Thursday, May 30, 2013
Resilience 2
Speaking of resilient plants.... I added a new block to my morning walks this week, and noticed this fantastic Hypotenuse Tree.
It's clearly been that way for 50 years; somehow got tipped at the start, then decided to keep growing in its own way. Damn the perpendicular, full speed ahead!
The top of Hypotenuse Tree is even with nearby Vertical Trees, which means that trees don't set their growth limit by length of trunk. (Hypotenuse Trunk is about 40% longer than Vertical Trunk.) They must be using sap pressure, which would depend solely on vertical height. This doesn't seem to be a well-understood subject, but one theory is that the tree stops growing when the downward water pressure in the highest branch is heavy enough to pull in air bubbles and break the siphon effect.
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Come to think of it, that's a good rule for human organizations such as a national economy. Don't assume you can grow to an infinite height. Grow as long as you're sucking real value (labor plus raw materials) up from the roots. When you sense that the siphon is breaking, as shown by bubbles starting to appear, stop growing. [Expanded this thought later.]
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Couldn't resist.
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Update three weeks later: Hypotenuse was cut down!
I suppose it's fortunate that I noticed it and saluted its stubborn and unique life force before it was obliterated.
It's clearly been that way for 50 years; somehow got tipped at the start, then decided to keep growing in its own way. Damn the perpendicular, full speed ahead!
The top of Hypotenuse Tree is even with nearby Vertical Trees, which means that trees don't set their growth limit by length of trunk. (Hypotenuse Trunk is about 40% longer than Vertical Trunk.) They must be using sap pressure, which would depend solely on vertical height. This doesn't seem to be a well-understood subject, but one theory is that the tree stops growing when the downward water pressure in the highest branch is heavy enough to pull in air bubbles and break the siphon effect.
= = = = =
Come to think of it, that's a good rule for human organizations such as a national economy. Don't assume you can grow to an infinite height. Grow as long as you're sucking real value (labor plus raw materials) up from the roots. When you sense that the siphon is breaking, as shown by bubbles starting to appear, stop growing. [Expanded this thought later.]
= = = = =
Couldn't resist.
= = = = =
Update three weeks later: Hypotenuse was cut down!
I suppose it's fortunate that I noticed it and saluted its stubborn and unique life force before it was obliterated.Labels: Heimatkunde, Smarty-plants
¶ 6:57 AM
