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WINNING LETTER
MOTHER PLANTS NURTURING BABIES
New Scientist (1.5.21) ran a headline ‘Are trees sentient?’ and comes down on the affirmative i.e. to the point where a ‘mother tree’ nurtures her young preferentially. This opens a vision, no longer spiritual, of DNA transfer not only by inheritance but by live transmission. The authors confine their research to forest trees, which is unfortunate if only because it is unlikely.
I suggest we gardeners give it more thought when growing smaller species. If there be a kernel of truth we should be self-seeding and seed-saving from selected ‘mothers’ and nurturing her young
