The tree embryo grows fast. Soon the seed shell becomes too small and splits open. The newly born tree emerges above the ground. Its shoot begins to grow straight up and its roots straight down. The root has important work to do; it provides water for the young seedling.

The root also gives strength to the tree, holding it in place. As soon as the little root of a seedling penetrates the ground, the tree is permanently anchored, for better or for worse, to the place where, unless it is transplanted, it has to stay all its life. From now on the tree has to depend on the nutrients available in that particular place and to develop under climatic conditions found there, which cannot be changed. In nature, however, a seedling generally begins its life in a place where its ancestors have been growing for a long time, so the little tree is well adapted to the existing conditions.

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