Can You Hear the Trees Talking?. Peter Wohlleben

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Can You Hear the Trees Talking? - Peter Wohlleben


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nuts—so

      many

      that the wild boars can't eat them all.

      We don't know how trees communicate with each

      other over hundreds of miles to coordinate when they

      will and will not bloom. (You're going to be seeing

      more of these we-just-don't-knows in the course of

      this book, because we still have so much to learn

      about what goes on in the forest.)

      *

      With beeches and

      oaks,

      the seeds fall straight down

      from the mother

      tree.

      That way the tree family stays

      together nicely. But some tree species are loners.

      Willows, poplars, and birches like to stand on their

      own,

      To make

      sure

      their

      children

      can grow up faraway,

      they produce seeds that are very tiny and covered

      with small hairs or

      fluff,

      so they can be easily caught

      up in a gust of wind and carried several miles away.

      Other seeds, such as those of maples or many

      conifers, are too big and heavy to simply blow away.

      So these trees have come up with another strategy:

      each seed is equipped with wings. That way the seed

      can spin like a helicopter propeller in the air. Even

      without a motor, the seed can slowly float to the

      ground,

      and if it's caught up in

      a

      strong

      wind,

      it can

      fly

      a

      few hundred yards.

      Tree Seeds

      LARGE SEEDS WITHOUT WINGS OR FUZZ prefer to

      fall beneath their mother tree. Beechnuts, for

      example, like to stay close to home. Smaller

      seeds with propellers, like the maple seeds

      pictured

      here,

      or tiny, fluffy seeds like those of

      the willow, fly far awory from the mother tree.

      The children of these trees don't mind growing

      up without family close by.

      Most trees like to live

      in

      families, and in each family there are–of course–children!

      That's why trees work to grow strong–so they can have babies. You can see this

      for yourself when they're

      in

      bloom.

      Pine trees release so much pollen,

      it can look like a cloud of dust.

      share the same "house," so

      to speak. With some trees,

      such as the willow, trees are

      either male or female—the

      male trees produce pollen and

      don't grow blossoms, and the

      female trees grow blossoms

      and don't produce pollen—

      but this is the exception.

      After the female blossoms are

      successfully pollinated, seeds

      develop, By fall the seeds

      of beech and oak trees are

      mature, and they drop to the

      ground,

      where many hungry

      animals are waiting for these

      delicious treats. Wild boars

      IN

      THE

      SPRING

      IT

      CAN

      BE

      dusty under trees, and you

      may find your shoes covered with a layer of tiny,

      yellowy-green particles. That's male pollen—

      tiny grains that want to land on female blossoms.

      Pollen grains are carried by the

      wind,

      so they can't

      really seek out blossoms

      themselves.

      When

      they meet

      a female blossom, it's by accident. That's why

      a

      tree

      must produce

      a

      huge amount of

      pollen,

      so

      that

      a

      few

      grains will reach their

      goal.

      With most trees, the female blossoms are on

      the same tree that produces the male pollen, They

      in particular adore beechnuts and acorns because

      they're full of fat

      and oil

      that help

      them

      build up

      a

      thick

      layer of fat of their own. This way the animals carry

      their winter food supply under their

      skin,

      and they

      can go for

      a

      few days without finding anything to eat.

      *

      Tree parents aren't too happy about

      all

      this because,

      after all, their children are supposed to grow from

      these

      seeds,

      That's why

      some

      trees,

      such

      as


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