The lore of the so-called walking palm (Socratea exorrhiza) has persisted since at least 1980 when anthropologists John H. Bodley and Foley C. Benson detailed the plant’s unbelievable behavior in a scientific paper.

According to Bodley and Benson, when toppled by falling trees or branches some palms in eastern Peru can “right themselves and “walk” out from under the obstacle”, away from their point of germination.

The palms were said to chase sunlight through the forest using the dozen or so roots that spring from their elevated trunks.

Sometimes, these roots sit several meters above the ground, and as Bodley explained all those decades ago, when they break away or rot, newer legs can probe patches of soil that are slightly further away.

To this day, rainforest guides in Latin America commonly tell tourists that walking palms can shift their position as much as 20 meters a year.