few species of tree that couldn’t care less about the forest’s comforts and social interactions and prefer to strike out on their own.

Large plants do not have brains, they move very slowly, their interests are completely different from ours, and they live their daily lives at an incredibly slow pace.

Some trees appear to have chosen the banana as a model for their trunks. The lower part sticks out at an angle, and then the trunk seems to have taken a while to orient itself vertically.

Then the tree has to keep hidden reserves of energy on hand to fight off pests.

Many trees in North America are adapted to natural cycles of ground fires.

As soon as the climate warms up and becomes more Mediterranean, these trees are going to have a hard time. They can’t tolerate constantly hot, dry summers and bitterly cold winters, and they will have to step aside for other species, such as oaks.

The process of learning stability is triggered by painful micro-tears that occur when the trees bend way over in the wind, first in one direction and then in the other.

Thus, old trees fertilize the forest and help their offspring get a better start in life. The youngsters don’t have their own moss because moss grows very slowly and takes decades to get established.32

Scientists have determined that slow growth when the tree is young is a prerequisite if a tree is to live to a ripe old age.