The Most Timid Trees in the Forest

We've all been there, a friend drags you to party where you don't know anyone. Somehow, you lose them and you have no one to talk to. Well, as it turns out, trees can feel like this too.

It's called "Crown Shyness" and its found in several different species of trees around the world.

In southeast Asia, the Sumatran camphor (Dryobalanops aromatica) is one of these trees. This 90 foot tall tree is not only "shy," but can also be used as an antibiotic.

Pinus halepensis, the Mediterrian Aleppo pine, has resin that is used to flavor the Greek wine "Retsina."

Avicennia germinans, or Black Mangrove, is a North and South American native tree that grows on the banks of seawater trees.

So, we've talked about some of the trees that show this, but we haven't talked about why this occurs. There are several different thoughts about why this happens:

1) "Reciprocal Pruning"

When different individuals of trees have intertwining peripheral branches, they can damage one another. Wind movement causes breakage in the branches. This would cause the gaps between each of the trees.

2) "Mutual Light Sensing"

There are many studies showing that plants have "shade avoidance" mechanisms. The theory is that tree canopies avoid growing near one another because of the shade cast on the neighboring tree.

While we may not know the exact reason why, we do know that Crown Shyness is a great phenomenon that makes for some great photos :)