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Fascinating. Now I am wondering about sapwood vs. heartwood where the limbs intersect with the trunk. In a tree, the sap travels through the outer sapwood, and the heartwood is dead, but what path does the sap follow to get to the limbs? There appears to be no capillary connection between the sapwood of the trunk and the limbs. Is the pith (the center) of the tree also a carrier of sap? Is the pith alive, and the heartwood dead, and the sapwood alive?
Incidentally, the sapwood carries a decay resistant compound, which is why this post has rotted away in this pattern. The living part of the tree (when it was cut down) hasn't rotted away, and the dead part has. I guess I answered my own question.
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