So I Can See the Trees
Contents:
If seeds only fell straight to the ground, competition among the concentrated saplings and the shade of the parent would likely prevent it from flourishing. Many seeds such as birch are small and have papery wings to aid dispersal by the wind. Ash trees and maples have larger seeds with blade shaped wings which spiral down to the ground when released. The kapok tree has cottony threads to catch the breeze. The seeds of conifers, the largest group of gymnosperms, are enclosed in a cone and most species have seeds that are light and papery that can be blown considerable distances once free from the cone.
Fire stimulates release and germination of seeds of the jack pine , and also enriches the forest floor with wood ash and removes competing vegetation. The flame tree Delonix regia does not rely on fire but shoots its seeds through the air when the two sides of its long pods crack apart explosively on drying. Mangroves often grow in water and some species have propagules , which are buoyant fruits with seeds that start germinating before becoming detached from the parent tree.
Other seeds, such as apple pips and plum stones, have fleshy receptacles and smaller fruits like hawthorns have seeds enclosed in edible tissue; animals including mammals and birds eat the fruits and either discard the seeds, or swallow them so they pass through the gut to be deposited in the animal's droppings well away from the parent tree. The germination of some seeds is improved when they are processed in this way.
The single extant species of Ginkgophyta Ginkgo biloba has fleshy seeds produced at the ends of short branches on female trees, [89] and Gnetum , a tropical and subtropical group of gymnosperms produce seeds at the tip of a shoot axis. The earliest trees were tree ferns , horsetails and lycophytes , which grew in forests in the Carboniferous period.
The first tree may have been Wattieza , fossils of which have been found in New York State in dating back to the Middle Devonian about million years ago. Prior to this discovery, Archaeopteris was the earliest known tree. The gymnosperms include conifers, cycads, gnetales and ginkgos and these may have appeared as a result of a whole genome duplication event which took place about million years ago.
This is considered to be a living fossil because it is virtually unchanged from the fossilised specimens found in Triassic deposits. During the Mesozoic to 66 million years ago the conifers flourished and became adapted to live in all the major terrestrial habitats. Subsequently, the tree forms of flowering plants evolved during the Cretaceous period.
These began to displace the conifers during the Tertiary era 66 to 2 million years ago when forests covered the globe. In the interglacials , trees recolonised the land that had been covered by ice, only to be driven back again in the next ice age. Trees are an important part of the terrestrial ecosystem , [96] providing essential habitats including many kinds of forest for communities of organisms.
Epiphytic plants such as ferns , some mosses, liverworts, orchids and some species of parasitic plants e. Leaves, flowers and fruits are seasonally available. On the ground underneath trees there is shade, and often there is undergrowth, leaf litter, and decaying wood that provide other habitat. Many species of tree support their own specialised invertebrates.
In their natural habitats, different species of insect have been found on the English oak Quercus robur [] and species of invertebrate on the Tasmanian oak Eucalyptus obliqua. In ecosystems such as mangrove swamps, trees play a role in developing the habitat, since the roots of the mangrove trees reduce the speed of flow of tidal currents and trap water-borne sediment, reducing the water depth and creating suitable conditions for further mangrove colonisation.
Thus mangrove swamps tend to extend seawards in suitable locations. Silviculture is the practice of controlling the establishment, growth, composition, health, and quality of forests, which are areas that have a high density of trees. Cultivated trees are planted and tended by humans, usually because they provide food fruits or nuts , ornamental beauty, or some type of wood product that benefits people.
An area of land planted with fruit or nut trees is an orchard. Trees are the source of many of the world's best known fleshy fruits. Apples, pears, plums, cherries and citrus are all grown commercially in temperate climates and a wide range of edible fruits are found in the tropics. Other commercially important fruit include dates, figs and olives.
Palm oil is obtained from the fruits of the oil palm Elaeis guineensis. The fruits of the cocoa tree Theobroma cacao are used to make cocoa and chocolate and the berries of coffee trees, Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora , are processed to extract the coffee beans. In many rural areas of the world, fruit is gathered from forest trees for consumption. These include coconuts Cocos nucifera , Brazil nuts Bertholletia excelsa , pecans Carya illinoinensis , hazel nuts Corylus , almonds Prunus dulcis , walnuts Juglans regia , pistachios Pistacia vera and many others.
They are high in nutritive value and contain high-quality protein, vitamins and minerals as well as dietary fibre. Walnuts are particularly beneficial to health and contain a higher level of antioxidants than do other nuts. In temperate climates there is a sudden movement of sap at the end of the winter as trees prepare to burst into growth. In North America, the sap of the sugar maple Acer saccharum is most often used in the production of a sweet liquid, maple syrup. It is piped to a sugarhouse where it is heated to concentrate it and improve its flavour. Sweet birch sap is more dilute than maple sap; a hundred litres are required to make one litre of birch syrup.
Various parts of trees are used as spices. These include cinnamon , made from the bark of the cinnamon tree Cinnamomum zeylanicum and allspice , the dried small fruits of the pimento tree Pimenta dioica. Nutmeg is a seed found in the fleshy fruit of the nutmeg tree Myristica fragrans and cloves are the unopened flower buds of the clove tree Syzygium aromaticum.
Many trees have flowers rich in nectar which are attractive to bees. The production of forest honey is an important industry in rural areas of the developing world where it is undertaken by small-scale beekeepers using traditional methods. The leaves of trees are widely gathered as fodder for livestock and some can be eaten by humans but they tend to be high in tannins which makes them bitter.
Wood has traditionally been used for fuel, especially in rural areas. In less developed nations it may be the only fuel available and collecting firewood is often a time consuming task as it becomes necessary to travel further and further afield in the search for fuel. In more developed countries other fuels are available and burning wood is a choice rather than a necessity. Modern wood-burning stoves are very fuel efficient and new products such as wood pellets are available to burn. Charcoal can be made by slow pyrolysis of wood by heating it in the absence of air in a kiln.
The carefully stacked branches, often oak, are burned with a very limited amount of air. The process of converting them into charcoal takes about fifteen hours.
Charcoal is used as a fuel in barbecues and by blacksmiths and has many industrial and other uses. Wood smoke can be used to preserve food. In the hot smoking process the food is exposed to smoke and heat in a controlled environment. The food is ready to eat when the process is complete, having been tenderised and flavoured by the smoke it has absorbed. The flavour of the food is enhanced but raw food requires further cooking. If it is to be preserved, meat should be cured before cold smoking.
Timber, "trees that are grown in order to produce wood" [] is cut into lumber sawn wood for use in construction. Wood has been an important, easily available material for construction since humans started building shelters. Engineered wood products are available which bind the particles, fibres or veneers of wood together with adhesives to form composite materials. Plastics have taken over from wood for some traditional uses. Wood is used in the construction of buildings, bridges, trackways, piles, poles for power lines, masts for boats, pit props, railway sleepers, fencing, hurdles, shuttering for concrete, pipes, scaffolding and pallets.
In housebuilding it is used in joinery, for making joists, roof trusses, roofing shingles, thatching, staircases, doors, window frames, floor boards, parquet flooring, panelling and cladding. Wood is used to construct carts, farm implements, boats, dugout canoes and in shipbuilding. It is used for making furniture, tool handles, boxes, ladders, musical instruments, bows, weapons, matches, clothes pegs, brooms, shoes, baskets, turnery, carving, toys, pencils, rollers, cogs, wooden screws, barrels, coffins, skittles, veneers, artificial limbs, oars, skis, wooden spoons, sports equipment and wooden balls.
Wood is pulped for paper and used in the manufacture of cardboard and made into engineered wood products for use in construction such as fibreboard , hardboard , chipboard and plywood. Besides inspiring artists down the centuries, trees have been used to create art. Living trees have been used in bonsai and in tree shaping , and both living and dead specimens have been sculpted into sometimes fantastic shapes. The word bonsai is often used in English as an umbrella term for all miniature trees in containers or pots.
The purposes of bonsai are primarily contemplation for the viewer and the pleasant exercise of effort and ingenuity for the grower. Bonsai can be created from nearly any perennial woody-stemmed tree or shrub species [] that produces true branches and can be cultivated to remain small through pot confinement with crown and root pruning.
Some species are popular as bonsai material because they have characteristics, such as small leaves or needles, that make them appropriate for the compact visual scope of bonsai and a miniature deciduous forest can even be created using such species as Japanese maple , Japanese zelkova or hornbeam. Tree shaping is the practice of changing living trees and other woody plants into man made shapes for art and useful structures.
There are a few different methods [] of shaping a tree. There is a gradual method and there is an instant method. Tree shaping has been practised for at least several hundred years, the oldest known examples being the living root bridges built and maintained by the Khasi people of Meghalaya , India using the roots of the rubber tree Ficus elastica. Cork is produced from the thick bark of the cork oak Quercus suber.
I see trees of green .. Red roses too / I see em bloom. His career spanned five decades, from the s to the s, and different eras in the more. So can you see. The branches hanging over me? Can you see. The love you left inside of me? In my face. Can you see? Through the trees. I will find you;.
It is harvested from the living trees about once every ten years in an environmentally sustainable industry. The bark of other varieties of oak has traditionally been used in Europe for the tanning of hides though bark from other species of tree has been used elsewhere. The active ingredient, tannin , is extracted and after various preliminary treatments, the skins are immersed in a series of vats containing solutions in increasing concentrations.
The tannin causes the hide to become supple, less affected by water and more resistant to bacterial attack. At least drugs come from plant sources , many of them from the bark of trees. The papery bark of the white birch tree Betula papyrifera was used extensively by Native Americans. Wigwams were covered by it and canoes were constructed from it.
Other uses included food containers, hunting and fishing equipment, musical instruments, toys and sledges. Trees create a visual impact in the same way as do other landscape features and give a sense of maturity and permanence to park and garden. They are grown for the beauty of their forms, their foliage, flowers, fruit and bark and their siting is of major importance in creating a landscape.
They can be grouped informally, often surrounded by plantings of bulbs, laid out in stately avenues or used as specimen trees. As living things, their appearance changes with the season and from year to year.
It can also limit damage done to a tree by pollution as the fungus accumulate heavy metals within its tissues. It is a viscous liquid composed mainly of volatile terpenes and is produced mostly by coniferous trees. Similarly, the bark of the silver birch Betula pendula peels off in strips. Retrieved from " https: The fungus promotes growth of the roots and helps protect the trees against predators and pathogens. Seeds are the primary way that trees reproduce and their seeds vary greatly in size and shape. In Greek mythology , dryads were believed to be shy nymphs who inhabited trees.
Trees are often planted in town environments where they are known as street trees or amenity trees. They can provide shade and cooling through evapotranspiration , absorb greenhouse gases and pollutants, intercept rainfall, and reduce the risk of flooding. It has been shown that they are beneficial to humans in creating a sense of well-being and reducing stress.
Many towns have initiated tree-planting programmes. Latex is a sticky defensive secretion that protects plants against herbivores. Originally used to create bouncy balls and for the waterproofing of cloth, natural rubber is now mainly used in tyres for which synthetic materials have proved less durable. This is also used as an insulator, particularly of undersea cables, and in dentistry, walking sticks and gun butts. It has now largely been replaced by synthetic materials. Resin is another plant exudate that may have a defensive purpose.
Tree Quotes
It is a viscous liquid composed mainly of volatile terpenes and is produced mostly by coniferous trees. It is used in varnishes, for making small castings and in ten-pin bowling balls. When heated, the terpenes are driven off and the remaining product is called "rosin" and is used by stringed instrumentalists on their bows. Some resins contain essential oils and are used in incense and aromatherapy. Fossilised resin is known as amber and was mostly formed in the Cretaceous to 66 million years ago or more recently. The resin that oozed out of trees sometimes trapped insects or spiders and these are still visible in the interior of the amber.
The camphor tree Cinnamomum camphora produces an essential oil [] and the eucalyptus tree Eucalyptus globulus is the main source of eucalyptus oil which is used in medicine, as a fragrance and in industry. Dead trees pose a safety risk, especially during high winds and severe storms, and removing dead trees involves a financial burden, whereas the presence of healthy trees can clean the air, increase property values, and reduce the temperature of the built environment and thereby reduce building cooling costs.
During times of drought, trees can fall into water stress , which may cause a tree to become more susceptible to disease and insect problems, and ultimately may lead to a tree's death. Irrigating trees during dry periods can reduce the risk of water stress and death. Trees have been venerated since time immemorial. To the ancient Celts , certain trees, especially the oak , ash and thorn , held special significance [] as providing fuel, building materials, ornamental objects and weaponry.
Other cultures have similarly revered trees, often linking the lives and fortunes of individuals to them or using them as oracles. In Greek mythology , dryads were believed to be shy nymphs who inhabited trees. The Oubangui people of west Africa plant a tree when a child is born. As the tree flourishes, so does the child but if the tree fails to thrive, the health of the child is considered at risk.
When it flowers it is time for marriage. Gifts are left at the tree periodically and when the individual dies, their spirit is believed to live on in the tree. Trees have their roots in the ground and their trunk and branches extended towards the sky. This concept is found in many of the world's religions as a tree which links the underworld and the earth and holds up the heavens. In Norse mythology , Yggdrasil is a central cosmic tree whose roots and branches extend to various worlds.
Various creatures live on it. Icons are placed beneath it to be worshipped, tree nymphs inhabit the branches and it grants favours to the devout who tie threads round the trunk. Sacred groves exist in China, India, Africa and elsewhere. They are places where the deities live and where all the living things are either sacred or are companions of the gods.
Folklore lays down the supernatural penalties that will result if desecration takes place for example by the felling of trees. Because of their protected status, sacred groves may be the only relicts of ancient forest and have a biodiversity much greater than the surrounding area. It has been named Hyperion and is The oldest living tree with a verified age is also in California.
It has been dated by drilling a core sample and counting the annual rings. It is estimated to currently be 5, years old.
Even More Tree Quotes:
A little farther south, at Santa Maria del Tule , Oaxaca , Mexico, is the tree with the broadest trunk. The tree's trunk is far from round and the exact dimensions may be misleading as the circumference includes much empty space between the large buttress roots. Wohlleben, Peter ; Flannery, Tim F. The Hidden Life of Trees: Discoveries from a Secret World. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Perennial woody plant with elongated trunk. For other uses, see Tree disambiguation.
Plant reproduction , Pollination , and Seed dispersal. Evolutionary history of plants. Resin , Latex , and Camphor. List of superlative trees. The previous record holder was named Methuselah, with an age of 4, years measured in Retrieved 23 September Newton Ask a Scientist. Archived from the original on Explicit use of et al. Retrieved 22 September Archived from the original on 8 September University of California Press. Food and Agriculture Organisation. Retrieved 1 October Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics.
Archived from the original PDF on Plant diversity and complexity patterns: Retrieved 14 November Functional Biology of Plants. Retrieved 3 September The diversity of tree species in the boreal forest is quite low, with black spruce Picea mariana , larch or tamarack Larix laricina , and white spruce P.
The former two species generally occupy wet sites with poorly drained mineral or organic soils, while white spruce is the climatic climax species on sites that are drier and higher in nutrient content.
Balsam fir Abies balsamea is a dominant tree species in the eastern half of the biome. University of California Museum of Paleontology. Biomes of the World. The World Encyclopedia of Trees. Swiss Federal Research Institute. Archived from the original on January 5, Journal of Experimental Botany. Annual Review of Plant Biology.
Tree Rings and Climate. The Kew Plant Glossary. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Klaus Kubitzki general editor ; Karl U. Kramer and Peter S. A Naturalist's Guide to Woodland Trees. University of Texas Press. Eichhorn 17 December How do the seeds disperse to form new plants? Ecology, Biogeography, and Evolution of Dormancy and Germination. Barbour; William Dwight Billings North American Terrestrial Vegetation. Silva; Mauro Galetti 4 April Seed Dispersal and Frugivory: Ecology, Evolution and Conservation. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. Bhatnagar; Alok Moitra Taxonomic considerations and palaeogeographical distribution".
Yew, for example, is native, but so toxic that only four insect species can eat the leaves or twigs. The berries, on the other hand, are eaten by many species, including the author. They are a little too sweet and glutinous for my taste, but otherwise pretty good. You must spit out the seed the berry contains, however, which is poisonous. So there are exceptions, but you can see the general point. To help wildlife, we should plant more native trees. So why are nine out of every 10 trees planted by local authorities exotic?
That's not an exact figure: But everywhere I go, I take a look at the trees planted along the streets and in parks and other public spaces. They are, overwhelmingly, non-native. In some towns and cities you seldom come across a native tree planted in a public place. My local park is typical. There are scores of young trees, from all over the world. Yet not one of the recent plantings belongs to a species that came here without human agency.
And the council doesn't seem to have selected trees which thrive there either: I'm pleased to see that the eucalyptus — a tree hostile to life outside its native range, and which sucks the soil dry over a wide radius — have curled up and died. I'm not suggesting that all the trees councils plant should be native ones.
Native trees help wildlife – so why do councils plant so many exotic ones?
There are sometimes good reasons for planting exotics. The Tree Council , which advises local authorities, explains that sometimes a space is, for example, too narrow for a native species to prosper. This is one of the reasons why the gingko has become popular: I was about to say willowy. But willows are anything but willowy: Making use of exotics allows councils to plant a broader range of trees, which means that there is less chance of a disease wiping out a large proportion of their stock.
Some species, especially certain non-natives, are better than others at scouring pollutants from the air: Others the London plane is the most famous example are extremely resilient, coping with levels of pollution and water stress that would kill most trees. The fruit of some exotic trees attracts large numbers of birds.
But even taking all this into account, councils could still plant many more native trees than they do. Some natives birch, lime, field maple, hornbeam for example seem to thrive beside busy streets — and quite a few of the exotics planted by councils fail. In parks, housing estates, town greens, schools, cemeteries and other places for which local authorities are responsible, there is far more scope for planting indigenous trees than along the streets, but the opportunity is usually missed.
What I find particularly frustrating is something I see all over the country: Instead of planting silver or downy birch, for example, councils throughout the UK seem obsessed by paper birch, from North America.