Redwood Tree Evolutionary Adaptations
Hi Casey and Alex! I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and have the privilege to hike in a lot of different coast redwood forests. Often I see redwood roots with what look like knuckles - I am assuming they are scaffold roots - protruding from the cut bank of the slope on the edge of the trail or edge of a creek bed. These knuckles have little orange nodules that look like carrots to me and I was wondering what the purpose of these are and how they relate to the evolutionary adaptations of redwoods in coastal forests. I am a big fan of the pod and can't wait for Casey's tree ID book to come out (would it be too much to ask for a signed copy ;)? ) Best, Adam
A Question About Tree Sex
Hi guys, I really enjoyed the Acer pensylvanicum episode and the way they changed genders made me think about another weird sexual thing with plants. I am a botanist working with Grindelia ciliata and they have a very pronounced heterocarpy where they produce different fruit depending on the position of the flower on the capitula. I was wondering if you know of any trees with heterocarpy? Generally I would assume they wouldn't have any due to the higher cost to produce, but I would be interested to hear otherwise.
Using googly eyes to promote “ugly” trees?
Alex & Casey! I recently came across a fascinating study that found that consumers were more likely to buy “ugly” vegetables when they had googly eyes on them or when they were given human names. Two questions: (1) What do you think about applying this to trees that some might consider “ugly” but provide great benefits? (2) If you think it’s an idea worth trying, which tree species would you start with? Thanks! https://grist.org/food-and-agriculture/how-to-sell-an-ugly-vegetable-give-it-googly-eyes/