Found trees, which are always inclined to the equator
Scientists made the discovery, according to which the tops of the pines cook always tilted toward the equator, where this tree was originally introduced on all five continents of the Earth.
Araucaria columnar or cook’s pine (Araucaria columnaris), a tree that once grew exclusively in the archipelago of New Caledonia in the Pacific ocean. However, after human intervention, these pine trees have taken root in tropical, subtropical and temperate areas around the world.
An interesting feature of the tree is that its trunk is always slightly tilted. Now, however, scientists have noted that the top of the pine cook always faces towards the equator, says New Scientist.
The discovery was made by Matt Ritter from Polytechnic University San Luis Obispo in California. The scientist was engaged in the description of the Araucarias growing in California, when they realized that the tops of these trees always point to the South. Ritter contacted his colleague in Australia, who informed him that on the continent the tops of all of the cook’s pine point exclusively to the North.
We made an interesting discovery that, perhaps, the tree always leans towards the equator, near which it grew originally.Matt Literately from Polytechnic University San Luis Obispo in California
American scientists and his colleagues studied 256 Araucarias on five continents, and found that all the trees are on average tilted by 8.55 degrees, which is almost three times more than the leaning tower of Pisa. In addition, the scientists found that the farther the trees are from the equator, the more they tipped. According to Ritter, one tree in South Australia and is tilted at 40 degrees.
Scientists still have a good explanation for such an increase in the cook’s pine.
“We can assume that we are dealing with features on the level of genetics that emerged when we spread these trees around the world,” said Ritter.
Also, according to him, this behavior may be an adaptation when you try to catch more sunlight at higher latitudes.