Of course! Like us, trees have families. While it is relatively easy for us to recognize one another, given our ability to speak and the physical resemblance often shared by family members, it is much more difficult for members of tree families to recognize each other. They have to figure out who’s who a little differently, so they communicate through their… roots. When a tree’s roots come in contact with an adjacent tree’s, they first make sure that they belong to the same species. If so, it is very likely that they are family. They will continue to live together as a family of trees as long as we humans do not disrupt them.

Sometimes, two related trees become such close friends that their roots fuse together and they become one tree, with two separate crowns. This is a phenomenon that is most common among deciduous trees.

Old trees and stumps tend to pass on knowledge to their younger relatives who learn many things from them, such as how to manage the water supply in the surrounding soil to not die of thirst in a dry summer.

Remember, it’s good to leave trees alone!

Hey, Explorer!

Did you know that not all trees are fond of each other? If you happen to find a rotting tree stump with a drooping crown, it’s a sign that the tree did not have a close relationship with any of its forest neighbors. However, if you find a stump whose edges are hard and whose bark has stayed in place, it means that the tree is alive, as it is receiving food through its roots from surrounding family trees. The stump may live like this for hundreds of years.