I drink your milkshake! But I wouldn’t be able to drink it through a 350-foot straw.
Neither could Daniel Day-Lewis.
And as it turns out, neither could a Douglas fir tree – at least, not according to researchers led by Jean-Christophe Domec of North Carolina State University.
They conducted a study which posits that the maximum height of Douglas fir trees is limited by their ability to raise water to the highest branches. At about the 350-foot level, the tree’s suction ability finally gives out. The results were pulished in the Aug. 12 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “People have always been fascinated by how some trees, such as Douglas fir or redwoods, can grow so tall,” Oregon State University wood science Professor Barb Lauchenbruch said. “This is not an easy thing to do. Think about trying to drink water through a narrow, 350-foot-long straw. It takes a lot of suction.”