TREES
Trees are the tallest, heaviest, and oldest of all living things. The Californian giant sequoia known as General Sherman weighs approximately 6,000 tonnes – 30 times as much as the biggest animal, the blue whale. The oldest living bristlecone pine tree, which also grows in California, is nearly 5,000 years old. Yet even these ancient giants can still produce tiny seeds that grow into new trees.
LEAVES Like all green plants, trees absorb sunlight through their leaves and use its energy to turn air and water into sugar. A tree’s leaves are its food factories.
COMPOUND LEAVES Most trees have simple leaves of various shapes, but some have compound leaves, made up of many leaflets. These either sprout from a long stalk (pinnate) or fan out from a single point (palmate).
NEEDLES AND SCALES Thin leaves make food efficiently, but they are easily damaged by hot sunshine or frost. So many trees that grow in very hot or cold places have thicker, tougher needles or scales.
FRUIT The flowers of some trees turn into juicy fruits that contain seeds. If birds eat the fruit, the seeds pass through them unharmed and are scattered far away.
TREE RINGS Every year a tree adds a layer of new wood to its trunk. If the tree is cut down, each year’s growth shows as a visible ring, so the number of rings gives its age.
FLOWERS All trees produce flowers, but some may not be obvious because they do not have colourful petals. Other trees, however, such as apples, have showy flowers that attract insects.
SEEDS AND NUTS Some trees have tiny seeds, but others produce the bigger seeds we call nuts. Animals eat them, but also bury and forget them, so they grow into new trees.
CONES Coniferous trees such as pines have woody cones that contain small papery seeds. When the cones open up in the sun, the seeds fall out and blow way.
DECIDUOUS LEAVES Many trees lose their leaves in winter, and grow new ones in spring. Before they fall, the old leaves lose their green colour and turn yellow, brown or even red.
Picture Credit : Google
