This story is about a couple scientists hiking in the woods and coming across a tree stump that, improbably, was still alive. The stump was not showing any greenery, so it wasn’t coppiced. I’m trying to figure out how they could tell. What signs of life does a living tree stump show?
Signs of growth or repair around the bits that were cut/broken?
That’s what I see in the picture in the link. Of course, it’s no definite proof of life – the tree stump could have died long after – but it would be enough to raise my suspicion to the level of making a small cut, to see if there would ooze sap or resin from it!
Better article here.
If you can determine it is a stump from a Locust tree, you know it’s still alive. I cut one down 5+ years ago and it is still sending up suckers all over the place. It’s the Walking Dead of trees.
Maybe it’s a Norwegian blue spruce. Lovely foliage. It’s probably just pining ( 
) for the fjords.