INOSCULATION: When two trees growing close to each other become morphologically joined. They essentially form a union of conductive tissues.

What a cool phenomenon and super interesting language geekery too . The term is derived from the Latin “in” + “ōsculārī”, meaning “to kiss into/inward/against” or “to make a small mouth inward/into/against” .

This phenomenon usually (but not exclusively) occurs between trees of the same species. Some species are particularly prone to inosculation, such as Eastern hemlock, White pine, maple, birch and ash.