cooling of the sap which, sinking after midday, does not reverse
direction until the following day. The oxygen and other gases con-
tained in the negatively-charged phloem are drawn down towards
the root-zone. By this means, oxygen is made available to assist
decay in the upper reaches of the soil, and to stimulate growth
around the root tips (Fig. 15.6).
During the night the descending phloem plays another impor-
tant role. It interacts with suspended positively-charged xylem and
because of the prevailing positive temperature gradient (Figs. 15.4
and 15.5) is drawn towards the exterior of the trunk. This produces
new wood growth that is made denser and harder with winter cold,
forming an annual ring.
In a commercial plantation a shade-demanding tree grows more
branches in order to protect itself. The sap is therefore diverted from
its normal progress up the trunk to nourish the spurious branches,
twisting around the extra knots in the trunk. The excess heat also
makes the sap ducts larger in diameter so that the carbon-dioxide
bubbles are not able raise the fluids required for healthy growth.
Insufficient nutrients are able to reach the crown of the tree, which
is likely to suffer die-back; high quality timber is no longer pro-
duced, and the tree will have a limited lifespan. Sprouting foliage
shows the height to which the sap is able to rise.
Because of unnatural high internal temperatures there is pre-
mature deposition of nutrients, a condition akin to arterio-sclero-
sis in the blood vessels of humans. The higher temperature also
limits the rise of these coarse materials, which are deposited near
the base of the trunk, causing a cone-shaped trunk. With its levita-
tional energies thus weakened, such a tree more easily falls victim
to storms.The tree as a biocondenser
We discussed earlier how the formative energies (which belong to
the fourth and fifth dimensions) carry the blueprint for the evolu-
tion and physical manifestation of all organisms. This life-force car-
ries with it an electrical charge. The process of growth and
development of any organism requires that this life-force is
enhanced or potentiated by a process known as biocondensing.
As part of its important role in Nature associated with the two cre-
ators of life, water and photosynthesis, the tree acts as a biocondenser,
- THE METABOLISM OF THE TREE