Portal:Trees

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In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are usable as lumber or plants above a specified height. In wider definitions, the taller palms, tree ferns, bananas, and bamboos are also trees.

Trees are not a monophyletic taxonomic group but consist of a wide variety of plant species that have independently evolved a trunk and branches as a way to tower above other plants to compete for sunlight. The majority of tree species are angiosperms or hardwoods; of the rest, many are gymnosperms or softwoods. Trees tend to be long-lived, some reaching several thousand years old. Trees have been in existence for 370 million years. It is estimated that there are around three trillion mature trees in the world.

A tree typically has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground by the trunk, which typically contains woody tissue for strength, and vascular tissue to carry materials from one part of the tree to another. For most trees it is surrounded by a layer of bark which serves as a protective barrier. Below the ground, the roots branch and spread out widely; they serve to anchor the tree and extract moisture and nutrients from the soil. Above ground, the branches divide into smaller branches and shoots. The shoots typically bear leaves, which capture light energy and convert it into sugars by photosynthesis, providing the food for the tree's growth and development.

Trees usually reproduce using seeds. Flowers and fruit may be present, but some trees, such as conifers, instead have pollen cones and seed cones. Palms, bananas, and bamboos also produce seeds, but tree ferns produce spores instead.

Trees play a significant role in reducing erosion and moderating the climate. They remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store large quantities of carbon in their tissues. Trees and forests provide a habitat for many species of animals and plants. Tropical rainforests are among the most biodiverse habitats in the world. Trees provide shade and shelter, timber for construction, fuel for cooking and heating, and fruit for food as well as having many other uses. In much of the world, forests are shrinking as trees are cleared to increase the amount of land available for agriculture. Because of their longevity and usefulness, trees have always been revered, with sacred groves in various cultures, and they play a role in many of the world's mythologies. (Full article...)

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Betula pubescens (syn. Betula alba), commonly known as downy birch and also as moor birch, white birch, European white birch or hairy birch, is a species of deciduous tree, native and abundant throughout northern Europe and northern Asia, growing farther north than any other broadleaf tree. It is closely related to, and often confused with, the silver birch (B. pendula), but grows in wetter places with heavier soils and poorer drainage; smaller trees can also be confused with the dwarf birch (B. nana).

Six varieties are recognised and it hybridises with the silver and dwarf birches. A number of cultivars have been developed but many are no longer in cultivation. The larva of the autumnal moth (Epirrita autumnata) feeds on the foliage and in some years, large areas of birch forest can be defoliated by this insect. Many fungi are associated with the tree and certain pathogenic fungi are the causal agents of birch dieback disease. (Full article...)

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... that a fellow artist said of Allen Butler Talcott that "no one was his peer in the knowledge of trees and how to paint them" (painting of oak pictured)?
... that sex scenes in the controversial 1967 film I Am Curious (Yellow) were shot inside the Rumskulla oak, an oak tree that is more than 1,000 years old?
... that the red nose-like structure of the cherrynose cicada contains muscles that help it suck xylem out of trees?
... that extracts from leaves of the mahogany tree suren toon are used as antibacterial poultices?
... that The Greening of Detroit has planted over 81,000 trees in the Michigan city since the organization's inception in 1989?
... that the vinhática tree, Plathymenia reticulata (pictured), provides the preferred timber for making dugout canoes in Brazil, because it is resistant to rotting?

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The Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three varieties: coast Douglas-fir (P. menziesii var. menziesii), Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir (P. menziesii var. glauca) and Mexican Douglas-fir (P. menziesii var. lindleyana).

Despite its common names, it is not a true fir (genus Abies), spruce (genus Picea), or pine (genus Pinus). It is also not a hemlock; the genus name Pseudotsuga means "false hemlock". (Full article...)

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General images

The following are images from various tree-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Malus sylvestris (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 2Forest in the Scottish Highlands (from Forest)
Image 3Selling firewood at a market (from Tree)
Image 4Tall herbaceous monocotyledonous plants such as banana lack secondary growth, but are trees under the broadest definition. (from Tree)
Image 5Garibaldi Provincial Park, British Columbia (from Forest)
Image 6A section of yew (Taxus baccata) showing 27 annual growth rings, pale sapwood and dark heartwood (from Tree)
Image 7Proportion and distribution of global forest area by climatic domain, 2020 (from Forest)
Image 8People trees, by Pooktre (from Tree)
Image 9A young red pine (Pinus resinosa) with spread of roots visible, as a result of soil erosion (from Tree)
Image 10Wind dispersed seed of elm (Ulmus), ash (Fraxinus) and maple (Acer) (from Tree)
Image 11Alleé of London plane trees (Platanus × acerifolia) in garden (from Tree)
Image 12World production of selected forest products (from Forest)
Image 13Spiny forest at Ifaty, Madagascar, featuring various Adansonia (baobab) species, Alluaudia procera (Madagascar ocotillo) and other vegetation (from Forest)
Image 14Burned forest on Thasos (from Forest)
Image 15Buds, leaves and reproductive structures of white fir (Abies alba) (from Tree)
Image 16Proportion of forest in protected areas, by region, 2020 (from Forest)
Image 17The General Sherman Tree, thought to be the world's largest by volume (from Tree)
Image 18Latex collecting from a rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) (from Tree)
Image 19Northern beech (Fagus sylvatica) trunk in autumn (from Tree)
Image 20Common ash (Fraxinus excelsior), a deciduous broad-leaved (angiosperm) tree (from Tree)
Image 21Redwood tree in northern California redwood forest, where many redwood trees are managed for preservation and longevity, rather than being harvested for wood production (from Forest)
Image 22Sugar maple (Acer saccharum) tapped to collect sap for maple syrup (from Tree)
Image 23Conifers in the Swabian alps (from Tree)
Image 24Fraxinus excelsior (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 25Yggdrasil, the World Ash of Norse mythology (from Tree)
Image 264000 years old Cypress of Abarqu is the oldest tree in Iran and the second oldest tree in the world. (from List of trees of Iran)
Image 27Dormant Magnolia bud (from Tree)
Image 28Roof trusses made from softwood (from Tree)
Image 29The Amazon rainforest alongside the Solimões River, a tropical rainforest. These forests are the most biodiverse and productive ecosystems in the world. (from Forest)
Image 30Olive trees in Pakistan (from Trees of Pakistan)
Image 31Trees in art: Weeping Willow, Claude Monet, 1918 (from Tree)
Image 32Buds, leaves, flowers and fruit of oak (Quercus robur) (from Tree)
Image 33Lepidodendron, an extinct lycophyte tree (from Tree)
Image 34Diagram of secondary growth in a eudicot or coniferous tree showing idealised vertical and horizontal sections. A new layer of wood is added in each growing season, thickening the stem, existing branches and roots. (from Tree)
Image 35Share of forest area in total land area, top countries (2021) (from Forest)
Image 36Priest River winding through Whitetail Butte with lots of forestry to the east—these lot patterns have existed since the mid-19th century. The white patches reflect areas with younger, smaller trees, where winter snow cover shows up brightly to the astronauts. Dark green-brown squares are parcels (from Forest)
Image 37The Daintree Rainforest (from Tree)
Image 38Rowan tree in Wicklow, Ireland (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 39Informal upright style of bonsai on a juniper tree (from Tree)
Image 40Recently stripped cork oak (Quercus suber) (from Tree)
Image 41Latvian Pine Forest in Ķegums Municipality (from Forest)
Image 42Temperate rainforest in Tasmania's Hellyer Gorge (from Forest)
Image 43Alnus glutinosa (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 44Broadleaf forest in Bhutan (from Forest)
Image 45Since the 13th century, the Niepołomice Forest in Poland has had special use and protection. In this view from space, different coloration can indicate different functions. (from Forest)
Image 46Share of land that is covered by forest (from Forest)
Image 47Neem tree at Sant Nenuram Ashram (from Trees of Pakistan)
Image 48Cracked thorny skin of a Aesculus tree seed (from Tree)
Image 49A forest near Vinitsa, North Macedonia (from Forest)
Image 50Form, leaves and reproductive structures of queen sago (Cycas circinalis) (from Tree)
Image 51Even, dense old-growth stand of beech trees (Fagus sylvatica) prepared to be regenerated by their saplings in the understory, in the Brussels part of the Sonian Forest. (from Forest)
Image 52European larch (Larix decidua), a coniferous tree which is also deciduous (from Tree)
Image 53Buttress roots of the kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra) (from Tree)
Image 54Palms and cycads as they might have appeared in the middle Tertiary (from Tree)