The Natural Sun
Announcements about our sun and its natural conditions
- Chapter 55 -
The Devotion Tree, Living Reed Tree and Flying Bread Tree
Since we started our observations upon this planet with the plant and animal kingdoms, we shall detain ourselves there a little longer and see more of these rare things.
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Noteworthy among the exceedingly numerous tree species upon this planet is the so-called Eternal Tree. This is also the only plant on this planet that never changes its shape or nature, for this reason, it is also presented as the symbol of fidelity. It grows exceedingly tall with very few branches, which never extend far beyond the narrow stem. Wherefore its fruit is always the same. What are its qualities and appearance?
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Before answering that, we have to know more about the tree, which shall then answer the question. This tree grows out of the ground somewhat like your corals grow from the seabed. It is not of wood in substance, the stem, roots and branches being of a mineral substance similar to your mussels. Hence it is rindless and shiny smooth, with a whitish-blue metallic shine and completely white branches. The tree trunk itself, especially if of great age, frequently reaches a height of between six and eight hundred metres and at the ground has a circumference of between forty and sixty metres. The sparsity of branches in relation to size, even on the largest tree does not number over twenty, none of which extends over ten metres beyond the trunk.
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These branches are as solid and inflexible as the stem itself, consisting of just a fairly round and solid stalk that takes a vertical direction. On both sides it is provided with horizontal rake-like long rungs that seem as if inserted on both sides. These shorten and weaken towards the end of the branch.
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Each of these branches run into a host of little tubules, which are saturated with a sweet liquid, forming into sticky droplets dripping to the ground. This liquid firstly makes up the entire tree and its parts. The tree absorbs the part essential for its development, discarding the unusable part through sweet and sticky droplets. After air exposure for a time, it turns into sweet flour similar to Manna dew, being gathered by the residents, who mix it with their domestic goat milk and eat it as a choice food.
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Behold, now the previous question is answered, together with an explanation of why this tree is called the "eternal and faithful" tree. The eternal because it never changes its form and secondly because it never dies; and thirdly because through its constant dripping it casts off fruit, for which reason it is also called the faithful tree, because under its branches one always finds its fruit. Wherefore the people flatten the ground under this tree to minor smoothness in order not to lose its precious juice.
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Behold, although this tree is constant, it nevertheless is of a most peculiar nature, belonging to the animal rather than plant kingdom. Because, as it were, its entire mineral substance is nothing but the amassing of tiny animals that have aggregated at a certain suitable soil location, and having cast off their hulls, they shape this tree.
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You might ask how this went on and how the sap can rise through such lumps of mineral? Just a little patience! This shall be clarified forthwith. These tiny animals from which an entire tree is formed from the roots up, are tiny round disks which have tiny feet in the middle of the underside, for climbing up and down. Upon the disk in front of the feet there is a suction opening, with an elimination canal at the rear. These little animals, after sucking themselves full and reproducing a thousandfold, crawl atop each other into a fully horizontal fashion, therewith forming completely round pillars, each having a diameter of hardly a tenth of a line (1/100 foot, or 3.16mm). These little pillars line up against one another with rows of these pillars bumping into each other. Therewith sharp, triangular gaps between them create a pipe through which the liquid rises from the ground to any height, in accordance with the law of attraction for such hair-thin tubules.
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Once the juice comes to a point of overflow, which is always positioned upon the branches, and that through the animalcule's instinct, or better said their imbued spiritual intelligence, it is at once sucked in or consumed by the still live animalcules at the egress point. The excrement released by these tiny animals makes up that sticky juice dripping from the branches, regarded as the fruit of this certainly peculiar tree, which will make you realize its miraculous nature.
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That leaves only the question of whether this tree truly never dies? This tree dies like your mountain rocks: when damaged through some cause by the elements it starts to weather away gradually turning into soil. Therewith a most noteworthy tree.
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Another growth of almost identical nature is the so-called living reed. This too grows a high stem of up to two hundred metres, looking like funnels stuck together, giving the appearance of big rings stuck next to each other upon a pole. Here also, between these rings, a sweet sticky juice exudes, of particular delicacy for the world of insects. But after eating themselves full, they perish at their meal. In this way these ring "galleries" are filled with these insect cadavers. And soon thereafter, a transformation scene occurs and all sorts of weeds can be seen emerging from the rings, through which this basically animal stem gets a plant-like appearance, nearly resembling the trimmed poplars in Earth gardens, that also look like green pillars. If any of the fruits are edible, the people welcome them; otherwise they are left alone. This Reed Tree therefore as a stem also is unchangeable; put through this metamorphosis, it changes externally of course, in that the plant life which arises out of its rings, as above, can turn into an animal kingdom and then back into a plant kingdom. Behold, there we have yet another memorable growth.
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But here, one of the most peculiar trees is the so-called "Flying Bread Tree". Are we going to see a flying plant or even a flying tree? This at first takes you aback, but it shall soon be clarified. In the more swampy regions, a type of tree grows out of the ground, which almost resembles your so-called corals, or your stag-horn mushrooms. This tree often grows to a height of a hundred metres and at the base of the very short stem measures a circumference of a hundred and twenty metres. This tree consists substantially of cells and tubules which cling together intensely through mutual attraction, forming a whole somewhat like the aforementioned mushroom, except that the mushroom has much greater cellular toughness and elasticity. After reaching its due size and age of about ten years, the suction tubules at the base close (the tree having no roots is therefore classified as a mushroom as well), whereafter the juice dries up in the cells and tubules, leading to the formation of air that cannot escape the tough elasticity of the cells and tubes. As the trapped air is much finer and lighter than this cosmic body's atmosphere, it leads to tree-material, made lighter by its own air, being, as it were, torn from the ground and rising balloon-fashion to the heights, sometimes staying up for a few days, floating about. When the light air that was trapped gradually escapes through the rather narrow pores, the tree begins to sink to the ground. On seeing this tree floating near the ground, the residents will spare no effort to take possession of it with hooks and poles, to take it apart for further drying in the sun's rays. Once they think it has reached the right state of dryness, like choice bread, it is consumed according to need.
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Now we know why it is called flying bread, and how it flies. Next time we shall see more of these marvels.