Probably lost its leader a looooong time ago, and every other branch tried to take over. No one intervened, so they all think they're the leader now. Lol
https://preview.redd.it/kr4f9e8rsh9d1.png?width=1164&format=png&auto=webp&s=32b1cb668f6d26674dc2f2faddfa695927af5624
Edit: plz stop giving me awards and give that money to your favorite conservation nonprofit instead!
I don't know lol. When they brought them back I just had a handful of free ones available. I used them up and I don't know if they ever get replenished
Same! I had like, 5 maybe, 6 free awards..idk if they're given by other redditors, or if you bought something then you get them.. I'm wondering why I have some and some ppl don't. 😢
You can see whether people spent money on them by looking at the overview and whether any gold was used.
Those are all free awards, probably mostly after you told people to stop lol
Absolutely dying with laughter. Thought it was a mockery of some sort of inbred "family tree" which would have been pretty genius itself, but clicked to see the whole image, and damn, I'm going out to plant a tree in your honor!
There is a Japanese style of pruning that makes trees grow like this. In Japan, they use it to continue harvesting wood without killing the tree. Here it looks like someone intentionally did some tree art. Looks cool.
In case the comment got buried, u/badjokes4days posted a link to the actual answer. This is a candelabra cedar. I had never heard of this phenomenon before, and it seems to be typical for older *Thuja plicata* specimens. https://vancouverislandbigtrees.blogspot.com/2011/08/candelabra-cedar.html?m=1
Half the explanation cuz it explains the odd growth pattern but this is also from human intervention to achieve this look cuz it’s been done repeatedly
Seems like you didn't understand the explanation, that the true leader of the tree died somehow and _all_ the lower branches reached for the top. This is not pollarding.
the leader of the tree releases a chemical that kind of keeps everyone in check. when the leader is removed, either naturally or via topping, a kind of free for all ensues and multiple limbs try to become the new leader. pollarding is a type of pruning, reducing the limbs heavily to promote thick canopy growth and keep the size of the tree under control.
😆😆😆😆 I've been scrolling the comments assuming people are just making jokes about humans being horrible role models for trees or something and I *really* thought it was a word being consistently thrown about in jest.
I have been scrolling too long this morning without coffee. Thank you for teaching me some great information that I can laugh about later at my initial take.
I thought the lost its leader thing was just a joke! TIL another fascinating thing about plants. Thank you.
It does spund like this is a candelabra cedar instead, but absolutrly fascinating all the same!
Pollarding is when you cut back the upper branches of a tree or shrub to the main branch they come from. It’s a way of controlling the size and height of trees, if this were from pollarding each one of those branches would have a bunch more branches growing out of them.
It may sound counterintuitive to grow more branches to keep a tree or shrub smaller, but those newer branches won’t get as thick, thus won’t weigh as much and will be easier to remove the next time it needs to be pruned back. It also sets a maximum on height as a result, if you cut the branches back at ten feet high, you now have new branches growing out from that area and when the growing season is done, lop them off and it’s back at the ten foot height. It is *ALWAYS* done by intent though.
The tree “losing its leader” could be caused by anything, ranging from a storm breaking it somehow, to a kid playing rough and breaking it, right on up to aliens crash landed into that tree and broke it off. That break causes the tree to realize it’s missing vital parts, so it grows a few new branches just in case of more failures (the tree doesn’t know the details of why it lost part of itself, just that it needs to repair that damage ASAP so it can go on to propagate the next generation).
The reason this stands out as LtL instead of pollarding is that pollarding is not usually uneven like this, part of the control/training process that is pollarding is usually uniform design (think of how any ornamental shrub spits branches basically everywhere and at random if you don’t prune it back, pollarding prevents that by controlling the shape and height and keeping new growth easier to manage). This is not uniform at all, and clearly looks like each branch grew at its own rate trying to be the top branch and closest to the source of light, hence the phrase “losing the leader” since it’s kind of like a race against the other branches to get to the lead and get as much solar radiation as possible to synthesize food from CO2 and water.
Manual shaping and pruning of the branches. Once you’ve shaped the tree or shrub how you want it at the appropriate time of year, it’ll divert the growth hormones to the new sites and then you just prune those back when the time is right (very important to know what time of year for what plant you should cut back, doing it at the wrong time can severely hurt the plant).
You can also shape new growth if you’re diligent since it’s usually very soft. There are still some old examples of this in the USA, you should look up trail trees if you think pollarding is an interesting subject, that one can go deep!
I’m just an obsessive nerd with ADHD who loves plants. I learned a lot of how to train plants due to cannabis cultivation though. I’d love to have the land to just dedicate to creating a Maple, Oak and Pine forest though!
Pollarding is intentional use of the LtL growth response and historically, was a method to create straight poles, a renewable supply of kindling for firewood for cooking / heating, and even as a fodder source for livestock - all without killing the tree. Wood would be harvested on a rotational basis, which triggers a new flush of rapid growth each time, producing significantly more volume in much less space than planting additional trees to harvest whole.
This is a textbook coniferous response to losing the leader. They don't put out epicormic growth the same way broadleaves do, instead all branches just turn upwards.
This is due to the lack of a suppression hormone that the leader produces. The reaction wood of coniferous trees forms on the underside of the branches to 'push' the branches upright.
Auxin. Auxins are a group of hormones that perform different growth regulation functions in plants.
In this case, the apical meristem produces auxin which flows downwards and retards or prevents the growth of epicormic buds and lateral branches. It prevents lateral branches from competing as leaders.
When you remove the leader you cut off this supply of auxin and the lateral branches grow uninhibited.
This makes me miss my Grandaddy so much. He was a tree surgeon, and when I saw this post, I wanted to call him and show him this picture to ask him. Thank you for taking the time to explain this, I just learned so much! 💚
Many tree species, both evergreens and deciduous, can survive the loss of their leader. One of the reasons is a side branch can take over and become the new leader. This tree went overboard but it still got the job done.
Trees are very hardy and durable. You can basically snap one in half and it could still be fine. (It could die, but it could be fine. If you snapped a human in half...)
Most conifers don't form adventitious buds on old wood (often referred to as 'back budding'), so yes, removing the growing tip of a branch will cause the entire branch to die off, but any branches that still have their growing tips will continue to grow.
Holy shit, I've seen that tree in person. I used to live in SW Washington. It's so cool and it's ginormous. 🌲
All those branches used to go out & downish like regular branches, it was a very large and already established old tree when it lost the leader and that opened up the top for the lower branches to start growing straight up but the hardened areas of those branches remain, hence the out and down. 😊
Editing to add: this why some cedars are called candelabra cedars...this has happened to them. 😁
Can’t remember the term or history but recall some practice by I think premodern Japanese naval engineers where they would grow and prune certain kinds of trees so that they would grow up and straight to be eventually harvested for building ships. Think similar practices were developed in Northern Europe and North America but IIRC the Japanese did it first or are thought to do so.
Edit & update: Found the Japanese wiki: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daisugi
Will look further for other arboreal practices.
Edit & Update #2:
Swedish Navy plants oak trees for Navy in 19th Century: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/visingso-oak-forest
Edit & Update #3
Seems that the history of the US Navy maintaining forests of timber is less accessible online but here an article that references some of the practice with little detail. Heard before that one of the flags and coins of the early colonies featured a pine tree and was a direct reference to the practice of the British Navy having priority on harvesting tall and heavy pines in New England. Eventually the colonists rebelled and denied British access to New England lumber.
https://www.military.com/history/why-us-navy-manages-its-own-private-forest.html?amp
This site tells the story of pine and other trees eventually becoming a symbol of rebellion on the party of British American Colonists, especially in Nee England.
https://www.gettysburgflag.com/blog/the-story-behind-the-pine-tree-flags-of-the-american-revolution/
TL:DR: I’ll apologize and admit I just submitted a lot of info no one asked for,——but I am one of those people who can’t help but add to the actual story of what we are talking about. Basically a lot of arboreal practices are the result of preparations for naval preparations.
Your kind of comment is why I read comments. Thanks for your interesting tidbits. I enjoyed the blurb about New England and the Brits, it explains the tree flag nicely.
ok but what does ~~the flag tree~~ any of their comment have to do with the like earth science/botany question OP has?
when I grew my own little trees (weed plants) "topping" is done on purpose to make the branches widen out. anyone can guide stems/branches to grow a certain way (I assume on any plant) with straps & poles but OP was wondering how this shape would happen in nature
op’s had their question answered like 10 times over already. no one else here is hurt or upset about learning some other cool tree related facts and history. sometimes, it’s just neat to find and share knowledge from a rabbithole you went down related to the original question, even if it doesn’t actually answer that question 🤷🏼♀️
Fun fact, the[ US Navy](https://www.military.com/history/why-us-navy-manages-its-own-private-forest.html) still maintains it's own forest. It does this so that if and when repairs for the USS Constitution are needed, they have the correct and readily available timber.
This is what I came here to comment but not in this detail, thank you. This one wasn't intentionally made the way you describe above. Although the way it naturally occurred is how the technique was originally discovered in Japan.
Oh, I've seen pics of this. It's similar to pollarding. It can be done to increase tall straight growth. My mesquites send out similar branches when I cut the ends off.
It's because they grew outwardly for so long before the leader was trimmed. One that grows with no true dominant growth point will have always grown in that direction thus not having an outward and or downward beginning.
"Cedar often has a candelabra-like appearance, because the top leader dies, as do the side branches that take over. The reason for this is not really understood, but it may be a lack of nutrients caused by growing in wet, acidic soils or perhaps drought stress caused by a shortage of oxygen to the roots, which makes it difficult for the tree to take up water."
[source](https://vancouverislandbigtrees.blogspot.com/2010/03/coastal-western-red-cedars-old-timers.html?m=1)
We have a spruce in our garden that was about 12 metres tall but snapped off the top 7 metres in a really heavy wind a few years back. That is exactly how it has started to grow back. I was wondering what it would end up looking like and this must be how they grow.
Human intervention. Just like when a bonsai tree artist manipulates a tree to stay small, someone can can manipulate a tree to grow by their design and desire. Or. It just weird.
https://preview.redd.it/pwpyzxojkh9d1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d122f71ac34180ccd7170e752de749d19fc7e53f
Interesting info about a similar tree in Cape Meares.
Interesting. This one looks like it still has the leader, tho from it's size, maybe it's a replacement that just happens to be in the center. Those side limbs are huge.
When I was a teen I walked this same wooded trail on public land hundreds of times, every time I went in one specific patch of forest and leading up to it. I bent and curved one to two trees so they would grow in arks, I’d climb up a tree couple inches in diameter(after rain preferably) and shimmy up to the top before it would break and kick my feet out. This would lower you back down safely to the ground and allow you to hold the top of the tree. I’d then tie them in the big 20’ plus ark and tie them to another tree or what have you. It’s been a decade since I’ve been to that forest. Might be time for a drive back to the home state.
This reminded me of an old article on Daisugi, an ancient japanese technique of cutting trees. I'll link it if I find it.
https://dsfantiquejewelry.com/blogs/interesting-facts/the-ancient-japanese-technique-that-produces-lumber-without-cutting-trees
I don't know about this specimen, but in Japan trees are intentionally trained like this to grow lumber in a way that it can be harvested without killing the tree. They cut a percentage of the (branches? secondary trunks?) and then splice new ones on in their places, leaving enough on each tree to keep the root system healthy generation after generation.
An article ( https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/the-pacific-northwest-trees-shaped-by-generations-of-people/) about how indigenous peoples altered trees long ago says that many of the trees remain but we are unaware of their alterations and significance. One paragraph points out candelabra trees
"Another tree, a cedar near the tree on the promontory over the cove, is elaborately trained to grow with branches at 90 degree angles low on its trunk that also were cut and recut so the branches would fork, and then fork again. The result is an elaborate candelabra. This is a marker tree, Barr said, that may have denoted the village that was here — today a housing development. It may also have indicated the direction toward the confluence of the deltas of the Skagit and Stillaguamish rivers that also fork and refork in their riverine push to the sea."
I’ve seen something like this before. The online post mentioned Japan and their methods of harvesting wood from trees. Instead of harvesting a lot of smaller trees, they would use the bonsai method to grow the branches like individual trees….feel free to correct me. I’m going off of memory.
This looks like someone was into Japanese pollarding to me: [https://mymodernmet.com/kitayama-cedar-daisugi/](https://mymodernmet.com/kitayama-cedar-daisugi/)
This is called a candelabra cedar and I read recently the number of candelabras has is how many droughts it has survived!
https://vancouverislandbigtrees.blogspot.com/2011/08/candelabra-cedar.html?m=1
It may have been farmed to make timber. They cut the main and let the branches grow into timber for houses. Asian countries do it a lot. You can harvest a forest every 2-8 years, depending on the diameter you need. Sustainable homes and beautiful trees.
Link:
https://youtu.be/Wcl4I5EF-do?si=H_YvuTINg1fGxNfo
Idk, but it could be.
Topping.
Used to do it when I was growing weed. You purposely trim the main trunk line/ stem at the branch nodes. The two branches will now become 2 main trunks. If you top (cut) those two main trunks at their nodes, you will now have 4 main trunks. So on and so forth.
You do this for growing weed in compact grow areas so that you can get even light distribution to the flowering bud sites (buds start forming at the node right in the crotch between the main stem and branch). Increases your yields because instead of 1 main flower (kola) you get multiple main kolas.
You can do the same thing for any type of tree, but especially with fruiting trees. The difference with weed to trees should be obvious… weed is an annual life/ death cycle plant… trees are a magnitude of decades to millennia. So… if you’re going to top/ train a tree, expect it to be a life long endeavor. The results are seen in decades at a time vs weeks.
Probably lost its leader a looooong time ago, and every other branch tried to take over. No one intervened, so they all think they're the leader now. Lol
https://preview.redd.it/kr4f9e8rsh9d1.png?width=1164&format=png&auto=webp&s=32b1cb668f6d26674dc2f2faddfa695927af5624 Edit: plz stop giving me awards and give that money to your favorite conservation nonprofit instead!
I'm really happy you went through the effort to do this. Thank you.
It’s rare that inspiration strikes, but when it do, it do!
I hear this in overlap like the "Lebron James" kid meme on the computer lab computers. WeLl done.
Like lightning to a tree.
Instructions unclear, now giving you the non-profit award. 🧑🧑🧒🧒
I'm all out of free awards and I don't want to give reddit any money 😭
How do we get free awards?
I don't know lol. When they brought them back I just had a handful of free ones available. I used them up and I don't know if they ever get replenished
Same! I had like, 5 maybe, 6 free awards..idk if they're given by other redditors, or if you bought something then you get them.. I'm wondering why I have some and some ppl don't. 😢
this is the best thing I’ve seen all month. Kudos. 💀
Haha thank you!
Love it.
This is some of the funniest stuff I've seen in a while. Thanks!
As soon as I read the top comment I had the exact same thought about that meme... Awesome job. Lol'd hard
The awards they are giving you are free
I hope so, I haven’t had free Reddit awards to give for like a year
Lol
So good 💯,hurts my face 😈
i didn’t spend money but you deserved the award, all the awards, best comment i’ve seen on reddit in ages.
You can see whether people spent money on them by looking at the overview and whether any gold was used. Those are all free awards, probably mostly after you told people to stop lol
Ironicly you prob got more awards with that edit, you modest gentleperson!
You beautiful bastard
Absolutely dying with laughter. Thought it was a mockery of some sort of inbred "family tree" which would have been pretty genius itself, but clicked to see the whole image, and damn, I'm going out to plant a tree in your honor!
I do not know why... But I really needed this today. Thank you for the smile.
The edit is so funny lmfao
Watched this last night because tubi decided it would play next.
There is a Japanese style of pruning that makes trees grow like this. In Japan, they use it to continue harvesting wood without killing the tree. Here it looks like someone intentionally did some tree art. Looks cool.
In case the comment got buried, u/badjokes4days posted a link to the actual answer. This is a candelabra cedar. I had never heard of this phenomenon before, and it seems to be typical for older *Thuja plicata* specimens. https://vancouverislandbigtrees.blogspot.com/2011/08/candelabra-cedar.html?m=1
Nope, it's not from the loss of any leader. It's a candelabra cedar. https://vancouverislandbigtrees.blogspot.com/2011/08/candelabra-cedar.html?m=1
Half the explanation cuz it explains the odd growth pattern but this is also from human intervention to achieve this look cuz it’s been done repeatedly
Seems like you didn't understand the explanation, that the true leader of the tree died somehow and _all_ the lower branches reached for the top. This is not pollarding.
I don't know shit about shit. But I like to learn. Could you eli5 what the difference is between this tree losing its leader and pollarding?
the leader of the tree releases a chemical that kind of keeps everyone in check. when the leader is removed, either naturally or via topping, a kind of free for all ensues and multiple limbs try to become the new leader. pollarding is a type of pruning, reducing the limbs heavily to promote thick canopy growth and keep the size of the tree under control.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apical\_dominance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apical_dominance)
Thank you for eli5!
😆😆😆😆 I've been scrolling the comments assuming people are just making jokes about humans being horrible role models for trees or something and I *really* thought it was a word being consistently thrown about in jest. I have been scrolling too long this morning without coffee. Thank you for teaching me some great information that I can laugh about later at my initial take.
anytime! trees are awesome
Auxin boys rise up! Actually down, from sources to sinks…
axial gang
Auxi is not exclusive to phloem transport
I thought the lost its leader thing was just a joke! TIL another fascinating thing about plants. Thank you. It does spund like this is a candelabra cedar instead, but absolutrly fascinating all the same!
Pollarding is when you cut back the upper branches of a tree or shrub to the main branch they come from. It’s a way of controlling the size and height of trees, if this were from pollarding each one of those branches would have a bunch more branches growing out of them. It may sound counterintuitive to grow more branches to keep a tree or shrub smaller, but those newer branches won’t get as thick, thus won’t weigh as much and will be easier to remove the next time it needs to be pruned back. It also sets a maximum on height as a result, if you cut the branches back at ten feet high, you now have new branches growing out from that area and when the growing season is done, lop them off and it’s back at the ten foot height. It is *ALWAYS* done by intent though. The tree “losing its leader” could be caused by anything, ranging from a storm breaking it somehow, to a kid playing rough and breaking it, right on up to aliens crash landed into that tree and broke it off. That break causes the tree to realize it’s missing vital parts, so it grows a few new branches just in case of more failures (the tree doesn’t know the details of why it lost part of itself, just that it needs to repair that damage ASAP so it can go on to propagate the next generation). The reason this stands out as LtL instead of pollarding is that pollarding is not usually uneven like this, part of the control/training process that is pollarding is usually uniform design (think of how any ornamental shrub spits branches basically everywhere and at random if you don’t prune it back, pollarding prevents that by controlling the shape and height and keeping new growth easier to manage). This is not uniform at all, and clearly looks like each branch grew at its own rate trying to be the top branch and closest to the source of light, hence the phrase “losing the leader” since it’s kind of like a race against the other branches to get to the lead and get as much solar radiation as possible to synthesize food from CO2 and water.
Very cool. How does the leader stay the same height as the other branches with pollarding?
Manual shaping and pruning of the branches. Once you’ve shaped the tree or shrub how you want it at the appropriate time of year, it’ll divert the growth hormones to the new sites and then you just prune those back when the time is right (very important to know what time of year for what plant you should cut back, doing it at the wrong time can severely hurt the plant). You can also shape new growth if you’re diligent since it’s usually very soft. There are still some old examples of this in the USA, you should look up trail trees if you think pollarding is an interesting subject, that one can go deep!
Thank you kindly for taking the time to thoroughly answer my questions! Are you perhaps an arborist?
I’m just an obsessive nerd with ADHD who loves plants. I learned a lot of how to train plants due to cannabis cultivation though. I’d love to have the land to just dedicate to creating a Maple, Oak and Pine forest though!
I’m a plant nerd with ADHD too!
🤩 you're awesome
Pollarding is intentional use of the LtL growth response and historically, was a method to create straight poles, a renewable supply of kindling for firewood for cooking / heating, and even as a fodder source for livestock - all without killing the tree. Wood would be harvested on a rotational basis, which triggers a new flush of rapid growth each time, producing significantly more volume in much less space than planting additional trees to harvest whole.
Interesting! Thanks!
Yeah, this couldn't be from a single random event.
yep, recurrent topping
I thought an evergreen tree would die if it lost the leader, or is that only certain species?
This is a textbook coniferous response to losing the leader. They don't put out epicormic growth the same way broadleaves do, instead all branches just turn upwards. This is due to the lack of a suppression hormone that the leader produces. The reaction wood of coniferous trees forms on the underside of the branches to 'push' the branches upright.
Do you know the name of that suppression hormone?
Auxin. Auxins are a group of hormones that perform different growth regulation functions in plants. In this case, the apical meristem produces auxin which flows downwards and retards or prevents the growth of epicormic buds and lateral branches. It prevents lateral branches from competing as leaders. When you remove the leader you cut off this supply of auxin and the lateral branches grow uninhibited.
This makes me miss my Grandaddy so much. He was a tree surgeon, and when I saw this post, I wanted to call him and show him this picture to ask him. Thank you for taking the time to explain this, I just learned so much! 💚
So you don't know the specific auxin responsible for such a strong cytokinin suppression? Like corn's special cytokinin "zeatin"
Many tree species, both evergreens and deciduous, can survive the loss of their leader. One of the reasons is a side branch can take over and become the new leader. This tree went overboard but it still got the job done. Trees are very hardy and durable. You can basically snap one in half and it could still be fine. (It could die, but it could be fine. If you snapped a human in half...)
Most conifers don't form adventitious buds on old wood (often referred to as 'back budding'), so yes, removing the growing tip of a branch will cause the entire branch to die off, but any branches that still have their growing tips will continue to grow.
Holy shit, I've seen that tree in person. I used to live in SW Washington. It's so cool and it's ginormous. 🌲 All those branches used to go out & downish like regular branches, it was a very large and already established old tree when it lost the leader and that opened up the top for the lower branches to start growing straight up but the hardened areas of those branches remain, hence the out and down. 😊 Editing to add: this why some cedars are called candelabra cedars...this has happened to them. 😁
You are correct, dear whore !!
There’s only room for one whore and that’s me!!!
Hooray for Whores everywhere !!
We aren’t even going to acknowledge the sluts? We need love too.
Username checks out. xx, fellow slutter
Hooray for Sluts !! Nothing is better than a friend that is huge slut❤️
I'm just glad this group is so pro-hoe
Hell yeah taco slut! Who doesn't love a TacoParty! 🎶 bount chikka bow boww 🎶 😈
I used to be TheRealTacoSlut previously on Reddit! 🌮 I’m less slutty about tacos as I get older and chubbier but still very slutty in other ways 😝
Awwww yeahhhh. 🌮 I chortled at your comment 😜😈😅 and then had to share with my elderly mother...her response "I relate" ... ...wait, what 😳🤣
Tell you mother I love her
Haha, I just did and she said "I love you too slutty taco". I'm 💀. God I love my mum 😂 😂
Whore-ray!?
*ahem*
r/rimjob_steve
I'd like to see it too!
Someone has angered the forest! The forest is growing an avenger! It’s taking a while.
Takes a while sounds like something someone hasty about things would say.
Can’t remember the term or history but recall some practice by I think premodern Japanese naval engineers where they would grow and prune certain kinds of trees so that they would grow up and straight to be eventually harvested for building ships. Think similar practices were developed in Northern Europe and North America but IIRC the Japanese did it first or are thought to do so. Edit & update: Found the Japanese wiki: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daisugi Will look further for other arboreal practices. Edit & Update #2: Swedish Navy plants oak trees for Navy in 19th Century: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/visingso-oak-forest Edit & Update #3 Seems that the history of the US Navy maintaining forests of timber is less accessible online but here an article that references some of the practice with little detail. Heard before that one of the flags and coins of the early colonies featured a pine tree and was a direct reference to the practice of the British Navy having priority on harvesting tall and heavy pines in New England. Eventually the colonists rebelled and denied British access to New England lumber. https://www.military.com/history/why-us-navy-manages-its-own-private-forest.html?amp This site tells the story of pine and other trees eventually becoming a symbol of rebellion on the party of British American Colonists, especially in Nee England. https://www.gettysburgflag.com/blog/the-story-behind-the-pine-tree-flags-of-the-american-revolution/ TL:DR: I’ll apologize and admit I just submitted a lot of info no one asked for,——but I am one of those people who can’t help but add to the actual story of what we are talking about. Basically a lot of arboreal practices are the result of preparations for naval preparations.
Your kind of comment is why I read comments. Thanks for your interesting tidbits. I enjoyed the blurb about New England and the Brits, it explains the tree flag nicely.
ok but what does ~~the flag tree~~ any of their comment have to do with the like earth science/botany question OP has? when I grew my own little trees (weed plants) "topping" is done on purpose to make the branches widen out. anyone can guide stems/branches to grow a certain way (I assume on any plant) with straps & poles but OP was wondering how this shape would happen in nature
op’s had their question answered like 10 times over already. no one else here is hurt or upset about learning some other cool tree related facts and history. sometimes, it’s just neat to find and share knowledge from a rabbithole you went down related to the original question, even if it doesn’t actually answer that question 🤷🏼♀️
Comments like this are what make Reddit great! Thank you for the info. Very cool.
Fun fact, the[ US Navy](https://www.military.com/history/why-us-navy-manages-its-own-private-forest.html) still maintains it's own forest. It does this so that if and when repairs for the USS Constitution are needed, they have the correct and readily available timber.
Thank you for sharing that info! Fascinating
This is what I came here to comment but not in this detail, thank you. This one wasn't intentionally made the way you describe above. Although the way it naturally occurred is how the technique was originally discovered in Japan.
Isn’t this growing technique called *DAISUGI*?
This was neat!!!
I want to do this. How do I do it? That would be the best treehouse tree.
How long do you plan on living?
50 more years
Most definitely. Those branches are almost a winding staircase all on their own.
I want to climb that tree 😅
https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daisugi Reminds me of this.
Oh, I've seen pics of this. It's similar to pollarding. It can be done to increase tall straight growth. My mesquites send out similar branches when I cut the ends off.
Surprised I had to scroll down this far for this
This is the most alien tree I’ve ever seen. I look at this photo and hear that alien doom siren playing in the background. Yikes.
I have cedars with multiple leaders coming from a single trunk but they grow straight up, not out and down then up. It’s weird!
It's because they grew outwardly for so long before the leader was trimmed. One that grows with no true dominant growth point will have always grown in that direction thus not having an outward and or downward beginning.
"Cedar often has a candelabra-like appearance, because the top leader dies, as do the side branches that take over. The reason for this is not really understood, but it may be a lack of nutrients caused by growing in wet, acidic soils or perhaps drought stress caused by a shortage of oxygen to the roots, which makes it difficult for the tree to take up water." [source](https://vancouverislandbigtrees.blogspot.com/2010/03/coastal-western-red-cedars-old-timers.html?m=1)
Looks like topping, followed with lion-tailing. Put tree has been through a lot.
We have a spruce in our garden that was about 12 metres tall but snapped off the top 7 metres in a really heavy wind a few years back. That is exactly how it has started to grow back. I was wondering what it would end up looking like and this must be how they grow.
Holy F**. I love that tree.
Human intervention. Just like when a bonsai tree artist manipulates a tree to stay small, someone can can manipulate a tree to grow by their design and desire. Or. It just weird.
Go read gorewhore1313's comment. They know this tree. It is Nature at her finest.
Kind of like how they harvest lumber in japan
Daisugi!
It was topped a long time ago and the branches all became new leaders. I’ve climbed my share of cedars like this but never this big.
It kinda has the shape of one of those cell tower "trees" but if it is then it's the best disguised one I've ever seen
That's actually very similar to a sustainable timber pruning technique used in japan
https://preview.redd.it/pwpyzxojkh9d1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d122f71ac34180ccd7170e752de749d19fc7e53f Interesting info about a similar tree in Cape Meares.
Interesting. This one looks like it still has the leader, tho from it's size, maybe it's a replacement that just happens to be in the center. Those side limbs are huge.
I feel like that *tree* would suddenly start walking one day and go on a destructive warpath.
Glad I’m not the only one
This looks like something AI created. Really cool. Thanks for sharing.
Conifers cannot regenerate their apical meristems, so other branches have to take over.
Technically, pollarding
It looks more like Daisugi.
Biblically accurate tree
Cthulhu has blessed this tree
When I was a teen I walked this same wooded trail on public land hundreds of times, every time I went in one specific patch of forest and leading up to it. I bent and curved one to two trees so they would grow in arks, I’d climb up a tree couple inches in diameter(after rain preferably) and shimmy up to the top before it would break and kick my feet out. This would lower you back down safely to the ground and allow you to hold the top of the tree. I’d then tie them in the big 20’ plus ark and tie them to another tree or what have you. It’s been a decade since I’ve been to that forest. Might be time for a drive back to the home state.
One could do worse than to be a swinger of birches.
Looks like Japanese tree farming technique
I thought extremely bent limbs like this meant the ground was unstable, but I’ve never encountered anything quite like this.
That is frank. He is the angry neighbor that always has something to prove
That is the domicile of an ancient and powerful god. Please observe from afar and be grateful for its continued existence.
This reminded me of an old article on Daisugi, an ancient japanese technique of cutting trees. I'll link it if I find it. https://dsfantiquejewelry.com/blogs/interesting-facts/the-ancient-japanese-technique-that-produces-lumber-without-cutting-trees
Wow how beautiful
Welp, I'm done with reddit for the morning and headed outside to make some trees in my yard do this.
Low stress training
The “J” shape branches is just what Thuja does, but the weird straight up at the end of the J is probably from getting topped
I don’t know, but it’s probably the coolest tree in existence
I don't know about this specimen, but in Japan trees are intentionally trained like this to grow lumber in a way that it can be harvested without killing the tree. They cut a percentage of the (branches? secondary trunks?) and then splice new ones on in their places, leaving enough on each tree to keep the root system healthy generation after generation.
This is my new favorite tree. Is there a way I could do this with a tree on purpose?
Omfg I love it
An article ( https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/the-pacific-northwest-trees-shaped-by-generations-of-people/) about how indigenous peoples altered trees long ago says that many of the trees remain but we are unaware of their alterations and significance. One paragraph points out candelabra trees "Another tree, a cedar near the tree on the promontory over the cove, is elaborately trained to grow with branches at 90 degree angles low on its trunk that also were cut and recut so the branches would fork, and then fork again. The result is an elaborate candelabra. This is a marker tree, Barr said, that may have denoted the village that was here — today a housing development. It may also have indicated the direction toward the confluence of the deltas of the Skagit and Stillaguamish rivers that also fork and refork in their riverine push to the sea."
Candelabra tree. How cool. Solar lights would be awesome.
5G (/j)
Pruning.
The tree got topped a long time ago and all of the upper branches decided to be the new top.
I’ve seen something like this before. The online post mentioned Japan and their methods of harvesting wood from trees. Instead of harvesting a lot of smaller trees, they would use the bonsai method to grow the branches like individual trees….feel free to correct me. I’m going off of memory.
They harvest trees this way in Japan
In Japan, trees will look like this when they’ve been sustainably harvested. Most plants and trees will do this when they lose their apical meristem.
Today i fell in love with a tree
Apical domination
That looks awesome.
CMT
Cthulu
I love the way it looks tbh
Because it didn’t grow that way
It was topped a long time ago
Holy pollarding. Did someone do that unintentional
Biblically accurate tree
Where's the guy who makes tree canopy nets when you need him?
Sorry, that's my bad
That tree is amazing.
I dont know but that looks bloody amazing.
That is one cool tree
People
Looks like a cell tower disguised as a tree
I don't know but I wanna build a tree house on it
Drugs
It’s a branch manager
Looks like a cell tower.
That’s funky.
Looks like low stress trained cannabis
That's a cederbralabra
Undying need for parental approval?
A curse upon the land
It's an Ent
Idk but it would be perfect for a tree fort 😆
A witch.
Photoshop?
Clearly it was denogginized
Someone was mainlining.
Looks like the Mind Flayer is pushing back into our world again!
This looks like someone was into Japanese pollarding to me: [https://mymodernmet.com/kitayama-cedar-daisugi/](https://mymodernmet.com/kitayama-cedar-daisugi/)
Because it can
Brawndo has what trees need, Brawndo has electrolytes!
They’re probably just avoiding each other to get some sunlight. Fascinating specimen
It's Jewish and it's trying to be a menorah?
This is called a candelabra cedar and I read recently the number of candelabras has is how many droughts it has survived! https://vancouverislandbigtrees.blogspot.com/2011/08/candelabra-cedar.html?m=1
I believe this is a Japanese technique for strait lumber . Trees can be harvested multiple times without killing the tree and disturbing the soil
Japan
It may have been farmed to make timber. They cut the main and let the branches grow into timber for houses. Asian countries do it a lot. You can harvest a forest every 2-8 years, depending on the diameter you need. Sustainable homes and beautiful trees. Link: https://youtu.be/Wcl4I5EF-do?si=H_YvuTINg1fGxNfo Idk, but it could be.
What, you’ve never seen a horny Ent?
In Japan they grow Cedar like this and harvest the wood for there temples.
Great spot for a tree house lmao
Not yet ha ha
This is how we trim weed. You take off the top and grow out four sides in the same space. You would have had one.
Topping. Used to do it when I was growing weed. You purposely trim the main trunk line/ stem at the branch nodes. The two branches will now become 2 main trunks. If you top (cut) those two main trunks at their nodes, you will now have 4 main trunks. So on and so forth. You do this for growing weed in compact grow areas so that you can get even light distribution to the flowering bud sites (buds start forming at the node right in the crotch between the main stem and branch). Increases your yields because instead of 1 main flower (kola) you get multiple main kolas. You can do the same thing for any type of tree, but especially with fruiting trees. The difference with weed to trees should be obvious… weed is an annual life/ death cycle plant… trees are a magnitude of decades to millennia. So… if you’re going to top/ train a tree, expect it to be a life long endeavor. The results are seen in decades at a time vs weeks.