Trees are really land coral.

OK, that sounded pretty random. Here me out.

Coral is a layer of living goo coating a lump of dead limestone. The 
coral grows by adding more limestone to the surface.

I know almost nothing about tree biology. However, I hypothesize that 
the wood inside a tree is actually dead (but not inert), and it is only 
the bark which is actually alive and growing. The wood is fiberous, and 
so conducts liquid and nutrients around the place, but it is the bark 
itself which forms a living skin over the dead wood underneith, and it 
is the bark that grows by adding new layers of wood.

Corollary: Do corals have growth rings?

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