Nature & Environment

5,000-year-old tree undergoes a sex change

By T.K. Randall
November 6, 2015 ·  15 comments

The tree has stood for thousands of years. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 Mogens Engelund Located in Perthshire, Scotland, the ancient tree has long been considered to be male', meaning that it produces pollen unlike the 'female' variety which instead produces red berries.

In a strange twist however, botanists at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh have reported that the tree has started to transition from one to the other having sprouted 'female' branches.

"It's a rare occurrence... rare and unusual and not fully understood," said botanist Max Coleman."It's thought that there's a shift in the balance of hormone-like compounds that will cause this sex-change. One of the things that might be triggering it is environmental stress."

Fortunately the tree, which is now so old that it might even predate the pyramids of Giza, does not appear to be suffering from any ill-effects and is otherwise still healthy despite its age.

Some of the seeds from the new female branches have since been collected and botanists are planning to plant them at the gardens to help "conserve the genetic diversity of yew trees."


Source: AOL News | Comments (15)

Tags: Fortingall Yew, Tree