Everybody reading these comments and considering the implications needs to go read Blindsight by Peter Watts. It’s a first contact story set in the near-ish future, and really goes into consciousness and intelligence. Very thought provoking if you thought this comment chain was interesting.

What would happen then if you took a tree which only has leaves at the top and submerged it to just under the leaves? Does the bark need to be exposed to air as well or would it just rot out like timber does?