Apical Buds and the Intelligence of Trees

At first glance, there's nothing too remarkable about this small redwood tree growing near our house.

But I know something about its history. And there is a remarkable story here.

After I planted it, I discovered to my surprise that beavers will eat redwood trees. Dang. A couple of winters ago, a beaver turned my five -foot redwood into a six-inch stob.

But it lived, and because it had good root infrastructure, it started growing again. Now, it's again about five feet tall. And protected from long-toothed rodents that dwell in water.

Last year, the apical bud (the topmost, and dominant growth area) died somehow. I wondered what would happen to it, but I kept adding fertilization and water. By the way, redwoods are not native to the central valley of California where we now live. They need a LOT of water, and so are found naturally along the coasts. This redwood however, is not far from a year-round creek, and may have already discovered that water source.  It is growing happily.

Early this year, I began noticing the branch at right in the photo beginning to slowly bend upwards from nearly horizontal. As you can see, after about six months, it is almost vertical. The new apical bud is at the top of this branch.

That, to me, is remarkable.

How did the tree know to transfer apical dominance to one of its limbs? And how does it cause the limb to slowly bend until it is upright? And how does it know when that limb is fully upright?

There is an intelligence among trees. There is something going on within that allows them to be aware of their needs, and even aware to some extent of what is going on around them.

I suspect that intelligence is more significant than we yet imagine.

When I really "see" nature, my heart turns by habit to nature's God, and remember when my heart first knew Him as an adult. That happened in a plant ecology class in my university training, of all places. I remember the day sitting in class when I had become sufficiently aware of the massive interconnections of the plant and animal word.....and that was more than 50 years ago. Today, much more is known.

I realized then that the intricacies of creation could not possibly have happened by chance.  I realized that God was, and as I opened my heart to that reality, that He is.

And in time I my heart came to know that He loves me. The transference of apical dominance and self-bending a limb is pretty amazing.  But a God that loves me and communicates with me: THAT'S a real miracle.  😃