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 for timber, 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. The earliest 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.

Most trees reproduce by seeds. Flowering plants have their seeds inside fruit, while conifers carry their seeds in cones; tree ferns produce spores instead. Some trees also reproduce vegetatively, growing from root sprouts.

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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Sabinaria magnifica is a species of palm tree and the only member of the genus Sabinaria. Native to the Darién Gap on the border between Colombia and Panama, it grows from 1 to 6 metres (3 ft 3 in to 19 ft 8 in) tall with large, deeply-divided leaf blades. It has been described as "striking", "spectacular" and "beautiful" by taxonomists.

Although known by local mule drivers, it was first collected in April 2013 by Saúl Hoyos, and described scientifically by Colombian palm experts Gloria Galeano and Rodrigo Bernal who named the genus Sabinaria after their daughter. Despite being locally abundant, the limited range occupied by the species makes it vulnerable to habitat destruction. (Full article...)

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... that veneration of the Amla tree (pictured), in particular on Amalaka Ekadashi, is due to the belief that the god Vishnu resides in and near the tree?
... that the future of the tropical tree Milicia regia for timber production is threatened by a gall fly, Phytolyma lata?
... that the churchyard of All Saints Church, Ulcombe in England contains a yew tree claimed to be more than 2,000 years old?
... that seeds of the extinct tree Eucommia eocenica have been found with latex covered fossils?
... that the fruits of the Lecythis ampla tree resemble little wooden pots with lids?
... that fossilized seeds of the extinct tree Eucommia montana are found from British Columbia to Colorado?
... that the Australian tree Agathis atropurpurea is known as the black kauri or the blue kauri because of the colour of its bark?

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Sequoia sempervirens (left),
Sequoiadendron giganteum (middle),
Metasequoia glyptostroboides (right)

Sequoioideae, commonly referred to as redwoods, is a subfamily of coniferous trees within the family Cupressaceae that range in the northern hemisphere. It includes the largest and tallest trees in the world. The trees in the subfamily are amongst the most distinctive trees in the world and are common ornamental trees. The subfamily reached its peak of diversity during the early Cenozoic. They are fast-growing trees that live in temperate climates such as Mediterranean and humid subtropical climates. Three living species are known, the coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), the giant redwood (Sequoiadendron giganteum) and the dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides). While the coast redwood and the giant redwood are found in the western United States, the dawn redwood is known from China. (Full article...)

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General images

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

Image 1Neem tree at Sant Nenuram Ashram (from Trees of Pakistan)
Image 2Spiny forest at Ifaty, Madagascar, featuring various Adansonia (baobab) species, Alluaudia procera (Madagascar ocotillo) and other vegetation (from Forest)
Image 3Temperate rainforest in Tasmania's Hellyer Gorge (from Forest)
Image 4Cracked thorny skin of a Aesculus tree seed (from Tree)
Image 5Land-use change in cropland and forest land by region and subregion, 2001–2023. In many areas forests are being cleared for farmland. (from Forest)
Image 6The heavily traversed Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York form the southernmost part of the Eastern forest-boreal transition ecoregion, constituting part of the world's taiga biome. (from Forest)
Image 7Yggdrasil, the World Ash of Norse mythology (from Tree)
Image 8Rowan tree in Wicklow, Ireland (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 9Informal upright style of bonsai on a juniper tree (from Tree)
Image 10Selling firewood at a market (from Tree)
Image 11The monocot Cordyline australis (the cabbage tree) is a tree, broadly defined. (from Tree)
Image 12Latvian Pine Forest in Ķegums Municipality (from Forest)
Image 13Proportion of forest in legally established protected areas, by region, 2025 (from Forest)
Image 14Burned forest on Thasos (from Forest)
Image 15Conifers in the Swabian alps (from Tree)
Image 16Dormant buds of European ash, Fraxinus excelsior (from Tree)
Image 17Priest 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 18Share of forest area in total land area, top countries (2023) (from Forest)
Image 19Old banyan tree in Pharwala Fort. (from Trees of Pakistan)
Image 20Garibaldi Provincial Park, British Columbia (from Forest)
Image 21World production of selected forest products (from Forest)
Image 22Redwood 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 23Buds, leaves, flowers and fruit of pedunculate oak, Quercus robur (from Tree)
Image 24Roof trusses made from softwood (from Tree)
Image 25Fraxinus excelsior (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 26Palms and cycads as they might have appeared in the middle Tertiary (from Tree)
Image 27Since 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 28Recently stripped cork oak (Quercus suber) (from Tree)
Image 29Trees in art: Weeping Willow, Claude Monet, 1918 (from Tree)
Image 30Wind dispersed seed of elm (Ulmus), ash (Fraxinus) and maple (Acer) (from Tree)
Image 31The General Sherman Tree, thought to be the world's largest by volume (from Tree)
Image 32Tall herbaceous monocotyledonous plants such as banana lack secondary growth, so are often not called trees. (from Tree)
Image 33Malus sylvestris (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 34Form, leaves and reproductive structures of queen sago, Cycas circinalis (from Tree)
Image 35An avenue of London planes (Platanus × hispanica) in a garden in Belgium (from Tree)
Image 36Buds, leaves and reproductive structures of silver fir, Abies alba (from Tree)
Image 37The Daintree Rainforest (from Tree)
Image 38Deodar tree in Chitral National Park (from Trees of Pakistan)
Image 39Yellow cassia, an ornamental tree with yellow flowers (from Tree)
Image 404000 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 41European larch (Larix decidua), a conifer, is an exception to the rule that conifers are evergreen, as it is deciduous, shedding its needles in autumn. (from Tree)
Image 42A section of yew (Taxus baccata) showing 27 annual growth rings, pale sapwood and dark heartwood (from Tree)
Image 43Broadleaf forest in Bhutan (from Forest)
Image 44Proportion and distribution of global forest area by climatic domain, 2020 (from Forest)
Image 45Forest area, by region, 1990–2025. (from Forest)
Image 46Large, ancient Tree in village Dil Sher Brohi, Sindh (from Trees of Pakistan)
Image 47Latex collecting from a rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) (from Tree)
Image 48Lepidodendron, an extinct lycophyte tree (from Tree)
Image 49Common ash (Fraxinus excelsior), a deciduous broad-leaved (angiosperm) tree (from Tree)
Image 50Buttress roots of the kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra) (from Tree)