Tree stumps can live on indefinitely...

ALIVING STUMP sounds like something out of a horror movie. In fact, it is not unusual for a tree, deprived of its trunk and foliage by lightning, disease or a lumberjack, but still possessed of roots and an above-ground stump, to continue a zombie-like existence for years—even decades. Such arboreal undead have been recognised since 1833. But surprisingly, until now, no living stump has been subjected to detailed scientific scrutiny.The scrutinised stump, pictured above, is the remains of a Kauri tree in Waitakere Ranges Regional Park, New Zealand. It and two neighbouring, intact, Kauris were investigated by Martin Bader and Sebastian Leuzinger of Auckland University of Technology, who have just published their results in .