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Questions and Answers: 2022

Question: My apologies. I recently asked how an 80 foot maple opens its leaf-buds in the spring, which was too general …

• Question

  My apologies. I recently asked how an 80 foot maple opens its leaf-buds in the spring, which was too general a question, but your answer '...sap flowing from the roots to the buds...' shows me the question I should have asked. How does the sap get from the roots to the buds, what makes it flow uphill?

  Answer

  Dear porphyry5, good morning. Water moves up through the vessel system via capillary action, which is discussed in many physics pages. The transpiration of water loss through the leaves/shoots/branches creates a low pressure that assists in moving water up from the roots to the crown of the tree. Best wishes.