Portal:Trees Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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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Bottled maple syrup

Maple syrup is a sweet syrup made from the sap of maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Maple trees are tapped by drilling holes into their trunks and collecting the sap, which is heated to evaporate much of the water, leaving the concentrated syrup.

Maple syrup was first made by the Indigenous peoples of Northeastern North America. The practice was adopted by European settlers, who gradually changed production methods. Technological improvements in the 1970s further refined syrup processing. Almost all of the world's maple syrup is produced in Canada and the United States. (Full article...)

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... that President Bill Clinton said he would personally pay the bill to keep the National Christmas Tree (pictured) lit during the government shutdown resulting from disagreements on the 1996 federal budget?
... that global precedence is the tendency to see the forest, and not the trees?
... that the mistletoe species Amyema congener of eastern Australia can grow on non-native peach, plum and pear trees?
... that foliage from the Australian rainforest tree Grevillea baileyana was used in the floral arrangements handed to medal winners at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney?
... that most of the habitat of the vulnerable tree Eucalyptus benthamii has disappeared under Warragamba Dam or been cleared?
... that the inspiration for the Paustian House in Copenhagen came to architect Jørn Utzon while he was walking through a forest of beech trees?
... that Washington was the second largest tree of its kind until its collapse in 2005?

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European pear branch with two pears

Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and are harvested in late summer into mid-autumn. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus Pyrus /ˈpaɪrəs/, in the family Rosaceae, bearing the pomaceous fruit of the same name. Several species of pears are valued for their edible fruit and juices, while others are cultivated as trees.

The tree is medium-sized and native to coastal and mildly temperate regions of Europe, North Africa, and Asia. Pear wood is one of the preferred materials in the manufacture of high-quality woodwind instruments and furniture. (Full article...)

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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 2Malus sylvestris (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 3Northern beech (Fagus sylvatica) trunk in autumn (from Tree)
Image 4Alnus glutinosa (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 5Sugar maple (Acer saccharum) tapped to collect sap for maple syrup (from Tree)
Image 6Casentinesi Forests, Italy (from Forest)
Image 7Latex collecting from a rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) (from Tree)
Image 8Roof trusses made from softwood (from Tree)
Image 9Diagram 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 10Proportion and distribution of global forest area by climatic domain, 2020 (from Forest)
Image 11People trees, by Pooktre (from Tree)
Image 12Buttress roots of the kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra) (from Tree)
Image 13World production of selected forest products (from Forest)
Image 14Broadleaf forest in Bhutan (from Forest)
Image 15Wind dispersed seed of elm (Ulmus), ash (Fraxinus) and maple (Acer) (from Tree)
Image 16Cracked thorny skin of a Aesculus tree seed (from Tree)
Image 17Informal upright style of bonsai on a juniper tree (from Tree)
Image 18Buds, leaves, flowers and fruit of pedunculate 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 20Proportion of forest in protected areas, by region, 2020 (from Forest)
Image 21Buds, leaves and reproductive structures of white fir, Abies alba (from Tree)
Image 22Burned forest on Thasos (from Forest)
Image 23Conifers in the Swabian alps (from Tree)
Image 24Yggdrasil, the World Ash of Norse mythology (from Tree)
Image 25A section of yew (Taxus baccata) showing 27 annual growth rings, pale sapwood and dark heartwood (from Tree)
Image 26Garibaldi Provincial Park, British Columbia (from Forest)
Image 27Neem tree at Sant Nenuram Ashram (from Trees of Pakistan)
Image 28Selling firewood at a market (from Tree)
Image 29Palms and cycads as they might have appeared in the middle Tertiary (from Tree)
Image 30Share of land that is covered by forest (from Forest)
Image 314000 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 32Recently stripped cork oak (Quercus suber) (from Tree)
Image 33Olive trees in Pakistan (from Trees of Pakistan)
Image 34Temperate rainforest in Tasmania's Hellyer Gorge (from Forest)
Image 35Forest in the Scottish Highlands (from Forest)
Image 36A forest near Vinitsa, North Macedonia (from Forest)
Image 37Redwood 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 38Tall herbaceous monocotyledonous plants such as banana lack secondary growth, but are trees under the broadest definition. (from Tree)
Image 39Lepidodendron, an extinct lycophyte tree (from Tree)
Image 40Since 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 41Yellow cassia, an ornamental tree with yellow flowers (from Tree)
Image 42Dormant buds of ash, Fraxinus excelsior (from Tree)
Image 43Form, leaves and reproductive structures of queen sago, Cycas circinalis (from Tree)
Image 44Even, 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 45Fraxinus excelsior (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 46Share of forest area in total land area, top countries (2021) (from Forest)
Image 47European larch (Larix decidua), a coniferous tree which is also deciduous (from Tree)
Image 48Spiny forest at Ifaty, Madagascar, featuring various Adansonia (baobab) species, Alluaudia procera (Madagascar ocotillo) and other vegetation (from Forest)
Image 49Rowan tree in Wicklow, Ireland (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 50The General Sherman Tree, thought to be the world's largest by volume (from Tree)
Image 51A young red pine (Pinus resinosa) with spread of roots visible, as a result of soil erosion (from Tree)
Image 52The Daintree Rainforest (from Tree)
Image 53Trees in art: Weeping Willow, Claude Monet, 1918 (from Tree)
Image 54Latvian Pine Forest in Ķegums Municipality (from Forest)
Image 55The Amazon rainforest alongside the Solimões River, a tropical rainforest. These forests are the most biodiverse and productive ecosystems in the world. (from Forest)
Image 56An avenue of London planes (Platanus × hispanica) in a garden in Belgium. (from Tree)