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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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