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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Bottled maple syrup

Maple syrup is a syrup made from the sap of maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Maple trees are tapped by drilling holes into their trunks and collecting the sap, which is processed by heating to evaporate much of the water, leaving the concentrated syrup.

Maple syrup was first made by the Indigenous peoples of Northeastern North America. The practice was adopted by European settlers, who gradually changed production methods. Technological improvements in the 1970s further refined syrup processing. Virtually all of the world's maple syrup is produced in Canada and the United States. The Canadian province of Quebec is the largest producer, responsible for 70 per cent of the world's output; Canadian exports of maple syrup in 2016 were C$487 million (about US$360 million), with Quebec accounting for some 90 per cent of this total. (Full article...)

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... that the Paget Marsh Nature Reserve in Bermuda has been called the "best surviving example of native cedar, palmetto (pictured), and mangrove forests", yet at one point the island lost 99% of its cedar trees?
... that a canopy walkway connects seven tree tops in Ghana's Kakum National Park?
... that the ivory curl tree can grow 30 m (100 ft) tall in its natural rainforest habitat?
... that the trumpet tree, a fast-growing tree native to the American tropics, is considered one of the hundred worst invasive alien species in the world?
... that the installation of an artificial Christmas tree in Brussels prompted an online petition against it with 25,000 signatures?
... that a white oak tree with a trunk circumference of over 26 feet (7.9 m) grew near Wolf Run until it was cut down in 1852?
... that the blue nuthatch (pictured) protects its corneas from falling debris when prospecting on trees by contracting the bare skin around its eyes – an adaptation apparently unique to the species?

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Sequoia sempervirens along US 199

Sequoia sempervirens (/səˈkwɔɪ.ə ˌsɛmpərˈvaɪrənz/) is the sole living species of the genus Sequoia in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly treated in Taxodiaceae). Common names include coast redwood, coastal redwood and California redwood. It is an evergreen, long-lived, monoecious tree living 1,200–2,200 years or more. This species includes the tallest living trees on Earth, reaching up to 115.9 m (380.1 ft) in height (without the roots) and up to 8.9 m (29 ft) in diameter at breast height. These trees are also among the longest-living organisms on Earth. Before commercial logging and clearing began by the 1850s, this massive tree occurred naturally in an estimated 810,000 ha (2,000,000 acres) along much of coastal California (excluding southern California where rainfall is not sufficient) and the southwestern corner of coastal Oregon within the United States.

The name sequoia sometimes refers to the subfamily Sequoioideae, which includes S. sempervirens along with Sequoiadendron (giant sequoia) and Metasequoia (dawn redwood). Here, the term redwood on its own refers to the species covered in this article but not to the other two species. (Full article...)

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General images

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

Image 1European larch (Larix decidua), a coniferous tree which is also deciduous (from Tree)
Image 2Yggdrasil, the World Ash of Norse mythology (from Tree)
Image 3Rowan tree in Wicklow, Ireland (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 4Alnus glutinosa (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 5Burned forest on Thasos (from Forest)
Image 6Fraxinus excelsior (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 74000 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 8People trees, by Pooktre (from Tree)
Image 9Recently stripped cork oak (Quercus suber) (from Tree)
Image 10Alleé of London plane trees (Platanus × acerifolia) in garden (from Tree)
Image 11Tall herbaceous monocotyledonous plants such as banana lack secondary growth, but are trees under the broadest definition. (from Tree)
Image 12Broadleaf forest in Bhutan (from Forest)
Image 13Buttress roots of the kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra) (from Tree)
Image 14Garibaldi Provincial Park, British Columbia (from Forest)
Image 15The General Sherman Tree, thought to be the world's largest by volume (from Tree)
Image 16Common ash (Fraxinus excelsior), a deciduous broad-leaved (angiosperm) tree (from Tree)
Image 17A young red pine (Pinus resinosa) with spread of roots visible, as a result of soil erosion (from Tree)
Image 18Even, 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 19Wind dispersed seed of elm (Ulmus), ash (Fraxinus) and maple (Acer) (from Tree)
Image 20Dormant Magnolia bud (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 22Proportion of forest in protected areas, by region, 2020 (from Forest)
Image 23Forest in the Scottish Highlands (from Forest)
Image 24Malus sylvestris (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 25Conifers in the Swabian alps (from Tree)
Image 26Cracked thorny skin of a Aesculus tree seed (from Tree)
Image 27Latvian Pine Forest in Ķegums Municipality (from Forest)
Image 28Priest 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 29Selling firewood at a market (from Tree)
Image 30Latex collecting from a rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) (from Tree)
Image 31Form, leaves and reproductive structures of queen sago (Cycas circinalis) (from Tree)
Image 32World production of selected forest products (from Forest)
Image 33Proportion and distribution of global forest area by climatic domain, 2020 (from Forest)
Image 34Palms and cycads as they might have appeared in the middle Tertiary (from Tree)
Image 35Buds, leaves and reproductive structures of white fir (Abies alba) (from Tree)
Image 36A forest near Vinitsa, North Macedonia (from Forest)
Image 37The Amazon rainforest alongside the Solimões River, a tropical rainforest. These forests are the most biodiverse and productive ecosystems in the world. (from Forest)
Image 38Northern beech (Fagus sylvatica) trunk in autumn (from Tree)
Image 39A section of yew (Taxus baccata) showing 27 annual growth rings, pale sapwood and dark heartwood (from Tree)
Image 40Informal upright style of bonsai on a juniper tree (from Tree)
Image 41Spiny forest at Ifaty, Madagascar, featuring various Adansonia (baobab) species, Alluaudia procera (Madagascar ocotillo) and other vegetation (from Forest)
Image 42Sugar maple (Acer saccharum) tapped to collect sap for maple syrup (from Tree)
Image 43The Daintree Rainforest (from Tree)
Image 44Diagram 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 45Buds, leaves, flowers and fruit of oak (Quercus robur) (from Tree)
Image 46Roof trusses made from softwood (from Tree)
Image 47Share of land that is covered by forest (from Forest)
Image 48Share of forest area in total land area, top countries (2021) (from Forest)
Image 49Trees in art: Weeping Willow, Claude Monet, 1918 (from Tree)
Image 50Temperate rainforest in Tasmania's Hellyer Gorge (from Forest)
Image 51Neem tree at Sant Nenuram Ashram (from Trees of Pakistan)
Image 52Lepidodendron, an extinct lycophyte tree (from Tree)
Image 53Olive trees in Pakistan (from Trees of Pakistan)
Image 54Since 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)