What causes or caused this change in angle in the trunk?

[sean donato]

Sean, the troll thing crossed my mind, but I'm giving the benefit of the doubt here.

I'm trying brother..........

 

[old CB]

If he's a troll, he's a hard-working SOB.

 

[tree_enthusiast12]

Ha, I'm not a troll. I have just had a fascination of bent trees and trail marker trees, but never noticed an abrupt angle change like on this one. Again, just to clarify again, I am only specifically talking about this tree. Again, I am not asking WHY this tree shape occurs. I understand this, and I understand how the old main trunk of a tree died off after bending. My question is specifically in regards to this tree and the abrupt angle change, which I DO NOT see in the other two images and nor in most bent trees. If you pull up an image of a bent tree or a trail marker tree, you won't find a picture of a bent tree with a trunk that abruptly changes angle like that

 

[Del_]

Ha, I'm not a troll. I have just had a fascination of bent trees and trail marker trees, but never noticed an abrupt angle change like on this one. Again, just to clarify again, I am only specifically talking about this tree. Again, I am not asking WHY this tree shape occurs. I understand this, and I understand how the old main trunk of a tree died off after bending. My question is specifically in regards to this tree and the abrupt angle change, which I DO NOT see in the other two images and nor in most bent trees. If you pull up an image of a bent tree or a trail marker tree, you won't find a picture of a bent tree with a trunk that abruptly changes angle like that

Each tree is an individual so responses may vary.

I've seen bent trees with abrupt changes like that. Maybe making too big of a deal out of one specimen.

 

[Del_]

I'm seeing compression and tension wood together on the photos.

It's not like it is one or the other. Both occur and work together to seek the light and to fight gravity.

 

[tree_enthusiast12]

Each tree is an individual so responses may vary.

I've seen bent trees with abrupt changes like that. Maybe making too big of a deal out of one specimen.

That seems fair. The reason I'm curious is because I was wondering whether human intervention was somehow the cause of it. I'm not a tree expert so forgive me if the upcoming question seems ignorant, but do you think it's possible that someone sort of took a chunk of the trunk off, explaining that angle change. This is an open question to anyone reading this.

 

[ATH]

You are talking about where the arrow is pointing? There are a few different reactions that could cause that. I'll take a stab at one possibility:
When the tree got bent, it split along the grain (called a longitudinal split). The reaction wood that formed around each of those splits lead to the strange angle you are seeing.

I don't think it is a compression/tension wood thing.

 

[tree_enthusiast12]

You are talking about where the arrow is pointing? There are a few different reactions that could cause that. I'll take a stab at one possibility:
When the tree got bent, it split along the grain (called a longitudinal split). The reaction wood that formed around each of those splits lead to the strange angle you are seeing.

I don't think it is a compression/tension wood thing.

Very interesting. I will research longitudinal splits and try to get back on this. I was wondering by the way whether you think human intervention might be the cause here. Again, this question is open for anyone reading.

To be specific, at the bottom part of the trunk, I was wondering whether someone took a chunk of it off right where the arrow is pointed. Kind of like a slice off making the most bottom part of the trunk smaller in diameter, causing the rest of the trunk that bends upwards to make that abrupt angle change. Do you know what I mean?

 

[arathol]

 

[tree_enthusiast12]

You are talking about where the arrow is pointing? There are a few different reactions that could cause that. I'll take a stab at one possibility:
When the tree got bent, it split along the grain (called a longitudinal split). The reaction wood that formed around each of those splits lead to the strange angle you are seeing.

I don't think it is a compression/tension wood thing.

I found another closeup of the tree. Was wondering if you think this might be related to the split you're referring to.

 

[lone wolf]

Could be.

 

[ATH]

...I was wondering by the way whether you think human intervention might be the cause here. ...

At this point, without further evidence, I think it is impossible to say whether human intervention played a role here or not. I don't see anything that suggests a slice was taken out, but that is not impossible. Did person pull the tree over? Maybe. Did a person fell one tree that leaned into this one? Maybe.

Something made it lean...that much we know. Curious: why does it matter what caused the original lean?

 

[tree_enthusiast12]

At this point, without further evidence, I think it is impossible to say whether human intervention played a role here or not. I don't see anything that suggests a slice was taken out, but that is not impossible. Did person pull the tree over? Maybe. Did a person fell one tree that leaned into this one? Maybe.

Something made it lean...that much we know. Curious: why does it matter what caused the original lean?

Again, I moreso wanted to know about the specific change in the bend near the bottom of the trunk. Thank you for the help by the way. What caused the original lean I'm uncertain of of course, but I have seen these tree shapes before. It's just the abruptness of the angle change confused me. And the confusion led to curiosity. There is actually sort of an interesting story to this tree, but it would take me ages to explain this. Perhaps I can talk to you about this over PMs.

You saw my most recent picture by the way right? It was more of a close up, and I do see a split there. (bottom right of trunk).

 

[Del_]

There is actually sort of an interesting story to this tree, but it would take me ages to explain this. Perhaps I can talk to you about this over PMs.

Well that would really suck.

There are quite a few of us following along.

Spill the beans!

 

[tree_enthusiast12]

Well that would really suck.

There are quite a few of us following along.

Spill the beans!

Alright, this will be long, but here I go. The way I found out about this tree was through a man online, a Muslim man. He was trying to convince me of a miracle in his religion (Islam) and pointed me to this tree. This tree is located near a scout camp in Nowra, Australia. The supposed miracle was that this tree looks like a man bending down in Islamic prayer. In Islam, Muslims bend and pray towards Mecca, and he claimed that this tree was facing Mecca. I have attached an original picture of the tree below (the first time the tree was found) along with the prayer position in Islam. He claimed that the white markings on it look like an arm (middle of the trunk) where you could also see its eyes (two white dots on the stub). He also said that the area where the angle changes abruptly that I pointed out earlier was the tree person's "hand". He said all of these events could not have come about by chance and was intended by God, hence a miracle.

Being the skeptic I am, I wanted to investigate this further. I found instances of this tree online, and youtube videos with 1M+ views in regards to this tree (here is one example if you're interested: ). The tree was eventually cut down since the owner complained that many people would come near that tree and leave their belongings there which became an annoyance, so I wasn't able to verify where it was facing, but from some pictures I found of a compass alongside the tree, it faced very close to Mecca, but not exactly.

Given that there are 3 trillion trees in the world, it did not seem impossible for a tree like this to be created by chance and also face towards Mecca without resorting to supernatural reasons. However, the reason I became still unsure about this tree being created completely by chance were the white markings that resembled an arm + hands + eyes and also because I had seen bent trees like this before: trail marker trees in North America. Although there have been no online reports I could find of Aboriginals bending trees in Australia, this tree was near an Aboriginal area from what I know, and I have heard stories of Aboriginals bending trees in other parts of Australia through personal anecdotes, but not through any documented sources. So, I became curious as to whether this tree was bent by Aboriginals. I also became curious as to whether this tree, as far fetched as this may sound, was bent by some Muslim trying to achieve the purpose of making a miracle. I was also curious as to whether it is possible that some person specifically shed the bark in certain white patterns in the below picture to try to resemble a human. Lastly, since I had seen bent trees before but without the abrupt change in angle near the bottom right of the trunk in my previous picture, I was curious as to why it was the way it is. This is because the area where the angle changes abruptly was what the Muslim man claimed to be the person's hand. And so I was curious as to whether it's possible someone took a chunk of the trunk off right there. This is what brought me here.

So if there are still any insights you guys might have in regards to what caused that abrupt change in angle (whether through natural or potential human intervention), I'd be all ears. Anyways, that is the story

 

[arathol]

pareidolia​

/ˌperēˈdōlēə/​

noun

• 1.the perception of apparently significant patterns or recognizable images, especially faces, in random or accidental arrangements of shapes and lines:"there could be a mysterious stone coffin on Mars, or, more likely, it's just the latest example of pareidolia"

Its whatever you think it is.....
Looks like a dolphin breaching

You are trying too hard to see something that isn't there. Most likely there is no one single cause for the odd shape of the tree. A series of events, with or without human intervention, over a fairly long span of time could do this.

 

[Tin-knocker]

Found these two redwoods not too long ago. I’ve seen plenty redwoods with lots of weird angles and shapes but having these two be right next to each other with the same bend in the same spot was pretty cool. Anyone know what would cause this?

 

[ATH]

A) I don't think anybody bent it to look like that. It would be very unpredictable what a tree is going to look like (so specifically) 40 years after bending.
B) Like @arathol said, you see what you want to see sometimes. Once seen, it is hard to unsee that. Like the Abraham Lincoln French fry. Or how many "old man mountain" formations are there that look like faces in rocks? Search "tree that looks like a person". There are lot of those out there.
C) The white bark flaking off that would be the "arms"...note that is on the outside of the "circle" - similar to what would be the "back", so those areas are a little more exposed so it is logical that the outter bark would exfoliate there first.

Outta the tree zone now: Can the creator of all things cause that? Sure. But so can another tree falling on it. Speaking for myself: my faith in the eternal is more substantial than seeing a tree praying to a man-made city thousands of miles away... If that is what faith is founded on, maybe that belief isn't so well rooted as this tree?

 

[ATH]

Found these two redwoods not too long ago. I’ve seen plenty redwoods with lots of weird angles and shapes but having these two be right next to each other with the same bend in the same spot was pretty cool. Anyone know what would cause this?

I think same things covered earlier in this thread...something bent the trunk but it grew vertical because that is the way trees are "supposed to grow". Tropism.

 

[tree_enthusiast12]

A) I don't think anybody bent it to look like that. It would be very unpredictable what a tree is going to look like (so specifically) 40 years after bending.
B) Like @arathol said, you see what you want to see sometimes. Once seen, it is hard to unsee that. Like the Abraham Lincoln French fry. Or how many "old man mountain" formations are there that look like faces in rocks? Search "tree that looks like a person". There are lot of those out there.
C) The white bark flaking off that would be the "arms"...note that is on the outside of the "circle" - similar to what would be the "back", so those areas are a little more exposed so it is logical that the outter bark would exfoliate there first.

Outta the tree zone now: Can the creator of all things cause that? Sure. But so can another tree falling on it. Speaking for myself: my faith in the eternal is more substantial than seeing a tree praying to a man-made city thousands of miles away... If that is what faith is founded on, maybe that belief isn't so well rooted as this tree?

You're guessing that the tree is 40 years old based on the diameter of the trunk? Secondly, can you elaborate a bit on what you mean by "outside of the 'circle'". Which areas in the tree specifically do you think are more exposed and would logically result in the outer bark exfoliating first?

Also, thank you for your response.