Not yet dead. At a split limb, a tree often answers injury not by repairing old wood, which cannot resume division, but by building around the wound with fresh tissue. Beneath bark, the cambium lays down xylem and phloem; buds, held in reserve, can redraw the crown after wind, fire, or decay.Longevity is managed loss. Unlike an animal, whose organs must remain coordinated within one body, a tree c...More