Swedish and British scientists in a publication in PNAS reported that the “rule of trees” of the famous artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci, according to which, if you add up the thickness of branches at any height, their sum will be comparable to the thickness of the trunk, turned out to be wrong at the micro level.
Thus, according to the researchers, the vascular system present in trees must maintain hydraulic resistance to ensure efficient movement of water and nutrition through the tree, and for this characteristic, at a certain point Da Vinci’s rule ceases to apply.
It is noted that in order for fluids to move successfully from the bottom to the top, the vascular channels in trees must be of a certain size in order for resistance to be maintained, so nearer the end of the plant its volume must become smaller, causing the capillary ratio to be much higher.
