Why Christmas Trees Are Not Extinct
Conifers such as Christmas trees suffer a severe plumbing problem. The "pipes" that carry water through firs, pines and other conifers are 10 times shorter than those in flowering trees.
When you are sitting around and admiring your Christmas tree, consider that it owes its existence in part to a clever microscopic valve. Without these valves, conifers could be much less common than they are, and conceivably their survival might be marginal. If conifers had not evolved easy-flow valves to make up for the short length of their water pipes or conduits, it is doubtful they could hold their own with flowering trees in today's forests. It's doubtful they would dominate whole regions of North America.
Without this valve, it would be 38 times harder for conifers to take up water, which would put them at a serious disadvantage in competition with flowering trees in temperate forests.
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