The Cook’s Pine also called columnar araucaria or New Caledonian pine (Araucaria columnaris) is a species of pine endemic to New Caledonia, an island in the Pacific Ocean. It is the only known tree in the world whose trunk always leans toward the equator.
The columnar araucaria It has a unique feature: its trunk leans towards the equator as it grows. Those who are planted in the North Hemisphere lean towards him south, and those who grow in the southern hemisphere they twist towards the north. You can see it in the two photos of the news.
He Cook’s Pine It is very different from the ones we have in Spain. It is long and spindly, very tall, capable of reaching 60 meters in height. And the branches grow from very low on the trunk.
Is native from New Caledonia, an island in the Pacific. It only happens there. But its seeds have been planted in many different places around the world. It grows in tropical and temperate climates.
according to account New Scientist the discovery was made by the biologist Matt Ritter when I was doing research for a book on the trees Of California.
He realized that the Pine trees of new caledonia which were planted in California (northern hemisphere), leaned slightly to the south. He called a colleague of his from Australia (southern hemisphere) to ask him if the same thing was happening there, and he said yes, they were leaning too… but to the north.
Cook’s pines, influenced by magnetism
They contacted other biologists, and studied 256 Cook’s Pines on the five continents. All leaned towards the equator an average of 8.55 degrees double that of the Tower of Pisa.
Another curiosity is that as furthest from the equator there are the pines, more they lean. Some specimens from Australia reached an inclination of 40 degrees.
It is the only tree known to grow in this way, and it is not known why. Trees usually grow toward the light, but not toward a geographic or magnetic point on Earth.
It is believed to be some defect in your genetics, because it is not the optimal way to grow. But perhaps this type of development gives them some advantage that we don’t know about.
The New Caledonian pine is he only tree in the world that leans toward the equator. A mystery of Nature that is yet to be solved.
