As do the palm trees to withstand hurricanes?

The images of Hurricane Matthew, first in Haiti and then on the east coast of the United States, show us all kinds of destruction: collapsed houses, flooding, uprooted trees ... many, but not the palms, which for the most part able to withstand to the fury of the wind and they remain standing. How do

these plants to withstand even the strongest hurricanes?

THE ROOTS. The palms have a large number of roots are relatively short, but in rays in the soil and are able to be anchored to the ground with great force. Many roots, in fact, work better in creating a base that helps the plant to remain in place even if hit by very strong winds.

TRUNK. The trunk of the palm is made of many small bundles of wood material, which can be imagined as an electrical cable consisting of many threads.

Unlike other plants, such as oak, palms are not able to support enormous weights, as large branches and thick foliage, but in return have a considerable flexibility, so much so that a palm plant can also bend of 50 degrees before breaking.

THE CANOPY OF LEAVES. Most of the trees has a shock of branches and twigs, and a large number of leaves to capture as much light as possible from the Sun, but this produces a considerable sail effect when they are hit by strong winds, which can pull the plant up to eradicate it . The palms instead have large leaves with a "spine" flexible center: that is, to resemble huge feathers. When there is good weather the leaves produce a shock, but in case of strong wind the leaves are folded along the wind direction: in this way they offer less resistance and can withstand more easily to stronger hurricanes.