In article ,
says...
In message , K
writes
writes
I watched the programme on BBC 2 which showed the cork oaks after
harvet. How come they
don't die after the bark has been stripped off? If I took the bark off
a normal tree all
the way round, it would die.

It's not the bark that is critical its the layer immediately below it
which channels the food up from the roots to the rest of the tree. With
most trees, it is impossible to remove the bark without also removing
the layer underneath. The cork oak has developed thick bark which will
peel off without taking off the layer underneath, not sure why. Defence
against something, presumably, but I don't know what.

I seem to recall that cork is a defence against fire.

http://books.google.com/books?id=5uiycUoRmFkC&pg=PA112

I think that the american redwoods and several eucalypts do much the
same, I certainly had one with bark 3" thick, storms eventually got it,
shame they are so brittle (Eucalypts that is)
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea