The following are interesting facts about trees and plant life, getting you more personally acquainted with their unique properties and how significant they are to the environment. Plant life is incredibly resilient, but still need our help in order to thrive and help us thrive too.
1)The oldest tree?
Great Basin Bristlecone Pine is the oldest tree in existence. It is 5070 years old, and the reason for why it is able to live this long is because of the harsh condition it lives in. (low oxygen regions/high altitudes.)
2)How many trees are there?
On average a tree produces 260 pounds of oxygen each year.
3)How many trees are there?
There are 3.041 trillion trees in the world. 4 billion hectares left and a third of Earth’s forest is gone.
4)Can trees communicate and avoid danger?
Trees are able to communicate with each other when getting attacked by insects. They can flood their leaves or produce certain chemicals to make them go away.
5)Why do trees die and what is the cause of them?
Trees are the longest living organism and they don’t die of old age. Usually, there are diseases and parasites that disturb them.
6)Did you know trees can block sound?
Trees are able to block noise by reducing sound waves.
7)Trees are able to enhance water around you.
Trees help improve water quality. It does this by collecting and filtering rainfall.
8)How many types of trees are there?
Earth has more than 60,000 different tree types.
9)Did you know there once was a fungus that grew up to 8 meters?
Before trees exist Earth only had fungus. There is a peculiar fungus called Prototaxites. It was believed to be a tree because it grew up to 26 feet (8 meters) in height. It was found to be a fungus, not a tree. It went extinct 350 million years ago.
10)What was the first tree that ever formed on Earth?
The first tree known was in fact leafless. It was discovered 300 million years ago and it was fern-like. The name of this plant is Wattieza and it stood 8 meters tall.
11)Which era did trees come from?
Most of the first trees that were discovered are from the Devonian Period (between 350 and 420 million years ago). They were all closely related to ferns and share a similar structure with modern-day palm trees. These plants reproduce using spores.
12)More than half of all tree species exist in one country.
More than 60,000 different types of trees exist in the world and most of them are in Brazil, Columbia, and Indonesia.
13)Patients who see green recover faster
Hospital patients that see green trees are reported to recover quicker than people who don’t. It is estimated that they spent about 8 percent less time than those who don’t.
14)Trees drink a lot of water
On average trees drink about 2000 liters every year. Large trees can drink up to 400 liters quickly out of the ground when needed.
Citations:
McLendon, Russell. “15 Astounding Facts about Trees.” Treehugger, Treehugger, 14 Jan. 2020, https://www.treehugger.com/facts-about-trees-4868798.
“14 Fun Facts about Trees.” Twin Cities Tree Care Professionals, https://www.precisiontreemn.com/tips/14-fun-facts-about-trees.html.
“The Oldest Tree in the World: Trees Atlanta.” The Oldest Tree in the World | Trees Atlanta, https://www.treesatlanta.org/news/the-oldest-tree-in-the-world/#:~:text=The%20Great%20Basin%20Bristlecone%20Pine,harsh%20conditions%20it%20lives%20in.
Montr, Jardin botanique de. “The First Trees.” Trees Inside Out, 21 Nov. 2021, https://www.aucoeurdelarbre.ca/en/the-tree-story/tree-on-earth/first-trees.php#:~:text=The%20first%20%22tree%22%20appears%20during,with%20spores%2C%20much%20like%20ferns.
“14 Fun Facts about Trees.” Twin Cities Tree Care Professionals, https://www.precisiontreemn.com/tips/14-fun-facts-about-trees.html.
Viridian Tree Project 