Portal:Trees

The Trees Portal

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, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only plants that are usable as lumber, or only plants above a specified height. Wider definitions include taller palms, tree ferns, bananas, and bamboos.

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 trees reaching several thousand years old. Trees evolved around 400 million years ago, and it is estimated that there are around three trillion mature trees in the world currently.

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 the trunk 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. Flowering plants have their seeds inside fruits, while conifers carry their seeds in cones, and 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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Clusters of Bidni olives ripening on the tree

The Bidni, which is also referred to as Bitni, is an olive cultivar from the Mediterranean island of Malta. The fruit is small in size, hearty with a "violet colour", and is renowned for its superior oil which is low in acidity. The latter is generally attributed to the poor quality alkaline soil found on the Maltese Islands. As an indigenous olive cultivar, the Bidni has developed a unique DNA profile, and is believed to be among the most ancient species on the island, triggering local authorities to declare some of these ancient trees as "national monuments", and as having an "Antiquarian Importance", a status which is enjoyed by only a handful of other species. (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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Sycamore fig, Ficus sycomorus

Ficus (/ˈfaɪkəs/ or /ˈfiːkəs/) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The common fig (F. carica) is a temperate species native to southwest Asia and the Mediterranean region (from Afghanistan to Portugal), which has been widely cultivated from ancient times for its fruit, also referred to as figs. The fruit of most other species are also edible though they are usually of only local economic importance or eaten as bushfood. However, they are extremely important food resources for wildlife. Figs are also of considerable cultural importance throughout the tropics, both as objects of worship and for their many practical uses. (Full article...)

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General images

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

Image 1Olive trees in Pakistan (from Trees of Pakistan)
Image 2Diagram 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 3Priest 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 4Northern beech (Fagus sylvatica) trunk in autumn (from Tree)
Image 5Conifers in the Swabian alps (from Tree)
Image 6Fraxinus excelsior (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 7Yellow cassia, an ornamental tree with yellow flowers (from Tree)
Image 8Share of forest area in total land area, top countries (2021) (from Forest)
Image 9Sugar maple (Acer saccharum) tapped to collect sap for maple syrup (from Tree)
Image 10Dormant buds of ash, Fraxinus excelsior (from Tree)
Image 11An avenue of London planes (Platanus × hispanica) in a garden in Belgium. (from Tree)
Image 12Trees in art: Weeping Willow, Claude Monet, 1918 (from Tree)
Image 13Buttress roots of the kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra) (from Tree)
Image 14Latvian Pine Forest in Ķegums Municipality (from Forest)
Image 15Selling firewood at a market (from Tree)
Image 16Redwood 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 17Neem tree at Sant Nenuram Ashram (from Trees of Pakistan)
Image 18A section of yew (Taxus baccata) showing 27 annual growth rings, pale sapwood and dark heartwood (from Tree)
Image 19Palms and cycads as they might have appeared in the middle Tertiary (from Tree)
Image 20European larch (Larix decidua), a coniferous tree which is also deciduous (from Tree)
Image 21Burned forest on Thasos (from Forest)
Image 22Garibaldi Provincial Park, British Columbia (from Forest)
Image 23Cracked thorny skin of a Aesculus tree seed (from Tree)
Image 24Alnus glutinosa (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 25Tall herbaceous monocotyledonous plants such as banana lack secondary growth, but are trees under the broadest definition. (from Tree)
Image 26Recently stripped cork oak (Quercus suber) (from Tree)
Image 27Boreal forest in Finland (from Forest)
Image 28Buds, leaves, flowers and fruit of pedunculate oak, Quercus robur (from Tree)
Image 29Lepidodendron, an extinct lycophyte tree (from Tree)
Image 304000 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 31Since 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 32The Amazon rainforest alongside the Solimões River, a tropical rainforest. These forests are the most biodiverse and productive ecosystems in the world. (from Forest)
Image 33Proportion and distribution of global forest area by climatic domain, 2020 (from Forest)
Image 34Temperate rainforest in Tasmania's Hellyer Gorge (from Forest)
Image 35People trees, by Pooktre (from Tree)
Image 36A young red pine (Pinus resinosa) with spread of roots visible, as a result of soil erosion (from Tree)
Image 37Buds, leaves and reproductive structures of white fir, Abies alba (from Tree)
Image 38Roof trusses made from softwood (from Tree)
Image 39Rowan tree in Wicklow, Ireland (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 40Proportion of forest in protected areas, by region, 2020 (from Forest)
Image 41Form, leaves and reproductive structures of queen sago, Cycas circinalis (from Tree)
Image 42Yggdrasil, the World Ash of Norse mythology (from Tree)
Image 43Even, 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 44Broadleaf forest in Bhutan (from Forest)
Image 45Informal upright style of bonsai on a juniper tree (from Tree)
Image 46Malus sylvestris (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 47Share of land that is covered by forest (from Forest)
Image 48Latex collecting from a rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) (from Tree)
Image 49Wind dispersed seed of elm (Ulmus), ash (Fraxinus) and maple (Acer) (from Tree)
Image 50World production of selected forest products (from Forest)
Image 51The Daintree Rainforest (from Tree)
Image 52Spiny forest at Ifaty, Madagascar, featuring various Adansonia (baobab) species, Alluaudia procera (Madagascar ocotillo) and other vegetation (from Forest)
Image 53Common ash (Fraxinus excelsior), a deciduous broad-leaved (angiosperm) tree (from Tree)
Image 54The General Sherman Tree, thought to be the world's largest by volume (from Tree)