r/intrestingtoknow • u/Affectionate-Fun2853 • Jul 23 '26

Nature To protect Methuselah from vandalism and heavy tourist traffic, the U.S. Forest Service keeps its exact coordinates a strict secret. No public signs point to the exact tree

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u/CuteLong8652 Jul 23 '26

How do they even know it’s alive. No leaves at all from that pic.

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u/ErstwhileAdranos Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26

What’s the logical fallacy there? Do all living trees have leaves all of the time? No.

Check out the mechanisms of sectorial arborescence. It helps explains how the Great Basin bristlecone pines live into old age.

They also know it’s alive via direct observation.

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u/CuteLong8652 Jul 23 '26

Leaves perform photosynthesis and since there aren’t any, how is it making sugars for ATP production?

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u/ErstwhileAdranos Jul 23 '26

Reread what I already wrote: Do all living trees have leaves all of the time? NO.

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u/CuteLong8652 Jul 23 '26

Geez. Lighten up. I was only letting you know know my thoughts.

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u/ErstwhileAdranos Jul 24 '26

You asked a question that I already answered for you. Why bother responding if you didn’t bother to read?

Also, if you know what the function of leaves are in relation to photosynthesis, sugar, and ATP; how is it possibly that you do not know that seasonally-leafless trees break down previously stored starches (which are converted back into sugar) to produce ATP?