The Crooked Forest



In Poland there is a small forest of pine trees that grow with a bend in the middle of their trunk and no one knows why. They kind of look like a cartoon tree that is trying to avoid being chopped down, bending whenever the lumber jack swings his ax.


In a tiny corner of western Poland a forest of about 400 pine trees grow with a 90 degree bend at the base of their trunks - all bent northward. Surrounded by a larger forest of straight growing pine trees this collection of curved trees, or "Crooked Forest," is a mystery.

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My guess is that they are all about the same age, and as seedlings experienced some heavy wind trauma bending the stems. Since the greatest source of sunlight would be straight up they survived and thereafter corrected their direction for optimal growth. It happens to coconut trees too.
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I didn't read the article but I agree with E-star that this can be caused by trauma, and not just to smaller trees. I've seen a relatively older pine tree that was affected by severe cold and heavy ice causing it to bend at a 90 degree angle. Following the thaw the tree remained at that angle without a curving of the trunk and continued to grow outward at that angle.
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