- Exploding tree
Some trees can explode when struck by
lightning . [ [http://www.pinetum.org/lightning.htm Pinetum article on lightning] ] [ [http://www.australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2006/docs/200602-04.htm Australian Severe Weather: 2006 Storm news] ] The strongelectric current is carried mostly by the water-conducting sapwood below thebark , heating it up and boiling the water. The pressure of the steam can make the trunk burst. InAustralia , the native eucalyptus trees are also known to explode during bush fires due to the high flammability of vapourised eucalyptus oil produced by the tree naturally. [ [http://library.csustan.edu/bsantos/section3.htm CSUSTAN library] ] [ [http://www.robertsward.com/eucmore.htm Robertsward.com article] ]Fictional tree explosions were the subject of a 2005
April Fools' Day hoax covered byNational Public Radio , stating thatmaple trees inNew England had been exploding due to a failure to collect their sap, causing pressure to build from the inside. [ [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4571982 NPR April Fool's: New England Suffers Maple Woes] ]Exploding trees in fiction
*In
Larry Niven 's fictional setting ofKnown Space , an alien race called theTnuctip un usedgenetic engineering to create the "stage tree", a tree which producessolid rocket fuel. Stage trees spread their seeds only when they are ignited.
*"The Integral Trees " and "The Smoke Ring ", also by Niven, feature enormous inhabited trees in orbit around aneutron star . Thetidal force keeps them under strong tension, and if they drift out of the habitable zone of the gas ring, they split in half with explosive force, sacrificing one half of the tree to save the other half.
*In the bookBrian's Winter byGary Paulsen the main character believes he is hearing gunshots, and walks toward them, and finds out that sound is made by exploding trees.
*In theSuper Nintendo video gameEarthBound there is an enemy in the Peaceful Rest Valley called the "Territorial Oak" which explodes when defeated and causes a great deal of damage to party members.
*The fictionalTesla trees inDan Simmons 'Hyperion Cantos series supposedly let off gigantic blasts of lightning in order to secure fertilizer, similar in some ways to an explosion.
*InMary Shelley 's "Frankenstein ", Victor is inspired to pursue a life of science when he observes an oak exploding in a thunderstorm. (literally exploding, leaving the tree in thin ribbons of wood.)
*InRobert Jordan 's Wheel of Time series, trees in the northern countries commonly explode by freezing, due to the extreme cold.
*InTerry Goodkind 'sThe Sword of Truth series, wizards and sorceresses use their gift to heat the sap inside trees to boil, until the tree explodes, sending jagged wood fragments in all directions and delivering horrendous wounds to those near it. Seen inFaith of the Fallen andChainfire .
*InDavid Zindell 'sNeverness descriptions of "popping noises" in the distance are heard and splinters found in the snow drifts when Mallory Ringess and company are posing as Alolai and travelling to the Devlaki tribe, Describing the explosions of trees due to the extreme colds found on Neverness (the planet)ee also
* Lightning
References
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