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Common ash (Fraxinus excelsior), a deciduous broad-leaved (angiosperm) tree

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, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are usable as lumber or plants above a specified height. In wider definitions, the taller palms, tree ferns, bananas, and bamboos are also trees. Trees are not a taxonomic group but include a 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 reaching several thousand years old. Trees have been in existence for 370 million years. It is estimated that there are some three trillion mature trees in the world.

A tree typically has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground by the trunk. This trunk typically contains woody tissue for strength, and vascular tissue to carry materials from one part of the tree to another. For most trees it 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. Flowers and fruit may be present, but some trees, such as conifers, instead have pollen cones and seed cones. Palms, bananas, and bamboos also produce seeds, but 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 parts 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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Ficus obliqua, Milton, New South Wales

Ficus obliqua, commonly known as the small-leaved fig, is a tree in the family Moraceae, native to eastern Australia, New Guinea, eastern Indonesia to Sulawesi and islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. Previously known for many years as Ficus eugenioides, it is a banyan of the genus Ficus, which contains around 750 species worldwide in warm climates, including the edible fig (Ficus carica). Beginning life as a seedling, which grows on other plants (epiphyte) or on rocks (lithophyte), F. obliqua can grow to 60 m (200 ft) high and nearly as wide with a pale grey buttressed trunk, and glossy green leaves.

The small round yellow fruit ripen and turn red at any time of year, although ripening peaks in autumn and winter (April to July). Known as a syconium, the fruit is an inverted inflorescence with the flowers lining an internal cavity. Ficus obliqua is pollinated by two species of fig wasp—Pleistodontes greenwoodi and P. xanthocephalus. Many species of bird, including pigeons, parrots and various passerines, eat the fruit. The range is along the east coast from Queensland, through New South Wales in rainforest, savanna woodland, sclerophyll forest and gallery forest. It is used as a shade tree in parks and public spaces, and is well-suited for use as an indoor plant or in bonsai. All parts of the tree have been used in traditional medicine in Fiji. (Full article...)

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... that the Paget Marsh Nature Reserve in Bermuda has been called the "best surviving example of native cedar, palmetto (pictured), and mangrove forests", yet at one point the island lost 99% of its cedar trees?
... that a canopy walkway connects seven tree tops in Ghana's Kakum National Park?
... that the ivory curl tree can grow 30 m (100 ft) tall in its natural rainforest habitat?
... that the trumpet tree, a fast-growing tree native to the American tropics, is considered one of the hundred worst invasive alien species in the world?
... that the installation of an artificial Christmas tree in Brussels prompted an online petition against it with 25,000 signatures?
... that a white oak tree with a trunk circumference of over 26 feet (7.9 m) grew near Wolf Run until it was cut down in 1852?
... that the blue nuthatch (pictured) protects its corneas from falling debris when prospecting on trees by contracting the bare skin around its eyes – an adaptation apparently unique to the species?

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Pomegranate (Punica granatum), Moyogi style, about 50 years old, at the Bonsai museum in Pescia, Italy.

Bonsai (Japanese: 盆栽, lit. 'tray planting', pronounced [boɰ̃sai] (listen)) is the Japanese art of growing and training miniature trees in pots, developed from the traditional Chinese art form of penjing. Unlike penjing, which utilizes traditional techniques to produce entirely natural scenery in small pots that mimic the grandiose shapes of real life scenery, the Japanese "bonsai" only attempts to produce small trees that mimic the shape of real life trees. Similar versions of the art exist in other cultures, including the miniature living landscapes of Vietnamese Hòn non bộ. It was during the Tang dynasty, when penjing was at its height, that the art was first introduced in Japan.

The loanword "bonsai" (a Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese term penzai) has become an umbrella term in English, attached to many forms of diminutive potted plants, and also on occasion to other living and non-living things. According to Stephen Orr in The New York Times, "the term should be reserved for plants that are grown in shallow containers following the precise tenets of bonsai pruning and training, resulting in an artful miniature replica of a full-grown tree in nature." In the most restrictive sense, "bonsai" refers to miniaturized, container-grown trees adhering to Japanese tradition and principles. (Full article...)

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General images

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

Image 1The General Sherman Tree, thought to be the world's largest by volume (from Tree)
Image 2Fraxinus excelsior (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 3Palms and cycads as they might have appeared in the middle Tertiary (from Tree)
Image 4A young red pine (Pinus resinosa) with spread of roots visible, as a result of soil erosion (from Tree)
Image 5Tall herbaceous monocotyledonous plants such as banana lack secondary growth, but are trees under the broadest definition. (from Tree)
Image 6Proportion and distribution of global forest area by climatic domain, 2020 (from Forest)
Image 7Spiny forest at Ifaty, Madagascar, featuring various Adansonia (baobab) species, Alluaudia procera (Madagascar ocotillo) and other vegetation (from Forest)
Image 8European larch (Larix decidua), a coniferous tree which is also deciduous (from Tree)
Image 9Latvian Pine Forest in Ķegums Municipality (from Forest)
Image 10Conifers in the Swabian alps (from Tree)
Image 11A forest near Vinitsa, North Macedonia (from Forest)
Image 12A dry sclerophyll forest in Sydney, which is dominated by eucalyptus trees. (from Forest)
Image 13Burned forest on Thasos (from Forest)
Image 14Form, leaves and reproductive structures of queen sago (Cycas circinalis) (from Tree)
Image 15Northern beech (Fagus sylvatica) trunk in autumn (from Tree)
Image 16Buds, leaves, flowers and fruit of oak (Quercus robur) (from Tree)
Image 17The Olive Tree in Pakistan. (from Trees of Pakistan)
Image 18A conifer forest in the Swiss Alps (National Park) (from Forest)
Image 19The massive Bronze Sacred Tree (height 396 cm) from Sanxingdui, Shu (from Tree)
Image 20Redwood 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 21Temperate rainforest in Tasmania's Hellyer Gorge (from Forest)
Image 22Forest in the Scottish Highlands (from Forest)
Image 23Trees in art: Weeping Willow, Claude Monet, 1918 (from Tree)
Image 24The Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York form the southernmost part of the Eastern forest-boreal transition ecoregion, part of the world’s taiga biome. (from Forest)
Image 25Tywi Forest, Wales (from Forest)
Image 26Share of land that is covered by forest (from Forest)
Image 27Alnus glutinosa (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 28People trees, by Pooktre (from Tree)
Image 29Alleé of London plane trees (Platanus × acerifolia) in garden (from Tree)
Image 304000 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 31Neem tree at Sant Nenuram Ashram (from Trees of Pakistan)
Image 32Buttress roots of the kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra) (from Tree)
Image 33Proportion of forest in protected areas, by region, 2020 (from Forest)
Image 34Forest in Kuopio, Finland (from Forest)
Image 35Priest 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 36Wind dispersed seed of elm (Ulmus), ash (Fraxinus) and maple (Acer) (from Tree)
Image 37Recently stripped cork oak (Quercus suber) (from Tree)
Image 38A section of yew (Taxus baccata) showing 27 annual growth rings, pale sapwood and dark heartwood (from Tree)
Image 39Informal upright style of bonsai on a juniper tree (from Tree)
Image 40Forest on Mount Dajt, Albania (from Forest)
Image 41Yggdrasil, the World Ash of Norse mythology (from Tree)
Image 42Common ash (Fraxinus excelsior), a deciduous broad-leaved (angiosperm) tree (from Tree)
Image 43Selling firewood at a market (from Tree)
Image 44Buds, leaves and reproductive structures of white fir (Abies alba) (from Tree)
Image 45Lepidodendron, an extinct lycophyte tree (from Tree)
Image 46Roof trusses made from softwood (from Tree)
Image 47Sugar maple (Acer saccharum) tapped to collect sap for maple syrup (from Tree)
Image 48Even, 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 49Malus sylvestris (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 50Rowan tree in Wicklow, Ireland (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 51Since 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 52Cracked thorny skin of a Aesculus tree seed (from Tree)
Image 53The Daintree Rainforest (from Tree)
Image 54Garibaldi Provincial Park, British Columbia (from Forest)
Image 55Broadleaf forest in Bhutan (from Forest)
Image 56Biogradska forest in Montenegro (from Forest)
Image 57Diagram 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 58Dormant Magnolia bud (from Tree)
Image 59Taiga forest near Saranpaul in the northeast Ural Mountains, Khanty–Mansia, Russia. Trees include Picea obovata (dominant on right bank), Larix sibirica, Pinus sibirica, and Betula pendula. (from Forest)
Image 60Latex collecting from a rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) (from Tree)