My name is growing all the time, and I’ve lived a very long, long time; so my name is like a story. Real names tell you the story of the things they belong to in my language, in the Old Entish as you might say. It is a lovely language, but it takes a very long time to say anything in it, because we do not say anything in it, unless it is worth taking a long time to say, and to listen to.
✵ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers
The Global Tree Lovers and the Global Tree Network, together with Music of the Plants, will join forces on May 14-15, 2022 in a Global Tree Orienting Weekend (GTOW) to strengthen the alliance between trees and humanity. On that weekend, people all over the world will go out to their local parks, forests and neighborhoods to consciously and intentionally support the tree world by orienting trees using Damanhur tree orienting devices.
We intend that this effort will send a renewed and reinvigorated message to tree beings that humanity is actively working toward recreating a balance between humans and the Plant Kingdom. We intend that this project will boost creating a new level of consciousness in trees which in turn will assist humanity to create peace, respect and harmony between people and the natural world.
The goals of Global Tree Orienting Weekend
How Tree Orienting Works
Trees are oriented using a specially designed pendulum developed in Damanhur, a spiritual eco community in northern Italy. The process is easy; simply connect to a tree using your senses and circle the tree three times. The pendulum is programed to orient a tree to the existing global network.
To know more about it see our article: Tree orientation: the world’s biggest magic operation with nature.
How to partecipate
If Holly (Ilex aquifolium) finds its leaves are being nibbled by deer, it switches genes on to make them spiky when they regrow. So on taller Holly trees, the upper leaves (which are out of reach) have smooth edges, while the lower leaves are prickly
With shiny evergreen leaves and bright red berries, holly trees are a naturally festive decoration seen throughout the Christmas season.
They’re famously sharp. But not all holly leaves are prickly, even on the same tree. And scientists now think they know how the plants are able to make sharper leaves, seemingly at will.
A new study published in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society suggests leaf variations on a single tree are the combined result of animals browsing on them and the trees’ swift molecular response to that sort of environmental pressure.
Carlos Herrera of the National Research Council of Spain led the study in southeastern Spain. He and his team investigated the European holly tree, Ilex aquifolium. Hollies, like other plants, can make different types of leaves at the same time. This is called heterophylly. Out of the 40 holly trees they studied, 39 trees displayed different kinds of leaves, both prickly and smooth.
Some trees looked like they had been browsed upon by wild goats and deer. On those trees, the lower 8 feet (2.5 meters) had more prickly leaves, while higher up the leaves tended to be smooth. Scientists wanted to figure out how the holly trees could make the change in leaf shape so quickly.
All of the leaves on a tree are genetic twins and share exactly the same DNA sequence. By looking in the DNA for traces of a chemical process called methylation, which modifies DNA but doesn’t alter the organism’s genetic sequence, the team could determine whether leaf variation was a response to environmental or genetic changes. They found a relationship between recent browsing by animals, the growth of prickly leaves, and methylation.
“In holly, what we found is that the DNA of prickly leaves was significantly less methylated than prickless leaves, and from this we inferred that methylation changes are ultimately responsible for leaf shape changes,” Herrera said. “The novelty of our study is that we show that these well-known changes in leaf type are associated with differences in DNA methylation patterns, that is, epigenetic changes that do not depend on variation in the sequence of DNA.”
“Heterophylly is an obvious feature of a well-known species, and this has been ascribed to browsing. However, until now, no one has been able to come up with a mechanism for how this occurs,” said Mike Fay, chief editor of the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society and head of genetics at the Kew Royal Botanic Gardens. “With this new study, we are now one major step forward towards understanding how.”
Epigenetic changes take place independently of variation in the genetic DNA sequence.
“This has clear and important implications for plant conservation,” Herrera said. In natural populations that have their genetic variation depleted by habitat loss, the ability to respond quickly, without waiting for slower DNA changes, could help organisms survive accelerated environmental change. The plants’ adaptability, he says, is an “optimistic note” amidst so many conservation concerns. (Related: “Wild Holly, Mistletoe, Spread With Warmer Winters.”)
References ~ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/121220-holly-leaves-prickly-plants-science
Facebook Page ~ David Attenborough Fans. for more!
Charles’ Jubilee treebute: In honour of his mother, the Prince awards a special status to 70 of Britain’s most significant trees – including a 423-year-old sycamore and an apple tree reputed to have helped Isaac Newton develop the theory of gravity. Also a churchyard yew in the Cotswolds whose vast trunk is said to have inspired J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord Of The Rings writings as well as Sussex’s Five Hundred Acre Wood, the inspiration for 100 Acre Wood in the Children’s classic Winnie the Pooh.
The Prince of Wales launched the campaign to honour the trees, one for every year of his mother’s reign, with a video message recorded in front of a 423-year-old sycamore at Dumfries House in Ayrshire.
He says: ‘Planted in 1599, during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and King James VI, it is remarkable that this ancient tree is as old as Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Caravaggio’s David And Goliath… Trees and woodlands have a profound significance for us all – their steadfast and reassuring presence a reminder of our long-serving Sovereign and her enduring dedication.’
He said: “I believe it is absolutely vital that we do our utmost to nurture our historic inheritance through careful management and, in the case of the woodlands, that we can expand them and link them to other natural features like our hedgerows.
“And if we are to create the ‘ancient’ trees of the future, we must plant more trees in hedgerows, fields, churchyards and avenues.
“Furthermore, I would suggest that some of those planted should be propagated from today’s ancient trees, thus helping to preserve their unique provenance and heritage.”
The prince added: “These working woodlands and magnificent trees span our nation’s amazing landscape and exist for everyone to enjoy.
“At the same time, they support biodiversity, and help to provide us with the most versatile and beautiful of materials for our craftsmen and women.”
“But we need to replenish these precious, dwindling assets for future generations and for our depleted landscapes and townscapes.”
The project will also recognise 70 ancient woodlands and forms part of the Queen’s Green Canopy project to plant and preserve trees. In her seven decades on the throne, Her Majesty has planted more than 1,500 trees around the world.
The tree is a running motif of the jubilee celebrations, with more than a million people having ‘planted a tree for the jubilee’ this year. And a giant tree-like structure will be installed outside Buckingham Palace over the summer. It will be made up of 350 young trees in pots, which will be planted across the UK once the installation is dismantled.
Other trees chosen for the special conservation status include the impressive National Champion silver fir in Argyll, known as The Monster and believed to be the largest in the UK; the Royal Oak at Boscobel House, Shropshire, which is a descendant of the tree in which the future Charles II hid to escape Parliamentarian forces; and a huge yew in Much Marcle, Herefordshire, which is so vast that a bench has been constructed within its trunk.
Darren Moorcroft, chief executive of the Woodland Trust, said: ‘Ancient woods and trees are jewels in the UK’s landscape.
‘The Woodland Trust is delighted the Queen’s Green Canopy is highlighting the need to protect these treasures in our natural heritage.’
In Wales, the Wyesham Oak can be seen on a road bearing its name, Oak Crescent, where residents past and present take pride in their connection to the 1,000-year-old tree which has stood the test of time and development.
And in Northern Ireland, QGC ambassador Lady Mary Peters, former Olympic athlete and advocate for older people to exercise more, has used Hazelbank Park on the shores of Belfast Lough as a location to gather walkers to promote how outdoor spaces are vital for health and wellbeing.
References ~ News stories from the Daily Telegraph, The Daily Mail, Sky News.
Tree Weaver 