Tree - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree

Tree
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, supporting leaves or branches. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants, only plants that are usable as lumber or only plants above a specified height. At its broadest, trees include the taller palms, the tree ferns, bananas and bamboo. 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 chemical energy by photosynthesis, providing the food needed by the tree for its growth and development. Flowers and fruit may also be present, but some trees such as conifers instead have pollen cones and seed cones, and others such as tree ferns produce spores instead. Trees tend to be long-lived,[1] some reaching several thousand years old. The tallest known specimen on Earth is 115.6 m (379 ft) and they have a theoretical maximum height of 130 m (426 ft).[2] Trees have been in existence on the Earth for 370 million years. Trees are not a taxonomic group but are a number of plant species that have independently evolved a woody trunk and branches as a way to tower above other plants and make full use of the sunlight. 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 one of 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 and they play a role in many of the world's mythologies.

Definition
Although "tree" is a term of common parlance, there is no universally recognised precise definition what a tree is, neither botanically nor in common language.[3][4][5] 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.[6][7] Trees are also typically defined by height,[8][9][10] with smaller plants being classified as shrubs,[11] however the minimum height which defines a tree varies widely, from 10 m to 0.5 m.[10] By these broadest definitions, large herbaceous plants such as papaya and bananas are trees, despite not being considered as trees under more rigorous definitions.[3][5][12][13][14][15] Another criterion often added to the definition of a tree is that it has a woody trunk.[10][16][17] Such a definition

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Tree - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree

excludes herbaceous trees such as bananas and papayas. Monocots such as bamboo and palms may be considered trees under such a definition.[18] Despite being herbaceous[19][20] and not undergoing secondary growth and never producing wood,[21][22][22][23] palms and bamboo may produce "pseudo-wood" by lignifying cells produced through primary growth. Aside from structural definitions, trees are commonly defined by use. Trees may be defined as plants from which lumber can be produced.[5]

Overview
Trees have an evolutionary adaptation to competition for space. By growing taller trees are able to compete better for sunlight.[24] They have modified structures that allow them to grow much taller and spread out their foliage, such as thicker stems that are composed of specialized cells that add structural strength and durability. They are long-lived perennial plants that can increase their size each year by producing woody stems. They differ from shrubs, which are also woody plants, by usually growing larger and having a single main stem;[11] but the distinction between a small tree and a large shrub is not always clear,[25] 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 100,000 species, the number of trees worldwide might total twenty-five percent of all living plant species.[26] Their greatest number grow in tropical regions and many of these areas have not yet been fully surveyed by botanists, making tree diversity and ranges poorly known.[27] Trees exist in two different groups of vascular or higher plants, the gymnosperms and the angiosperms . Both groups are seed plants. The gymnosperm trees include conifers, cycads, ginkgophytes and gnetales. Angiosperm trees are also known as broad-leaved trees. Most angiosperm trees are eudicots, the "true dicotyledons", so named because the seeds contain two cotyledons or seed leaves. A relatively smaller number of other angiosperm trees are paleodicots; these include Amborella, Magnolia, nutmeg, avocado, and others. Wood gives structural strength to a tree stem which is used to support 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. 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. Trees are either evergreen, having foliage that persists and remains green throughout the year,[28] or deciduous, shedding their leaves at the end of the growing season and then having a dormant period without foliage.[29] 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.[11] The crown is a name for the upper part of a tree including the branches and leaves [30] and the uppermost layer in a forest, formed by the crowns of the trees, is known as the

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