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, 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 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...)

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.

Zombia antillarum at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Sarasota, Florida, United States

Zombia antillarum, commonly known as the zombie palm, is a species of palm tree and the only member of the genus Zombia. It is endemic to the island of Hispaniola (both the Dominican Republic and Haiti) in the Greater Antilles. Usually found in dry, hilly areas of northern and southern Haiti and the northwest of the Dominican Republic, Z. antillarum is a relatively short fan palm with clustered stems and a very distinctive appearance caused by its persistent spiny leaf sheaths. Threatened by habitat destruction in Haiti, Z. antillarum is a popular ornamental species due to its distinctive appearance, low maintenance requirements and salt tolerance. (Full article...)

List of recognized articles

Did you know? - show different entries

... 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?

Start a new article

Selected article - show another

The wood industry or timber industry (sometimes lumber industry -- when referring mainly to sawed boards) is the industry concerned with forestry, logging, timber trade, and the production of primary forest products and wood products (e.g. furniture) and secondary products like wood pulp for the pulp and paper industry. Some of the largest producers are also among the biggest owners of forest. The wood industry has historically been and continues to be an important sector in many economies. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

General images

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

Image 1People trees, by Pooktre (from Tree)
Image 2Lepidodendron, an extinct lycophyte tree (from Tree)
Image 3Buds, leaves, flowers and fruit of pedunculate oak, Quercus robur (from Tree)
Image 4Yellow cassia, an ornamental tree with yellow flowers (from Tree)
Image 5Diagram 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 6European larch (Larix decidua), a coniferous tree which is also deciduous (from Tree)
Image 7Neem tree at Sant Nenuram Ashram (from Trees of Pakistan)
Image 8Cracked thorny skin of a Aesculus tree seed (from Tree)
Image 9Fraxinus excelsior (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 10Garibaldi Provincial Park, British Columbia (from Forest)
Image 11An avenue of London planes (Platanus × hispanica) in a garden in Belgium. (from Tree)
Image 12Casentinesi Forests, Italy (from Forest)
Image 13Buds, leaves and reproductive structures of white fir, Abies alba (from Tree)
Image 14Forest in the Scottish Highlands (from Forest)
Image 15Informal upright style of bonsai on a juniper tree (from Tree)
Image 16Selling firewood at a market (from Tree)
Image 17Form, leaves and reproductive structures of queen sago, Cycas circinalis (from Tree)
Image 18Share of forest area in total land area, top countries (2021) (from Forest)
Image 19Sugar maple (Acer saccharum) tapped to collect sap for maple syrup (from Tree)
Image 20Common ash (Fraxinus excelsior), a deciduous broad-leaved (angiosperm) tree (from Tree)
Image 21Broadleaf forest in Bhutan (from Forest)
Image 22A section of yew (Taxus baccata) showing 27 annual growth rings, pale sapwood and dark heartwood (from Tree)
Image 23Roof trusses made from softwood (from Tree)
Image 24Alnus glutinosa (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 25Dormant buds of ash, Fraxinus excelsior (from Tree)
Image 26Malus sylvestris (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 27Redwood 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 28The General Sherman Tree, thought to be the world's largest by volume (from Tree)
Image 29A young red pine (Pinus resinosa) with spread of roots visible, as a result of soil erosion (from Tree)
Image 30Priest 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 31Burned forest on Thasos (from Forest)
Image 32Yggdrasil, the World Ash of Norse mythology (from Tree)
Image 33Temperate rainforest in Tasmania's Hellyer Gorge (from Forest)
Image 34Northern beech (Fagus sylvatica) trunk in autumn (from Tree)
Image 35Trees in art: Weeping Willow, Claude Monet, 1918 (from Tree)
Image 36World production of selected forest products (from Forest)
Image 37Even, 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 38Palms and cycads as they might have appeared in the middle Tertiary (from Tree)
Image 39Proportion and distribution of global forest area by climatic domain, 2020 (from Forest)
Image 40Buttress roots of the kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra) (from Tree)
Image 41The Amazon rainforest alongside the Solimões River, a tropical rainforest. These forests are the most biodiverse and productive ecosystems in the world. (from Forest)
Image 42Wind dispersed seed of elm (Ulmus), ash (Fraxinus) and maple (Acer) (from Tree)
Image 43The Daintree Rainforest (from Tree)
Image 44Share of land that is covered by forest (from Forest)
Image 45A forest near Vinitsa, North Macedonia (from Forest)
Image 46Recently stripped cork oak (Quercus suber) (from Tree)
Image 47Spiny forest at Ifaty, Madagascar, featuring various Adansonia (baobab) species, Alluaudia procera (Madagascar ocotillo) and other vegetation (from Forest)
Image 48Latex collecting from a rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) (from Tree)
Image 49Since 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 50Latvian Pine Forest in Ķegums Municipality (from Forest)
Image 51Rowan tree in Wicklow, Ireland (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 524000 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 53Tall herbaceous monocotyledonous plants such as banana lack secondary growth, but are trees under the broadest definition. (from Tree)
Image 54Olive trees in Pakistan (from Trees of Pakistan)
Image 55Conifers in the Swabian alps (from Tree)
Image 56Proportion of forest in protected areas, by region, 2020 (from Forest)