tree

Introduction
Classification of trees
- Phylogenetic classifications
- Ecological and evolutionary classification
- Popular classifications
The importance of trees
- Economic importance
- Trees of special interest
Tree structure and growth
- General features of the tree body
- The anatomy and organization of wood
- Growth ring formation
- Tree bark
- Flower buds
- Tree roots
- Tree height growth
Tree lines
Adaptations
- Leaf adaptations
- Wood adaptations

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

Tall giant sequoia trees with reddish bark and thick trunks rise closely together in a dense forest at Sequoia National Park, California.

A single acacia tree with a wide, flat canopy stands in golden grass on the savanna in Zimbabwe, Africa, with shrubs and trees in the background.

A child stands beneath the massive, sprawling branches of the Angel Oak tree covered in green moss on John's Island, South Carolina.

Fan-shaped green leaves of a Ginkgo biloba tree branch against a softly blurred light background.

A Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens) tree with dense, blue-green needles stands on a grassy lawn surrounded by other trees and greenery.

Cream-colored magnolia flower in full bloom on a tree branch, surrounded by large, glossy green leaves.

Tall Ponderosa pine trees spaced apart in an open woodland with green underbrush, San Juan National Forest, Colorado.

At a Glance

tree summary

Quizzes

Spreading oak tree in summer. (green, leaves, deciduous, shade)

Trees: Giants Holding the Sky

Field of baobab trees, Madagascar. (bottle tree)

Trees of the World

Venus's-flytrap. Venus's-flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) one of the best known of the meat-eating plants. Carnivorous plant, Venus flytrap, Venus fly trap

Plants: From Cute to Carnivorous

Related Questions

How are excurrent and deliquescent branching patterns different?
How are flowering trees divided into monocotyledons and eudicotyledons?
How are forests, woodlands, savannas, and tundra different in tree cover?
How are hypogeal and epigeal germination different in seed plants?
How are long shoots different from short shoots on trees?
How are tree ferns different from conifers and flowering trees?
How are trees different from shrubs?
How are wood and inner bark formed by the vascular cambium?
How can removing forests change rainfall, wind patterns, and local climate?
How did glaciers change the distribution of forests and tree species?
How did specialized roots, stems, and leaves help early plants live on land?
How do annual growth rings form in woody tree stems?
How do cotyledons help a young tree seedling grow?
How do deforestation and land clearing affect carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?
How do environmental stresses change the amount of wood and phloem a tree produces?
How do fallen leaves, branches, and roots recycle nutrients in forest soils?
How do fires help maintain some pine savannas?
How do forests help prevent soil erosion and flooding?
How do forests store carbon and influence the carbon cycle?
How do fusiform initials and ray initials build the tissues of wood?
How do leaves, stems, and roots work together in a tree?
How do nitrogen-fixing microorganisms support the nutrition of some trees?
How do palm trees grow tall without branching along most of their trunks?
How do shoot apical meristems produce new leaves and branches?
How do stomata regulate gas exchange and water loss in tree leaves?
How do tree roots anchor a tree and collect water from the soil?
How does a tree species' niche determine where it can survive and reproduce?
How does competition for light shape the canopy of a forest?
How does phloem transport food through a tree?
How does the grass stage help longleaf pine seedlings survive fires?
How does the root cap protect a growing tree root?
How does the waxy cuticle help trees prevent water loss?
How does vascular cambium make a tree trunk thicker?
How does xylem transport water through a tree?
What happens when a tree seed begins to germinate?
What roles do nodes and internodes play in the growth of a tree stem?
Which familiar trees belong to the conifer group?
Why are hardwood and softwood not reliable descriptions of how hard a tree's wood is?
Why are palms classified as flowering plants rather than conifers?
Why are trees considered an artificial category in scientific classification?
Why can black spruce survive on bogs and mountaintops but struggle to compete on richer sites?
Why can heartwood support a living tree even though its cells are dead?
Why can the same woody plant species grow as a tree in one habitat and a shrub in another?
Why can the width of a tree's annual rings vary from year to year?
Why do conifers and many flowering trees develop wood through secondary growth?
Why do forests change into tundra at high latitudes and elevations?
Why do many temperate conifer seeds need a cold, moist winter period before germinating?
Why do open-grown trees have branches lower on their trunks than forest trees?
Why do tree ferns not thicken their trunks in the same way as conifers and hardwood trees?
Why do tree roots have growing points at their tips?
Why does a longleaf pine seedling look like a clump of grass during its early growth?
Why does the root emerge first when a tree seed germinates?
Why is a banana plant not considered a true tree by botanists?
Why is the ginkgo considered a relic among living trees?

Science Plants

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External Websites

University of Maryland Extension - Planting a Tree or Shrub
University of Minnesota Extension - Planting and transplanting trees and shrubs
Colorado State Forest Service - What is a Tree? How Does it Work?
Utah State University - Forestry Extension - What is a Tree?
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach - Yard and Garden - Tree Planting Basics
Oklahoma State University Extension - Planting Trees and Shrubs (PDF)
Montana State University | Extension - What is a Tree?
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach - Natural Resources - Tree Anatomy 101
Pressbooks at Virginia Tech - Tree Steward Manual - Botany of Trees
National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Trees as Nature-Based Solutions

Britannica Websites

Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

tree - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
tree - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

tree

plant

Written by

Lillian M. Weber

Chief Horticulture Assistant to the Senior Horticulture Specialist, New York Botanical Garden, Bronx.

Lillian M. WeberAll

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Nov. 3, 2026 •History

tree, woody plant that regularly renews its growth (perennial). Most plants classified as trees have a single self-supporting trunk containing woody tissues, and in most species the trunk produces secondary limbs, called branches. To many, the word tree evokes images of such ancient, powerful, and majestic structures as oaks, acacias, and sequoias, the latter being among the most massive and longest-living organisms in the world. Although the majority of Earth’s terrestrial biomass is represented by...

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