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Tree roots anchor the structure and provide water and nutrients. The
ground has eroded away around the roots of this young pine tree
The dark lines between the centre and the bark are medullary rays,
which allow nutrients to flow across the tree trunk
The parts of a tree are the roots, trunk(s), branches, twigs and leaves.
Tree stems are mainly made of support and transport tissues (xylem and
phloem). Wood consists of xylem cells, and bark is made of phloem and
other tissues external to the vascular cambium.
Roots
The roots of a tree are usually down in earth. They provide anchorage
for the parts above ground. They take in water and nutrients from the
soil. Roots can be above ground or deep underground. Some are short,
some are meters long. Most trees need help from a fungus for better
uptake of nutrients: this is mycorrhiza. Most of a tree's biomass comes
from carbon dioxide absorbed from the atmosphere (see photosynthesis).
Above ground, the trunk gives height to the leaf-bearing branches,
competing with other plant species for sunlight. In many trees, the order
of the branches makes exposure of the leaves to sunlight better.
Exceptions
Not all trees have all the organs or parts as mentioned above. For
example, most palm trees are not branched, the saguaro cactus of North
America has no functional leaves, tree ferns do not produce bark, etc.
Based on their general shape and size, all of these are nonetheless
generally regarded as trees. Trees can vary very much. A plant form that
is similar to a tree, but generally having smaller, multiple trunks and/or
branches that arise near the ground, is called a shrub (or a bush). Even
though that is true, no precise differentiation between shrubs and trees is
possible. Given their small size, bonsai plants would not technically be
'trees', but one should not confuse reference to the form of a species with
the size or shape of individual specimens. A spruce seedling does not fit
the definition of a tree, but all spruces are trees.
Classification
The tree form has changed separately in classes of plants that are not
related, in response to similar problems (for the tree). With about
100,000 types of trees, the number of tree types in the whole world
might be one fourth of all living plant types.[3] Most tree species grow
in tropical parts of the world and many of these areas have not been
surveyed yet by botanists (they study plants), making species difference
and ranges not well understood.[4]
The earliest trees were tree ferns, horsetails and lycophytes, which grew
in forests in the Carboniferous period; tree ferns still survive, but the
only surviving horsetails and lycophytes are not of tree form. Later, in
the Triassic Period, conifers, ginkgos, cycads and other gymnosperms
appeared, and subsequently flowering plants in the Cretaceous period.
Most species of trees today are flowering plants (Angiosperms) and
conifers.
Records
Height
The coast redwood: 115.85 metres (380.1 feet), in Redwood National
Park, California is believed to be the world's tallest tree.[5]
The tallest trees in Australia are all eucalypts, of which there are more
than 700 species. The so-called 'mountain ash'. with a slim, straight
trunk, grows to over 300 feet.
Stoutest trees
The stoutest living single-trunk species in diameter is the African
baobab: 15.9 m (52 ft), Glencoe baobab (measured near the ground),
Limpopo Province, South Africa.[6] This tree split up in November
2009 and now the stoutest baobab could be Sunland Baobab (South
Africa) with diameter 10.64 m and circumference of 33.4 m.
Age of trees
The life-span of trees is determined by growth rings. These can be seen
if the tree is cut down or in cores taken from the edge to the center of the
tree. Correct determination is only possible for trees which make growth
rings, generally those which occur in seasonal climates. Trees in uniform
non-seasonal tropical climates are always growing and do not have
distinct growth rings. It is also only possible for trees which are solid to
the center of the tree; many very old trees become hollow as the dead
heartwood decays away. For some of these species, age estimates have
been made on the basis of extrapolating current growth rates, but the
results are usually little better than guesses or speculation. White
proposed a method of estimating the age of large and veteran trees in the
United Kingdom by correlation between a tree's stem diameter, growth
character and age.[7]
The oldest reported age for an angiosperm tree is 2293 years for the Sri
Maha Bodhi sacred fig (Ficus religiosa) planted in 288 BC at
Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka; this is said to be the oldest human-planted tree
with a known planting date.
{\displaystyle {\text{Value}}=17.27939\times
({\text{diameter}})^{2}\times 1.022^{{\text{year}}-1985}}
{\text{Value}}=17.27939\times ({\text{diameter}})^{2}\times
1.022^{{\text{year}}-1985}
assuming 2.2% inflation per year.[14]
Tree climbing
Tree climbing is an activity where one moves around in the crown of
trees.[15]
A tree climber
Use of a rope, helmet, and harness are the minimum requirements to
ensure the safety of the climber. Other equipment can also be used
depending on the experience and skill of the tree climber. Some tree
climbers take special hammocks called "Treeboats" and Portaledges
with them into the tree canopies where they can enjoy a picnic or nap, or
spend the night.
Tree climbing is an "on rope" activity that puts together many different
tricks and gear originally derived from rock climbing and caving. These
techniques are used to climb trees for many purposes, including tree care
(arborists), animal rescue, recreation, sport, research, and activism.
Damage
El Grande, about 280 feet high, the most massive (though not the tallest)
Eucalyptus regnans was accidentally killed by loggers burning-off the
remains of legally loggable trees (less than 280 ft) that had been felled
all around it
The three big sources of tree damage are biotic (from living sources),
abiotic (from non-living sources) and deforestation (cutting trees down).
Biotic sources would include insects which might bore into the tree, deer
which might rub bark off the trunk, or fungi, which might attach
themselves to the tree.[16]
Both damage sources can result in trees becoming dangerous, and the
term "hazard trees" is commonly used by arborists, and industry groups
such as power line operators. Hazard trees are trees which due to disease
or other factors are more susceptible to falling during windstorms, or
having parts of the tree fall.
Trees are similar to people. Both can take a lot of some types of damage
and survive, but even small amounts of certain types of trauma can result
in death. Arborists are very aware that established trees will not tolerate
any appreciable disturbance of the root system.[18] Even though that is
true, most people and construction professionals do not realize how
easily a tree can be killed.
One reason for confusion about tree damage from construction involves
the dormancy of trees during winter. Another factor is that trees may not
show symptoms of damage until 24 months or longer after damage has
occurred. For that reason, persons who do not know about caring for
trees may not link the actual cause with the later damaged effect.
Wishing trees
A Wish Tree (or wishing tree) is a single tree, usually distinguished by
species, position or appearance, which is used as an object of wishes and
offerings. Such trees are identified as possessing a special religious or
spiritual value. By tradition, believers make votive offerings in order to
gain from that nature spirit, saint or goddess fulfillment of a wish.
Tree worship
Tree worship refers to the tendency of many societies in all of history to
worship or otherwise mythologize trees. Trees have played a very
important role in many of the world's mythologies and religions, and
have been given deep and sacred meanings throughout the ages. Human
beings, seeing the growth and death of trees, the elasticity of their
branches, the sensitiveness and the annual (every year) decay and revival
of their foliage, see them as powerful symbols of growth, decay and
resurrection. The most ancient cross-cultural symbolic representation of
the universe's construction is the 'world tree'.
World tree
For this reason, many mythologies around the world have the concept of
the World tree, a great tree that acts as an Axis mundi, holding up the
cosmos, and providing a link between the heavens, earth and
underworld. In European mythology the best known example is the tree
Yggdrasil from Norse mythology.[19]
In literature
In literature, a mythology was notably developed by J.R.R. Tolkien, his
Two Trees of Valinor playing a central role in his 1964 Tree and Leaf.
William Butler Yeats describes a "holy tree" in his poem The Two Trees
(1893).
List of trees
There are many types of trees. Here is a list of some of them:
Apple tree
Coconut Tree
Cottonwood Tree
Gum tree
Fir
Horse chestnut
Mangrove
Maple
Oak
Palm
Pine
Redwood Tree
Rubber Tree
Willow
Yew
Birch
Related pages
Wattezia is the earliest tree in the fossil record.
References
"Mangrove Trees". Naturia.per.sg.
Mirov, N.T. 1967. The genus Pinus. Ronald Press.
"TreeBOL project". Retrieved 2008-07-11.
Friis, Ib, and Henrik Balslev. 2005. Plant diversity and complexity
patterns: local, regional, and global dimensions : proceedings of an
international symposium held at the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences
and Letters in Copenhagen, Denmark, 25–28 May 2003. Biologiske
skrifter, 55. Copenhagen: Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and
Letters. pp 57-59.
"Sequoia sempervirens". Gymnosperm Database. Retrieved 2007-06-
10.
"List of Champion Trees published for comment, 2005, South African
Department of Water Affairs and Forestry". Retrieved 2010-01-18.
White J. 1990. Estimating the age of large and veteran trees in Britain.
Forestry Commission Edinburgh.
Gymnosperm Database: How old is that tree?. Retrieved on 2008-04-
17.
Suzuki E. 1997. The dynamics of old Cryptomeria japonica forest on
Yakushima Island. Tropics 6(4): 421–428. online
Harte J. 1996. How old is that old yew? At the Edge 4: 1-9. Available
online
Kinmonth F. 2006. Ageing the yew - no core, no curve? International
Dendrology Society Yearbook 2005: 41-46 ISSN 0307-332X
"Protecting Existing Trees on Building Sites" p.4 published by the City
of Raleigh, North Carolina, March 1989, Reprinted February 2000
"How Valuable Are Your Trees" by Gary Moll, April, 1985, American
Forests Magazine
based on 1985 to 2009, using NASA inflation calculator
"Benefits of Tree Climbing".
Wiseman, P. Eric 2008. Integrated pest management tactics. Continuing
Education Unit, International Arboricultural Society 17.
Ellison M.J. 2005 Quantified tree risk assessment used in the
management of amenity trees. Arboric. International Society of
Arboriculture. 31:2 57-65
Schoeneweiss D.F. Prevention and treatment of construction damage.
Journal of Arborculture 8:169
Mountfort, Paul Rhys (2003). Nordic runes: understanding, casting, and
interpreting the ancient Viking oracle. Inner Traditions / Bear &
Company. p. 279. ISBN 978-0-89281-093-2.
Jonathan Drori on what we think we know | Video on TED.com
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