The pines clustered at the edge of this meadow were probably relatives of the same family, their genes diversified by pollen drifting in from distant fathers. These parent trees shared some of the genes of the trees around them, and sharing carbon to increase the survival of their seedlings, their own offspring, would help ensure the genes got passed to future generations. A later study would show that the roots of at least half of the pines in a stand are grafted together, and the larger trees subsidize the smaller ones with carbon. Blood runs thicker than water. This makes perfect sense from
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