That Thing About Money Not Growing on Trees Just Got More Complicated

Scientists discover traces of gold growing on trees

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Open woodland of Black box (Eucalyptus largiflorens) in Southern Australia.

Nature, in all its wonder, has just upended the most elementary theory of money: it can and does dangle from the branches.

Scientists have found gold deposited in the leaves and bark of trees in the Australian Outback, according to CNN. Eucalyptus and acacia trees have adapted to droughts by spreading their roots deep and wide through the earth, in search of water. Occasionally, they strike gold along the way.

But before you celebrate the news with a spending spree, you should know that the trees draw up gold in microscopic concentrations, averaging 80 parts gold for every billion parts leaf. So unless you’re prepared to collect billions of leaves in the outback, the hard lessons on money still apply, just with the added caveat that it can turn up in the strangest of places.

[CNN]