Hickory, Dickory, Fig Tree – I ask of you – can you hear me? By William Van Zyl. Published in July 2021.

The Extravagant Podcast

Read the article as a blog post:

https://fivehousepublishing.com/2021/07/07/hickory-dickory-fig-tree-i-ask-of-you-can-you-hear-me/

Excerpt:

From fun to research.

This fun rhyme – based on the well-known Hickory, Dickory, Dock – endeavours to get the reader's attention to the animals and the tree talking. Playfully it wants to draw the reader in. But there is more, much more.

Could trees, plants and animals communicate? Could humans and trees communicate? We know that trees communicate with one another—above the ground and underground. These are some of the questions this article will touch on.

The unsuspected withering of a tree will also feature.

Science and Research: The Hidden Life of Trees

RESEARCH:

I want to tell you about the findings of plants and trees communicating, living life together – in communities – however, the forest scientist Peter Wohlleben does it perfectly. The story he shares of a 'dead' tree – found alive after about 500 years – is pivotal in his book.

https://youtu.be/1djibBPOfto

Here is an image of a Kauri tree in New Zealand that refuses to die. Are other trees holding the 'hands' of this slain giant – nursing it for years?

A kauri tree stump in a rain forest in New Zealand with sap flow sensors and other equipment attached. Essentially, Kauri trees "hold hands" beneath the ground, sharing water and nutrients through an interconnected root system. Credit: Sebastian Leuzinger. Sebastian, thanks for sharing this extraordinary picture! Reported by Laine Moger, Auckland General Reporter (NZ) - Stuff. Link: https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/114534612/this-kauri-treestump-has-stunned-the-science-world-because-it-refused-to-die

See the freehand Sketch of the Mycorrhizal Network in the blog post. From the author's sketchbook: Trees hold hands via the mycorrhizal network. It shows fine threads of fungi connecting surrounding trees. A communication system. See the mushrooms and the tiny threads that connect to the tree roots below the surface. Those mushrooms are the “fruit” of the fungus, while the majority of the fungal organism lives in the soil interwoven with tree roots as a vast network of Mycelium. Mycelium is incredibly tiny “threads” of the greater fungal organism that wrap around or bore into tree roots. Taken together, Mycelium composes what’s called a “mycorrhizal network,” which connects individual plants together to transfer water, nitrogen, carbon and other minerals. German forester Peter Wohlleben dubbed this network the “woodwide web,” as it is through the Mycelium that trees “communicate.” My Sketch was inspired by Dr Shannon Guichon. From the University of British Columbia - Faculty of Forestry, Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences.

More ebooks and articles are available at https://fivehousepublishing.com/

More about the author at http://williamvanzyl.com/