Trees are amazing constructions of air, sunshine, and water plus a miniscule amount of soil. Far and away, they are mostly water. Through the wonder of photosynthesis, they capture the energy of the sun's rays and use it to break carbon dioxide in half. In the process they release oxygen as a waste product and sequester the energy as carbon-water compounds we know as carbohydrates.
When you think about it, trees are remarkably sturdy for being made up of such ethereal components.
If you desiccate an entire tree, what is left will be mostly wood made mostly of lignan. Wood is made up of the dead conducting cells of the xylem plus other, softer cells that have been reinforced after a year or two of use.
The lignified cells are notoriously resistant to biological processes and only a few organisms can digest it. we think of termites as wood eaters, but in reality, it is the bacteria in their gut that let them break down wood. Termites are merely wood-chewing insects that are feeding the wood-eating bacteria that they keep inside.
In truth, there are other things like nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium, the macronutrients, in significant quantities. They do important functions by being a critical part of DNA, proteins, and membranes. None-the-less, they are dwarfed by the amount of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in a living tree.
In even smaller quantities are the micronutrients. These are needed only in trace amounts--elements like magnesium, silicon, iron, selenium, and a long list of others.
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