VITALITY OF TREES

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLIV, Issue 10106, 7 May 1924, Page 2

VITALITY OF TREES

EXTRAORDINARILY TENACIOUS.

Trees, more nearly than any_ other organism, seem to _ have attained to something approaching eternal life, writes S. L. Bastin, in "Open Air." It has, of course, for long been known . that certain kinds, such as oaks and I yews, live for many hundreds of years, but it had never been proved that they really die of old age. As a rule, the tree decays owing to attacks of fungoid pests, and, in the absence of the rotting disease which is set up, it would seem that the individual might go on living indefinitely. The ancient tree, which may have weathered centuries, makes its new shoots with as much vigour as a young sapling. Quite likely the trunk may be perfectly hollow, but the yearly additions of new tissues are developed with the utmost^regularity. Often an ancient tree which" nas been blown down will spring again from the roots, and one or more new trunks will arise. That trees are extraordinarily tenacious of life is demonstrated in an interesting way by some kinds of nine. Foresters have for long been puzzled by the fact that, after a fir tree has been felled, the stump will sometimes increase in circumference fori a num- | ber of years. This is really very re- F markable, for pines, unlike most trees, I ana not able to send up stump shoots I which can produce foliage and so con- t tinue to live. |"