Wood wide-web

Sudhirendar Sharma

Sudhirendar Sharma

It is easy to think of trees as passive entity with limited mobility, the essential green in the biodiversity of life. That irrespective of its limited specific feature it generates environmental benefits like air cleaning, flood moderation, and carbon dioxide sequestration. But there is a general tendency to take the trees for granted for their environmental and aesthetic values. It is so despite any of 73,000 tree species evolved over 400 million years carry common ecological narrative. Amongst many environmental services on offer, the amazing property of trees is that they can not only bring water down, from the sky, but can sent it back up as transpiration.  

The genesis of trees

But to assume that trees have only one role that too above ground is to belittle their existence. Conversely, it is amazing how trees have done more as blind explorers beneath the soil to communicate and cooperation not only with themselves but with other species too? It is only in recent times that this awesome creativity of nature is getting revealed. In the process trees have emerged themselves as the original terraformers, breaking down barren rock to create soil, channeling water into rivers, and releasing oxygen into an atmosphere previously inhospitable to complex life. Without trees, the earth would have literally been desert.

This hasn’t been a passive process in itself. Trees have, over millennia, exerted control over fundamental elements – water, air, fire, and the very ground beneath. Element by element, trees have learned to control water, air, fire and the ground beneath, as well as fungi, plants, animals, and even people, shaping them according to their ‘tree-ish’ agenda. According to tree researcher Harriet Rix (The Genius of Trees, 2025, Bodley Head) trees are not victims of change but agents of change in a grand ecological narrative. These are undoubtedly leading actors in the great drama of life on earth.

Sacred

Recent scientific research has illuminated the intricate relationships trees maintain with their surroundings. For better part of almost 400 million years, trees have been some of the largest organisms on dry land. They have woven the world into a place of great beauty and extraordinary brilliance. While early research highlights the interesting exchange of resources through what is often dubbed the ‘wood wide web’ – some interpretations have ventured into anthropomorphism and human-like emotions being transmitted to trees. How have trees done this is perhaps the most amazing? 

Do trees have consciousness, intelligence or our leafy friends have feelings? The early work of Suzanne Simard (Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest, 2021, Allen Lane) is worth mentioning here wherein she gives anthropomorphic claims that trees ‘talk’ or ‘love’ to one another. It is like putting a nurturing mammalian face on to the giants of the forest to unfold the complexities of a system. The arboreal history also reveals how these passive organisms fundamentally reshaped the planet. Billions of years ago, as it is known today, these early plants embarked on an evolutionary journey culminating in the majestic trees that dominate landscapes worldwide.

Trees are more than what they may seem to the naked human eyes. Recent research has enlisted the role of trees in shaping the crucial elements of the ecosystem viz., water, air, soil, plants, animals. Although all elements are equally important, but trees have an endearing effect on rainfall and waterflows above and below them. Such is its importance that trees are known to have developed into trees to gain power over water. The anatomy of trees evolved is more tightly engineered than a human body, because rather than moving to avoid drought and flood the trees control their own environment to counter the emerging situation.  

Above the ground, trees are rainmakers and below ground, their roots collect and redistribute water. And in between, the tree can control and use the water within itself. Much like how humans pluck an apple, crush it hard to eat it and bend it plant the core, trees also go through these processes to direct water across the earth. But the core question remains: does water enable the trees or do the trees enable the water? A little bit of both and when the climate change is around them, trees tend to outflank the change by getting better at shaping water.  

There is so much that is now known about trees. Trees are almost godlike, using their wizardry to transform the earth from a stony, storm-ravaged wasteland into a place where life could thrive. They broke barren rock into soil, canalized flood waters into rivers, pumped oxygen into the atmosphere, and turned the desert green. The pinnacle of tree water-engineering comes with the mangroves, which undoubtedly balances out the need for water with the need for air in turning trees to be nothing less than the genius. It’s nothing short of a genius that trees can seed clouds, generate rain and expand their own habitats. 

This is why, scientists argue that we find the smell of wood so comforting and like to press our noses between the pages of books. A little over fifty species of trees constitute ‘divine’ trees, the relationship we have with trees based on our faiths and traditions. Some of these trees are believed to have originated from body parts of the god, the rudraksha tree is believed to have formed from the tears of Lord Shiva. Sacred: The Mysticism, Science, Recipes and Rituals (Ebury 2025) does not investigate such divine ante descents but reflects on the value that are so ascribed. Why are these trees considered invaluable? What is the scientific basis of such a belief? 

An acclaimed author on wellness, who connect traditions with contemporary living, Vasudha Rai delves deep into the science of it. The science of this subject, within the precinct of botany, has been dealt with during past few years but has yet to emerge as an independent subject of scientific enquiry in itself. However, blending spiritual wisdom with scientific research provides new insights on our symbiotic relationships with these trees. It helps reinforce our relationship that views trees beyond the manifestation of the divine. 

What makes divine botany interesting is the manner in which it outlines ancient mysticism, modern science, and enlists recipes to build the narrative that helps reconnect with trees.  Exploring and reviving this subject is not without reason. It is about revisiting our reverence for the green cover which has reached such a crescendo that we are devoted to the intangible god but do not respect tangible manifestations of the divine. 

In reality, every plant must be seen as sacred because every plant species supports some bacteria, insects, bees, birds and mammals. Come to think of it, every plant is anything but divine. According to ancient scriptures, every leaf and blade of grass, branch and the trunk is home to nature spirits. There is an ancient tale in which a guru asks his disciple to go into the forest and find a plant that has no use. The disciple comes back empty-handed because he couldn’t find a single plant that had no use.  

(Dr. Sudhirendar Sharma is a writer and researcher specializing in development issues. He is based in New Delhi, India.)

First published in The Hindu as premium article on Sept 11, 2025.