A Tree’s Incredible Pump

Leaves high up in a tree need water and nutrients, often thousands of gallons a day. These must be pumped up, but how?

“This incredible pumping feat starts deep down in the earth where millions of microscopic root hairs absorb water and dissolved minerals,” explains Compressed Air Magazine. “As water is consumed, a shortage is created in the leaves that causes the columns to move upward and literally pull more water from the soil. No man-made vacuum pump can pull water beyond about 32 feet [10 m].” But what about the pumping system of a tree?

It is so remarkable that it is said it could, if necessary, lift water in a tree about two miles [3 km] high! No wonder that an advertisement by a prominent manufacturer of pumps draws attention to the maple tree’s “remarkable pump” and acknowledges: “We can’t equal nature in patience or performance.”