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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Tree (disambiguation).
 Common ash (Fraxinus excelsior), a deciduous broad-leaved

(angiosperm) tree European larch (Larix decidua),

a coniferous tree which is also deciduous
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. 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.
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.
Definition

Diagram 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.
Although "tree" is a common word, there is no universally recognised precise definition of what a tree is,
either botanically or in common language.[1][2] In its broadest sense, a tree is any plant with the general form
of an elongated stem, or trunk, which supports the photosynthetic leaves or branches at some distance
above the ground.[3] Trees are also typically defined by height, [4] with smaller plants from 0.5 to 10 m (1.6 to
32.8 ft) being called shrubs,[5] so the minimum height of a tree is only loosely
defined.[4] Large herbaceous plants such as papaya and bananas are trees in this broad sense. [2][6]
A commonly applied narrower definition is that a tree has a woody trunk formed by secondary growth,
meaning that the trunk thickens each year by growing outwards, in addition to the primary upwards growth
from the growing tip.[4][7] Under such a definition, herbaceous plants such as palms, bananas and papayas
are not considered trees regardless of their height, growth form or stem girth. Certain monocots may be
considered trees under a slightly looser definition;[8] while the Joshua tree, bamboos and palms do not have
secondary growth and never produce true wood with growth rings, [9][10] they may produce "pseudo-wood"
by lignifying cells formed by primary growth.[11] Tree species in the genus Dracaena, despite also being
monocots, do have secondary growth caused by meristem in their trunk, but it is different from the thickening
meristem found in dicotyledonous trees.[12]
Aside from structural definitions, trees are commonly defined by use; for instance, as those plants which
yield lumber.[13]
Overview
"Saplings" redirects here. For the novel, see Saplings (novel). For the film, see The Saplings. For the episode,
see Saplings (Weeds).
The tree growth habit is an evolutionary adaptation found in different groups of plants: by growing taller,
trees are able to compete better for sunlight.[14] Trees tend to be tall and long-lived,[15] some reaching several
thousand years old.[16] Several trees are among the oldest organisms now living.[17] Trees have modified
structures such as thicker stems composed of specialised cells that add structural strength and durability,
allowing them to grow taller than many other plants and to spread out their foliage. They differ from shrubs,
which have a similar growth form, by usually growing larger and having a single main stem; [5] but there is no
consistent distinction between a tree and a shrub,[18] made more confusing by the fact that trees may be
reduced in size under harsher environmental conditions such as on mountains and subarctic areas. The tree
form has evolved separately in unrelated classes of plants in response to similar environmental challenges,
making it a classic example of parallel evolution. With an estimated 60,000-100,000 species, the number of
trees worldwide might total twenty-five per cent of all living plant species.[19][20] The greatest number of these
grow in tropical regions; many of these areas have not yet been fully surveyed by botanists, making tree
diversity and ranges poorly known.[21]
 Tall herbaceous monocotyledonous plants such as banana lack
secondary growth, but are trees under the broadest definition.
The majority of tree species are angiosperms or hardwoods. Of the rest, many are gymnosperms or
softwood trees;[22] these include conifers, cycads, ginkgophytes and gnetales, which produce seeds which
are not enclosed in fruits, but in open structures such as pine cones, and many have tough waxy leaves,
such as pine needles.[23] Most angiosperm trees are eudicots, the "true dicotyledons", so named because the
seeds contain two cotyledons or seed leaves. There are also some trees among the old lineages of flowering
plants called basal angiosperms or paleodicots; these
include Amborella, Magnolia, nutmeg and avocado,[24] while trees such as bamboo, palms and bananas
are monocots.
Wood gives structural strength to the trunk of most types of tree; this supports the plant as it grows larger.
The vascular system of trees allows water, nutrients and other chemicals to be distributed around the plant,
and without it trees would not be able to grow as large as they do. Trees need to draw water high up the
stem through the xylem from the roots by capillary action, as water continually evaporates from the leaves in
the process of transpiration. If insufficient water is available the leaves will die.[25] The three main parts of
trees include the root, stem, and leaves; they are integral parts of the vascular system which interconnects
all the living cells. In trees and other plants that develop wood, the vascular cambium allows the expansion
of vascular tissue that produces woody growth. Because this growth ruptures the epidermis of the stem,
woody plants also have a cork cambium that develops among the phloem. The cork cambium gives rise to
thickened cork cells to protect the surface of the plant and reduce water loss. Both the production of wood
and the production of cork are forms of secondary growth.[26]
Trees are either evergreen, having foliage that persists and remains green throughout the
year,[27] or deciduous, shedding their leaves at the end of the growing season and then having a dormant
period without foliage.[28] Most conifers are evergreens, but larches (Larix and Pseudolarix) are deciduous,
dropping their needles each autumn, and some species of cypress
(Glyptostrobus, Metasequoia and Taxodium) shed small leafy shoots annually in a process known
as cladoptosis.[5] The crown is the spreading top of a tree including the branches and leaves,[29] while the
uppermost layer in a forest, formed by the crowns of the trees, is known as the canopy.[30] A sapling is a
young tree.[31]
Many tall palms are herbaceous[32] monocots, which do not undergo secondary growth and never produce
wood.[9][10] In many tall palms, the terminal bud on the main stem is the only one to develop, so they have
unbranched trunks with large spirally arranged leaves. Some of the tree ferns, order Cyatheales, have tall
straight trunks, growing up to 20 metres (66 ft), but these are composed not of wood but of rhizomes which
grow vertically and are covered by numerous adventitious roots.[33]
Distribution
Further information: Forest

The Daintree Rainforest

The number of trees in the world, according to a 2015 estimate, is 3.04 trillion, of which 1.39 trillion (46%)
are in the tropics or sub-tropics, 0.61 trillion (20%) in the temperate zones, and 0.74 trillion (24%) in
the coniferous boreal forests. The estimate is about eight times higher than previous estimates, and is based
on tree densities measured on over 400,000 plots. It remains subject to a wide margin of error, not least
because the samples are mainly from Europe and North America. The estimate suggests that about 15
billion trees are cut down annually and about 5 billion are planted. In the 12,000 years since the start of
human agriculture, the number of trees worldwide has decreased by 46%. [34][35][36][37] There are approximately
64,100 known tree species in the world. With 43% of all tree species, South America has the highest
biodiversity, followed by Eurasia (22%), Africa (16%), North America (15%), and Oceania (11%). [38]
In suitable environments, such as the Daintree Rainforest in Queensland, or the
mixed podocarp and broadleaf forest of Ulva Island, New Zealand, forest is the more-or-less stable climatic
climax community at the end of a plant succession, where open areas such as grassland are colonised by
taller plants, which in turn give way to trees that eventually form a forest canopy. [39][40]
 Conifers in the Swabian alps
In cool temperate regions, conifers often predominate; a widely distributed climax community in the far north
of the northern hemisphere is moist taiga or northern coniferous forest (also called boreal forest).[41][42] Taiga
is the world's largest land biome, forming 29% of the world's forest cover.[43] The long cold winter of the far
north is unsuitable for plant growth and trees must grow rapidly in the short summer season when the
temperature rises and the days are long. Light is very limited under their dense cover and there may be little
plant life on the forest floor, although fungi may abound.[44] Similar woodland is found on mountains where
the altitude causes the average temperature to be lower thus reducing the length of the growing season.[45]
Where rainfall is relatively evenly spread across the seasons in temperate regions, temperate broadleaf and
mixed forest typified by species like oak, beech, birch and maple is found. [46] Temperate forest is also found
in the southern hemisphere, as for example in the Eastern Australia temperate forest, characterised
by Eucalyptus forest and open acacia woodland.[47]
In tropical regions with a monsoon or monsoon-like climate, where a drier part of the year alternates with a
wet period as in the Amazon rainforest, different species of broad-leaved trees dominate the forest, some of
them being deciduous.[48] In tropical regions with a drier savanna climate and insufficient rainfall to support
dense forests, the canopy is not closed, and plenty of sunshine reaches the ground which is covered with
grass and scrub. Acacia and baobab are well adapted to living in such areas.[49]