Portal:Trees

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

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, 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...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Recognized content - show another

Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.

Pi de les tres branques in 2012

Pi de les tres branques (in Catalan language, meaning "the three-branched pine") is a dead pine tree located in the countryside near the town of Berga in north-central Catalonia, Spain. It has long been regarded by some Catalan nationalists as representing the unity of the three "Catalan Countries" and is the site of regular political-cultural gatherings.

The tree has been dead since 1915 and is in poor structural condition, due in part to politically-motivated vandalism, but there is a very similar living tree a short distance away known as Pi jove de les tres branques ("the young three-branched pine"), which is regarded as its successor. Both are protected as "monumental trees" by the Catalan Generalitat. (Full article...)

List of recognized articles

Did you know? - show different entries

... 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?

Selected article - show another

Lukens c. 1890

Theodore Parker Lukens (October 6, 1848 – July 1, 1918) was an American conservationist, real estate investor, civic leader, and forester who believed that burned over mountains could again be covered in timber which would protect watersheds. Lukens collected pine cones and seeds of different types and conducted experimental plantings on the mountain slopes above Pasadena, California. His perseverance earned him the name "Father of Forestry."

Lukens established Henninger Flats tree nursery, which provided seed stock for an estimated 70,000 trees.

He worked for the United States Forest Service and was acting supervisor of the San Gabriel Timberland Reserve and the San Bernardino Forest Reserve in 1906. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

General images

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

Image 1Common ash (Fraxinus excelsior), a deciduous broad-leaved (angiosperm) tree (from Tree)
Image 2Dormant Magnolia bud (from Tree)
Image 3Proportion of forest in protected areas, by region, 2020 (from Forest)
Image 4Fraxinus excelsior (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 5Alleé of London plane trees (Platanus × acerifolia) in garden (from Tree)
Image 6Malus sylvestris (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 7Spiny forest at Ifaty, Madagascar, featuring various Adansonia (baobab) species, Alluaudia procera (Madagascar ocotillo) and other vegetation (from Forest)
Image 8Proportion and distribution of global forest area by climatic domain, 2020 (from Forest)
Image 9Share of forest area in total land area, top countries (2021) (from Forest)
Image 10Broadleaf forest in Bhutan (from Forest)
Image 11Informal upright style of bonsai on a juniper tree (from Tree)
Image 12Yggdrasil, the World Ash of Norse mythology (from Tree)
Image 13Even, 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 14Burned forest on Thasos (from Forest)
Image 15A forest near Vinitsa, North Macedonia (from Forest)
Image 16Conifers in the Swabian alps (from Tree)
Image 17Alnus glutinosa (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 18Buds, leaves, flowers and fruit of oak (Quercus robur) (from Tree)
Image 19Priest 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 20Garibaldi Provincial Park, British Columbia (from Forest)
Image 21Sugar maple (Acer saccharum) tapped to collect sap for maple syrup (from Tree)
Image 22Tall herbaceous monocotyledonous plants such as banana lack secondary growth, but are trees under the broadest definition. (from Tree)
Image 23Northern beech (Fagus sylvatica) trunk in autumn (from Tree)
Image 24A section of yew (Taxus baccata) showing 27 annual growth rings, pale sapwood and dark heartwood (from Tree)
Image 25Palms and cycads as they might have appeared in the middle Tertiary (from Tree)
Image 26People trees, by Pooktre (from Tree)
Image 27Forest in the Scottish Highlands (from Forest)
Image 28Redwood 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 29World production of selected forest products (from Forest)
Image 30Since 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 31Temperate rainforest in Tasmania's Hellyer Gorge (from Forest)
Image 32Olive trees in Pakistan (from Trees of Pakistan)
Image 33Share of land that is covered by forest (from Forest)
Image 34Buds, leaves and reproductive structures of white fir (Abies alba) (from Tree)
Image 35Selling firewood at a market (from Tree)
Image 36European larch (Larix decidua), a coniferous tree which is also deciduous (from Tree)
Image 37Rowan tree in Wicklow, Ireland (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 38A young red pine (Pinus resinosa) with spread of roots visible, as a result of soil erosion (from Tree)
Image 39Recently stripped cork oak (Quercus suber) (from Tree)
Image 40The Amazon rainforest alongside the Solimões River, a tropical rainforest. These forests are the most biodiverse and productive ecosystems in the world. (from Forest)
Image 41Latvian Pine Forest in Ķegums Municipality (from Forest)
Image 42Form, leaves and reproductive structures of queen sago (Cycas circinalis) (from Tree)
Image 43Roof trusses made from softwood (from Tree)
Image 444000 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 45Neem tree at Sant Nenuram Ashram (from Trees of Pakistan)
Image 46The Daintree Rainforest (from Tree)
Image 47Diagram 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 48Buttress roots of the kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra) (from Tree)
Image 49Lepidodendron, an extinct lycophyte tree (from Tree)
Image 50Trees in art: Weeping Willow, Claude Monet, 1918 (from Tree)
Image 51Latex collecting from a rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) (from Tree)
Image 52Cracked thorny skin of a Aesculus tree seed (from Tree)
Image 53Wind dispersed seed of elm (Ulmus), ash (Fraxinus) and maple (Acer) (from Tree)
Image 54The General Sherman Tree, thought to be the world's largest by volume (from Tree)