The mystery of the twisted forest: why do trees near the town of Hafford grow as if possessed (14 photos)

About 20 kilometers northwest of the town of Hafford in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, there's a strange grove.





Here, aspen trees stand with bizarrely twisted trunks and branches, as if a giant hand had twisted them into knots. This place, known as "The Crooked Trees," has attracted curious visitors since the 1940s. About 5,000 visitors come here annually.



The trees' bizarre appearance has given rise to many theories. Some blame the peculiar soil or pollution from a fallen meteorite. Others believe a lightning strike is to blame.





The owner of a plot of land with a crooked forest says the previous owner said his cattle categorically refused to enter the grove. There's even talk of aliens.



However, when scientists took samples of these trees and grew them in another location, the seedlings repeated the same crooked growth pattern. This proved that the cause is genetic. The reason is likely not mystical, but scientific: a mutation causes the tree to grow downwards instead of upwards.

The gene responsible for this behavior is actually deadly to aspen. In the competition for sunlight with healthy trees, these mutants would inevitably lose out. In fact, they survived only because they never faced stiff competition.



To protect the young growth from tourists, local authorities and activists built a wooden pedestrian walkway here.





[thumb]https://cn22.nevsedoma.com.ua/p/29/2912/1 20_files/987091926e754d1d0bf933c11e234c1a.webp[/thumb]



[thumb]https://cn22.nevsedoma.com.ua/p/29/2912/120_files/e565d8438 b8ac4594f71c2cd1fe67209.webp[/thumb]



[thumb]https://cn22.nevsedoma.com.ua/p/29/2912/120_files/c6193d6e1af00b2fdf7c8c87b20 ac6e2.webp[/thumb]