge about tree communication shows just how little we know about these extraordinary plants and, honestly, about everything else. To the careful thinker, it's an exercise in humility.
So much depends on trees. They produce oxygen, they absorb carbon, they provide habitat for countless organisms, they produce food of many kinds, they yield wood for building, and chemicals for medicine. And they are an indisputable source of beauty. We hear a lot about deforestation, which is a significant problem. And yet, the news isn't all bad. Tree cover around the world has been rebounding—between 1982 and 2018, about 2.2 million square kilometers were added to global tree cover. That's about 7% of the earth's surface. But like any stat, it requires closer examination. Many of the new trees are part of industrial timber plantations or palm oil farms—not equal to the biodiversity lost to clear cutting pristine forests. But some of the new planting is for ecological recovery, and every bit helps.
So, at this time of yearly gratitude, let's give our thanks to trees. Here in the temperate northern hemisphere, most of the trees are drawing their energy stores down into their roots, preparing for winter sleep. And we forget about all the facts and stats and think, instead, about that tree near you. Have you looked at it yet? Have you given it your attention and respect? Maybe now go say hello to that tree, if you don't mind, and put your hand on it and feel the equanimity. Is that the tree or is that you? Well probably, it's both.
Have a good one—and a happy Thanksgiving,
Kipling Knox
