Portal:Trees

The Trees Portal

Common ash (*Fraxinus excelsior*), a deciduous broad-leaved (angiosperm) tree

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

Division soldiers posing on a spruce stump

The Spruce Production Division was a unit of the United States Army established in 1917 to produce high-quality Sitka spruce timber and other wood products needed to make aircraft for the United States' efforts in World War I. The division was part of the Army Signal Corps's Aviation Section. Its headquarters were in Portland, Oregon, and its main operations center was at Vancouver Barracks in Vancouver, Washington. Workers in the division were members of the Loyal Legion of Loggers and Lumbermen, a union specifically established to support the army's wood production operations.

The division produced nearly 150 million board feet (350,000 m³) of spruce in just 15 months, halting work almost as soon as the war ended. Col. Brice Disque was then put on trial for accusations that he had wasted millions of tax dollars. He was found not guilty of malfeasance. (Full article...)

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Did you know? -

Saalfeld Easter egg tree with 9200 eggs, taken March 24, 2009

... that the Easter egg tree (pictured) in Saalfeld, Thuringia, was decorated with 10,000 Easter eggs in 2012?
... that the most popular species for Christmas trees in Denmark and most of Europe is the Caucasian fir?
... that seed of the African teak tree is largely dispersed by fruit bats?
... that Trichia decipiens live on deadwood of conifers and leaf trees all year around?
... that Aecidium mori causes mulberry rust disease on the mulberry flowering plant, which decreases the quantity of leaves on the trees?
... that the satinleaf tree is endangered in its native Florida, but an invasive weed in Hawaii?
... that the Brown Treecreeper spirals up and down tree trunks while foraging?

Selected article -

Treehouse Masters is an American reality television series that aired on Animal Planet and starred Pete Nelson, a master treehouse builder and owner of Nelson Treehouse and Supply. Each episode, Nelson and his team design and build custom treehouses for clients across the country. The show debuted on May 31, 2013 and ended on September 29, 2018. (Full article...)

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General images

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

Image 1The General Sherman Tree, thought to be the world's largest by volume (from Tree)
Image 2Buttress roots of the kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra) (from Tree)
Image 3The Daintree Rainforest (from Tree)
Image 4Priest 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 5Lepidodendron, an extinct lycophyte tree (from Tree)
Image 6European larch (Larix decidua), a coniferous tree which is also deciduous (from Tree)
Image 7Malus sylvestris (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 8Yellow cassia, an ornamental tree with yellow flowers (from Tree)
Image 9Rowan tree in Wicklow, Ireland (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 10Alnus glutinosa (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 11Broadleaf forest in Bhutan (from Forest)
Image 12Common ash (Fraxinus excelsior), a deciduous broad-leaved (angiosperm) tree (from Tree)
Image 13Sugar maple (Acer saccharum) tapped to collect sap for maple syrup (from Tree)
Image 14Spiny forest at Ifaty, Madagascar, featuring various Adansonia (baobab) species, Alluaudia procera (Madagascar ocotillo) and other vegetation (from Forest)
Image 15Latex collecting from a rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) (from Tree)
Image 16Selling firewood at a market (from Tree)
Image 174000 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 18Recently stripped cork oak (Quercus suber) (from Tree)
Image 19Conifers in the Swabian alps (from Tree)
Image 20Fraxinus excelsior (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 21Dormant buds of ash, Fraxinus excelsior (from Tree)
Image 22Roof trusses made from softwood (from Tree)
Image 23The Amazon rainforest alongside the Solimões River, a tropical rainforest. These forests are the most biodiverse and productive ecosystems in the world. (from Forest)
Image 24Diagram 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 25Share of forest area in total land area, top countries (2021) (from Forest)
Image 26World production of selected forest products (from Forest)
Image 27Neem tree at Sant Nenuram Ashram (from Trees of Pakistan)
Image 28Even, 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 29A forest near Vinitsa, North Macedonia (from Forest)
Image 30Northern beech (Fagus sylvatica) trunk in autumn (from Tree)
Image 31Olive trees in Pakistan (from Trees of Pakistan)
Image 32Proportion of forest in protected areas, by region, 2020 (from Forest)
Image 33A young red pine (Pinus resinosa) with spread of roots visible, as a result of soil erosion (from Tree)
Image 34Form, leaves and reproductive structures of queen sago, Cycas circinalis (from Tree)
Image 35Share of land that is covered by forest (from Forest)
Image 36Wind dispersed seed of elm (Ulmus), ash (Fraxinus) and maple (Acer) (from Tree)
Image 37Proportion and distribution of global forest area by climatic domain, 2020 (from Forest)
Image 38Latvian Pine Forest in Ķegums Municipality (from Forest)
Image 39Yggdrasil, the World Ash of Norse mythology (from Tree)
Image 40Burned forest on Thasos (from Forest)
Image 41Palms and cycads as they might have appeared in the middle Tertiary (from Tree)
Image 42Cracked thorny skin of a Aesculus tree seed (from Tree)
Image 43Casentinesi Forests, Italy (from Forest)
Image 44Buds, leaves, flowers and fruit of pedunculate oak, Quercus robur (from Tree)
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 46Garibaldi Provincial Park, British Columbia (from Forest)
Image 47A section of yew (Taxus baccata) showing 27 annual growth rings, pale sapwood and dark heartwood (from Tree)
Image 48Informal upright style of bonsai on a juniper tree (from Tree)
Image 49Buds, leaves and reproductive structures of white fir, Abies alba (from Tree)
Image 50Redwood 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 51People trees, by Pooktre (from Tree)
Image 52Forest in the Scottish Highlands (from Forest)
Image 53Temperate rainforest in Tasmania's Hellyer Gorge (from Forest)
Image 54An avenue of London planes (Platanus × hispanica) in a garden in Belgium. (from Tree)
Image 55Tall herbaceous monocotyledonous plants such as banana lack secondary growth, but are trees under the broadest definition. (from Tree)
Image 56Trees in art: Weeping Willow, Claude Monet, 1918 (from Tree)