The Science of the Super-Suck

Red Bud

“I never saw a discontented tree.  They grip the ground as though they liked it, and though fast-rooted, they travel about as far as we do.”
~ John Muir

∞

I love trees.  I think you probably already knew this by my past tree posts, but I thought I’d reinforce this fact with mind-blowing information recently coming to light.

We all know that trees give us life with every “breath” they exhale. But did you know they also give us water? Yes, they do. But that’s not the part I didn’t know.

Love is…Climbing Trees!

The tallest trees we know of — say, the Redwood — seem to defy gravity. Knowing how water works in vertical columns (did you know that you can only suck water so far up a straw?), they also appear to defy the laws of fluid mechanics.  Laws, schmaws, they say, doing their own thing for billions of years, waaaay before the Anthropocene. (Too bad you didn’t grow legs, my Sassy Little Tubes of Fiber.)

My lovely Texas neighbor and virtual gardening companion, PlumDirt, shared with me a video out of the blue.  She said she instantly thought of the kids (and me too). It would appear I’ve got her brainwashed. Yesss.

Question:  How does a 50-ft tree get water all the way up to the leaves at the tippy top, when the limit (by the laws of physics) is say, 30 feet?
Answer:  The Super Suck.

Here it is, explained; thank you, Veritasium.

Gawd, I love science! I hope you learned something today.  Like him, I will never look at trees the same way again.

♥

Care for your trees: leave their leaf “litter,”
water them (not your lawn) long and deep, and enjoy
the naturally fresh morning breath they emit, when you can.