Socratea Exorrhiza, a plant that grows in a remote part of Ecuador, is said to be able to walk – yup, just like Ant-Man does in Lord of the Rings. Okay, these leaf giants may not be able to go to war with the mists of Isengard, but they certainly have something in common with their fictional counterparts, besides size.
Their complex root systems are known as legs, helping them to constantly move toward sunlight as the seasons change.
Apparently, these walking plants seem to be able to move pegs up to 2-3 cm per day, or 20 meters per year. That may not sound like much, but it’s a marathon by three standards.
The mysterious trees remind visitors of Tolkien’s creations. Image credit: Peter Vrsansky Ecuador’s rainforest guide has long told tourists about the amazing walking trees.
The most common story is that the tree slowly ‘goes’ in search of the sun, sending new roots towards the light, while the old ones die.
John H. Bodley suggested in 1980 that its taut roots are what allow the palm tree to “walk” away from the point of germination. Whether this is true or not, the tree’s unusual roots, branching from the trunk a few feet above the ground, certainly add to the illusion that the tree has legs.
Peter Vrsansky, a paleontologist from the Slovak Academy of Sciences, who worked for several months at Unesco Sumaco, explains: “When soil is eroded, trees grow long, new roots in search of new, hard soil. much more, sometimes up to 20 m long. Biosphere. Reserve, about a day’s journey from the Ecuadorian capital Quito.
“Then, slowly, as the roots settle into the new soil and the tree patiently bends toward the new roots, the old roots slowly rise into the air. The whole process of moving the tree to a new location with better sunlight and harder soil can take several years.”
According to some scientists, it is the tree’s wobbly roots that allow it to “walk”. However, other scientists have a different view. According to a 2005 paper by biologist Gerardo Avalos, director of the Center for Sustainable Development Studies in Atenas, Costa Rica, although Socratea Exorrhiza plants occasionally grow new roots, they are still planted in one place. . Just because they grow new roots doesn’t mean they use them to move.
“My work proves that belief in the walking palm tree is just a myth,” Avalos told Live Science. “To think that a palm tree can actually track changes in canopy light by moving slowly across the forest floor… is a myth that tour guides find interesting when told visitors in the rainforest.”
But why all the confusion? In the end, it all seems to stem from that single root system. Ecuador’s ‘walking’ trees have taller roots than other trees, starting at the base of the trunk.
This makes the trees look more like an upright walking broom than a real tree. And, as the soil around them rots, some of those odd-looking roots die, making way for new roots to form.
Due to its unique root system, Socratea Exorrhiza looks like an upright walking broom. Image credit: Ruestz So, after all, maybe it’s the peculiar looks of these trees that have tour guides seething with stories about their hikes, to spice things up their lectures.
This conclusion is further underscored by the fact that if you do a quick search you won’t find any time-lapse videos of one of these trees actually ‘walking’. (If you find one, though, don’t hesitate to let us know.)
However, there are other plants, if not trees, that can actually move from place to place. Creeping Devil cactus, for exam
Categories: Trends
Source: newstars.edu.vn