Home & Garden Why Do Some Trees Grow Back & Others Don't

[emuboy]

When you cut down most trees, the stump will begin sprouting new growth in a relatively short space of time. But for some plants, such as conifers and palms, this is the end and they do not regrow. Does anyone know why?

 

[PunyHumans!!!]

In the case of a palm tree, it's what's known as a monocotyledon and has a single point of growth where all new fronds originate from. If you cut it off at the trunk (cotton palm, cocos palm as an example), it will not regrow as it doesn't have secondary growth points like other monocotyledons like yucca's and dracaenas. Having said that though, there are some palms that can grow from a secondary point such as the base of the plant so that the death of the main trunk is not the be all and end all.

For some reason, conifers generally dont regrow from old wood so if you cut too far back from the green wood it can die off, the same goes for some daisies and rosemary as an example. Trees that grow back, such as eucalypts have many growth nodes along the trunk so will generally grow back quite quickly and with many new stems. It's a sort of mechanism to cope with bush fires and allow them to regenerate quickly when the older, top growth has been burnt off.

 

[cammo84]

Olive trees seem to be the worst for growing back