Have you ever read The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien? No? I’ll wait here while you go do that.

Back already? My, you are a fast reader. OK, so now you know about the Ents. If you cheated and didn’t go do the reading, I’ll fill you in. Tolkien created beings called Ents as a part of his vast, sprawling universe. The Ents were essentially walking, talking, fully sentient trees. They were huge, lumbering, wise, and wholly terrifying. They made for powerful allies and dreaded enemies. They were good, but they were not to be messed with.

The Ents communicated through verbal speech. They interacted with other characters in the book using language that hobbits, humans, elves, and other thinking creatures could understand. It was all a part of the fantasy that the genius of Tolkien crafted.

Only it isn’t entirely fiction.

It turns out that trees actually do communicate. They don’t speak using English, Spanish, Swahili, or any other human tongue, but they do get their messages told. So, you might ask, what exactly are they saying and how are they saying it?

The content of their messages is carried through a network of underground fungi some have called the “wood wide web”. Don’t laugh. It’s amazing. Root tips of trees are connected to microscopic fungal fibers that spread underneath the entire forest floor. It’s a natural network that can cover hundreds of square miles and involve trees of dozens of different species.

Trees use these networks to share information, water, and nutrients with one another. They pay the fungi back for this utility service in the form of sugars they produce via photosynthesis. The fungi feed on the sugars and lay even more fiber to support the network. It’s win-win for both the trees and the fungi.

A tree in distress can send chemical signals through this network and receive hydration or nutrient supplements from a neighboring tree.

Your jaw is dropping. Close your mouth. You look like an idiot.

Not only do the trees send physical goods like water and minerals through Amazon-Prime-like pipelines, but they also can share vital information.

Like this …

Treebeard: Hey, Beechbone, I got some nagging aphids sucking on leaves on my northern-facing side.

Beechbone: Oh, man. That sucks.

Treebeard: Very funny. I hope you get root rot. I’m trying to help you out here.

Beechbone: Yeah, I get it. Sorry. I couldn’t resist. Speaking of resist, what are you doing about it?

Treebeard: I’m cranking up some compounds to block off some of the phloem over on that side. Gonna starve the little varmints out. I was thinking you might want to do the same, just as a preventative measure.

Beechbone: Good plan. Thanks. I’ll spread the word. And, uh, sorry about the wisecrack.

Treebeard: Don’t sweat it. And I didn’t mean that about the root rot. I’ll give you a shout if I hear about any of that going around.

It’s not that straightforward, but that’s essentially what’s going on. Trees send not only chemical signals along the underground web, but they also deliver slow-moving, low-energy electrical pulses that other trees can decipher. It’s real data that scientists have yet to figure out, but the trees are definitely talking. The topic is too involved to cover in a small article like this. Do some Googling and check it out.

I wonder what the trees are saying about us.

This article was written by Tilmer Wright, Jr. Tilmer is an IT professional with over thirty years of experience wrestling with technology and a proud member of the Authors Guild of Tennessee. In his spare time, he writes books.

You can find links to Tilmer’s books at the following location: https://www.amazon.com/Tilmer-Wright/e/B00DVKGG4K%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_sc...

His author information web site is here: http://www.tilmerwrightjr.com/

Image of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park used under the Creative Commons license. No alterations have been made.
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