100 THE HUMAN SIDE OF TREES 



This root, after traversing the exposed heartwood, 

 entered the ground, and at once set about supply- 

 ing food for the whole tree. The task proved so 

 Herculean that the maple finally gave up and 

 withered away to an honourable death. 



Occasionally one sees a tree with a divided base, 

 a case where two trunks merge into one a few 

 feet above the ground. A likely explanation for 

 this peculiar arrangement is this: a wind-carried 

 seed is deposited on the top of a decapitated stump. 

 The sprouting seedling gets some nourishment from 

 the decayed wood of its natal perch, but soon de- 

 cides that if it is ever to get ahead in the world it 

 must reach the solid earth. Forthwith it sends 

 down two slender roots, one on each side of the 

 stump. These serve their purpose admirably and, 

 as they grow, assume the look and function of 

 twin trunks. In time the old stump rots away and 

 the tree which once sat on its back is left high and 

 dry on a pair of stilts. The birch is a tree very 

 likely to do this sort of thing. 



There is on record the case of a catalpa tree 

 which through great age had become a mere shell. 

 In fear of a general collapse, somebody took down 

 the tree's whole top, leaving the hollow trunk stand- 

 ing bolt upright like some great natural chimney. 

 Into this huge flue an ailanthus seed blew one day 



