00:03This is the Socrataea exorisa tree, or what is more often referred to as the walking palm.
00:09That's because according to a scientific paper from 1980, if another tree falls on top of it,
00:14the walking palm can walk out from under the weight and right itself once again.
00:18Legend also says the trees chase sunlight, moving its roots like legs and changing position by
00:23upwards of 65 feet a year. So is any of that true? Unfortunately, probably not.
00:28More recent studies have found that rather than walking out from under falling trees,
00:32the walking palm simply grows new roots and taps the ground again for stability.
00:36Though researchers say it does stretch out towards areas with more sunlight, as most plants do,
00:40and likely puts down more roots once again to maintain that position.
00:44Still, it's not hard to see how a legend like this one came to be,
00:47with the trees still like roots, creating a visage of movable legs.
00:51And those iconic root legs are a bit of a mystery as well.
00:53Researchers initially believed they were to protect the tree against flooding events.
00:57A more recent research has discovered that's likely not the case,
01:00meaning these trees, though unable to trot across the jungle,
01:03still have some mysteries left to be discovered.
Comments