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Curvy trees
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This is a remote forest in Western Poland, where 400 pine trees have grown with a curvature in their trunk structure and it turns out that no one really knows exactly what caused it. There are, however, a few theories: 1) The main theory seems to suggest that this is the result of human interference. It is believed that this is a tree farm and the trees were forced to grow horizontally in their youth to make a carpenters life easier. The curved shape can be induced by laying a heavy object over a young tree stem. Phototropism will cause the stem beyond the heavy object to grow toward the sky, while the growing stem beneath and behind the heavy object will develop what is called morphogenetic compression wood - which ultimately makes the curv ...
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3325 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
Dental hygiene and the rainforest
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Chewing sticks are used by many people instead of toothbrushes. The neem tree grows in many Asian, African, and Middle Eastern countries. Indigenous people in these areas know that chewing neem twigs is good for their teeth. The epidermal tissues contain chemicals that kill bacteria and reduce inflammation. The study of how indigenous (native) plants are used by different cultures is known as ethnobotany.
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7325 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
What's the world's most delicious fruit?
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Ever wondered why two of the world's most delicious fruits - the mango and the avocado - have such enormous seeds? Turns out they likely evolved to be swallowed whole by megafauna, like our modern-day rhinos and elephants, that once ruled the Earth, to be deposited far away from their host plant and wrapped in a fresh dollop of fertiliser. That's why these seeds are nicknamed 'ghosts of evolution'.
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6654 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
A 'multi-berry' tree
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Meet Italy’s double tree, the Bialbero de Casorzo. That cherry tree on top isn't being parasitic - its roots have grown right through the hollow truck of the mulberry tree into the earth below, so there's no stealing of nutrients going on here.
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6755 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Overcrowded forest leads to this
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This beautiful mosaic of leaves is caused by a mysterious natural phenomenon known as 'crown shyness'. Seen here in a cluster of Kapur trees in Malaysia, scientists suspect that it occurs when young shoots become sensitive to touch, and stop growing once they graze other leaves.
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4068 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
World's largest seed
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The coco-de-mer palm tree ( Lodoicea maldivica) is endemic to the Seychelles. Its seeds are the largest and heaviest of any plant in the world, and have been highly prized over the centuries, which has almost driven the palm tree to extinction.
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5715 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Plants can be albino too!
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This is an albino redwood tree, with white needles instead of green because it's unable to produce chlorophyll. In order to survive, albino redwoods must join their roots to those of a normal redwood to obtain nutrients. Found in Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park and Humboldt Redwoods State Park in the US, there are only around 20 known albino redwoods in the world, and their exact whereabouts have been kept secret as protection.
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5754 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Bloody trees
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The dragon’s blood tree ( Dracaena draco) has a thick red resin that makes the plant appear to be bleeding when it is cut. These subtropical plants form huge umbrella-like canopies and can grow for hundreds of years, but they are currently listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN due to the trademark resin being used in traditional medicine, violin staining, and even for embalming the dead.
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5554 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
This sweet fruit grows in the most unbelievable place
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The Brazilian Jaboticaba tree well and truly takes advantage of all the surface area on its trunk by growing its sweet, grape-like fruits all over it. It's said to have evolved its trunk-fruit so animals could reach them and distribute the seeds.
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4195 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Instant treehouse
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This is a portable staircase you can strap onto any tree!
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4547 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
The earth contains more than 3 trillion trees
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A new international study estimates that there are more than 3 trillion trees on Earth, about seven and a half times more than some previous estimates. This number was formulated by collecting tree density information from more than 400,000 forest plots around the world. But the total number of trees has plummeted by roughly 46 percent since the start of human civilization. The results provide the most comprehensive assessment of tree populations ever produced and offer new insights into a class of organism that helps shape most terrestrial biomes. Source: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature14967.html ...
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32550 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
Colorful trees
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These are rainbow eucalyptus trees ( Eucalyptus deglupta) and they hail from the Philippine Islands. The trees get their name from the striking colours observed on their trunks and limbs. Although it may look like someone took a paintbrush to them, these colours are entirely natural. Unlike most trees, the rainbow eucalyptus does not have a thick, cork-like layer of bark on its trunk. The bark is smooth and as it grows it 'exfoliates' layers of spent tissue. This exfoliation technique occurs at different stages and in different zones of the tree. Once a layer is shed, a new fresh green bark is exposed. As this new bark ages, we can see the tissue change colour to dark green followed by a bluish colour, then to purple and pink-orange and then f ...
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4128 |
savio |
11 years ago |
Proof that money does grow on trees
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Well, okay GOLD. Apparently, gold grows on eucalyptus trees. Researchers discovered that the trees are acting as a hydraulic pump, extracting gold from the soil and moving it to their leaves and branches. The ‘nuggets’ are about one-fifth the diameter of human hair, but the leaves may be used in combination with other tools to develop better exploration techniques.
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7654 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Tree climbing goats
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Found in Morocco, they climb these Argan tree in search of food. It's hard to imagine that animals with hooves could be so adept at climbing but these images are 100% real. Food is fairly sparse in this area, so they have to grab it when they can - even if it's high up in a tree! The secret to their ability to climb lies in the shape of their hooves. The keratin reinforced hoof wall adds strength, while the soft textured sole provides traction and grip. It's also capable of deforming inwards to counter irregularities in the terrain. Their toes are capable of operating independently giving them more of a "grip". These hooves evolved to allow the goats to climb rocky, mountainous areas - but they've shifted ecosystems to the trees! ...
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3910 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Here's how to preserve the Amazon rainforest
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In 2005 Swedish millionaire Johan Eliasch purchased a 400,000-acre (1,600 km 2) area of land in the heart of the Amazon rainforest from a logging company for the sole purpose of it’s preservation. Johan Eliasch, born in Sweden, is the Chairman and CEO of Head N.V. the global sporting goods group, and is the former Special Representative of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. In 2005, Johan Eliasch created the Rainforest Trust and purchased for preservation purposes a 400,000-acre (1,600 km2) rainforest area in the heart of the Amazon rainforest near the Madeira River. Johan Eliasch co-founded Cool Earth in 2006, a charity he co-chairs, which sponsors local NGO's to conserve endangered rainforest and has over 120,000 registered members. ...
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4585 |
duddy |
10 years ago |