The tall waking cedars would be starting to infuse the sleepy little yews with sugars, which would use the energy to grow their shaggy bark and make drops of paclitaxel. As the maple leaves opened, they’d send sugary water to the cedars and yews in the shadows, helping them get enough to drink on the dry summer days. The yews might return the favors to the maples and cedars in late fall, sending sugary reserves from their green cells to help the neighbors slumber through the winter. Mycorrhizal fungi would begin to wrap around the mineral grains, waking up the mites and nematodes and bacteria.
