Gorilla in the Waiting Room

In 1850, after the Gold Rush and Californias admission to theunion, two brothers acquired some valuable land. There wasa young tree on that land. It was growing fast and began toexhibit a peculiar feature. Its roots didnt seem to go deep but instead spread out above-ground. One brother became concerned. Why didnt the roots go down?He thought something sinister must be buried beneath that tree. The roots seemed to balk at going there. His brother thoughtit wasnt anything to get worried about, just the natural way of that tree. It didnt look right though, even to him, and as the tree continued to grow, he wondered too. A century and a half later, the tree is still there, with roots, tendrils and knobs extending in every direction, strange, unnatural, at times bizarre. We still wonder, not even sure what to call it.