PLANET EARTH Jungles

The seeds of hardwoods are quick to germinate（发芽） but, like the fabled（本意是虚构的，这里指的是寓言故事里的） tortoise, their strategy is to be slow and steady. Vines and other climbers put all their energy into rapid vertical（垂直的） growth, rather than girth though they'll need to be well supported. The climbers' strategy looks chaotic but there's method in their madness. Their growing tips circle like lassoes（套索）, searching out anchors for their spindly stems.



They put coils in their tendrils so that if their support moves, they will stretch and not snap. But the frontrunners at this stage, the first to fill the clearing, are pioneers like the macarangas（血桐属，植物）. Their immense leaves capture huge amounts of sunlight, so fueling their growth. As a result the macarangas grow a remarkable eight meters a year surging ahead of almost all their rivals.



In the race for the top spot hundreds will start yet few will ever reach the finishing line, their growth cut short by the diminishing light. In less than four years, the gap will have gone but that's not the end of the race. The ultimate winners are the tortoises, the slow and steady hardwoods.