The Double Tree of Casorzo
In the countryside of Piemonte, Italy, there is an unusual sight. There is a cherry tree there that looks, in most respects, just like any other healthy cherry tree—except that it happens to growing directly on top of a mulberry tree.
This isn’t completely unprecedented. Parasitic trees have grown out of others before, but normally they are small, stunted things that live short lives before falling off. The Double Tree of Casorzo, though, consists of two fully-formed, healthy trees, each spreading its branches five meters across.
Nobody quite knows how it happened. The locals believe that a bird may have dropped a cherry seed on top of the mulberry tree. The seed grew roots that pushed through the mulberry tree’s hollow trunk and reach all the way to the soil below—letting it survive and grow into a full, healthy tree.
Nature must really enjoy a good joke on all of us. Just when we think we have something figured out, She throws another monkey wrench into the mix. You go Ma Nature!
Coffee outside once again!
