Types of Trees

Do you know that there are more than 200,000 varieties of plants in the world? Did you know that trees are considered the lungs of planet earth? So that’s it. The importance of trees for our ecosystem is vital. Without them we would not be able to survive, and neither would the Earth. Among those 200,000 varieties of plants we can find many types of trees and shrubs.

Are all trees the same?

No, they are not. In fact, impressive differences can be found in something as simple as the stem, which is divided into three main parts:

• The Xylem or wood, which is responsible for transporting water from the root to the leaves. That is, it distributes all the nutrients through the plant. The Xylem or wood is composed of various types of tubular cells.
• The cambium. The cambium is responsible for creating the tree rings each year, which are used by humans to calculate the age of trees. The cambium closest to the wood area is the oldest and closest to the outside of the tree, i.e. the bark.
• The bark is the outer part of the tree and is made up of the dead cells of the tree.  However, the bark of trees has an inner part where there is a section through which nutrients pass.

The modifications that occur in the stem are a way of classifying trees and dividing them by type, although they can also be classified according to whether they are gymnosperms or angiosperms.

Are the types of trees easy to recognize?

If you follow these simple tips you will easily learn to differentiate the types of trees that exist on Earth. You will see how, from now on, you will not be able to resist any classification related to trees. Let’s get started!

What do you need

To know how to differentiate the types of trees, we will need:

• Read the next post
• Take note of our indications to know how to classify trees
• Study, study and study in a natural environment and with real trees. You will have a lot of fun and it will also improve your health.

Instructions

Step by step to know how to differentiate the types of trees.

We are going to classify trees in two ways. In the first place according to its xylem, cambium and bark:

Types of trees: palm trees

1. Although palm trees are not strictly part of the classification of trees, they are considered tree species within the gardening sector.
2. Palm trees are born and develop in tropical, subtropical or intertropical climates and can reach 30 m in height over the years.
3. Among the best-known spices in the world of palm trees, we can highlight the areca, coconut palm, kentia, Latonia, blue palm, Canary palm, date palm, palm heart, totem or wachitona.

Types of trees: plan folio or broadleaf

1. Plan folio or broadleaf type trees are characterized by having broad, flat leaves.  These types of trees are found in cold or temperate climates. When we find trees with these characteristics in Mediterranean, tropical or subtropical climates, they are considered deciduous trees.
2. Mediterranean gardening uses plan folio-type trees for landscape restorations and in cultivated fields. It is common to use them in organic farming for the recovery of riverbanks and forests in areas such as those that have a lot of erosion.
3. Among the best-known broadleaf trees is birch, holly, alder, cherry, eucalyptus, ash, laurel, quince or walnut.

Types of trees: deciduous

1. Deciduous trees are those that lose their foliage in one of the seasons of the year. The usual thing is that they begin to lose their leaves in autumn and end up losing them completely in winter. However, there are some deciduous trees that lose their foliage in spring and summer.
2. Most of these species begin to flower in the period in which they lose their leaves, since the possibility of pollination increases by not having foliage.
3. Among the best known species within the types of deciduous trees are poplar, poplar, apple, orange, elm, pear, oak, willow and rowan.

Types of trees: evergreen

1. Evergreen trees are characterized by maintaining their foliage during all seasons of the year. This does not mean that they do not lose leaves, since they are shed from those that are already dead, but they never leave the crown bare, whether it is winter or summer.
2. A foolproof way to tell if a tree is evergreen is to check if the leaves remain on the plant for more than two years. If so, in addition, the vital period will last many years.
3. Among the best known trees within the perennials are the Arizona, oak, firethorn, ivy, magnolia, olive, stone pine, rosemary and yours.

Types of trees: conifers

1. Conifers are those trees that have their seeds in structures known as cones, which have scales, so these types of trees are usually woody.
2. Within the conifers are branched trees with simple leaves, that is, those whose shape is linear, punched or acicular, which, in turn, are grouped into short branches.
3. Conifer-type trees are pollinated through the wind in the following way: once the cones mature, they open and release the seed that is transported through the wind.
4. Among the best known conifers are firs, larches, araucarias, cedars, cypresses, junipers, lama, pines and yews.

Types of gymnosperms and angiosperms trees.

Types of trees: gymnosperms

1. Gymnosperms are considered to be all those vascular and spermatophyte plants that produce seeds.
2. The name, which comes from the Greek, means “naked seed” and this description is very accurate, especially if we take into account that these plants do not form in a closed ovary such as a pistil or carpels that end up evolving into fruits, but they are completely naked.
3. Gymnosperms are divided into 4 groups (cycads, ginkgo, conifers and gentian), which represent a total of 15 families, 820 species and approximately 75-80 genera.
4. Gymnosperms can be trees, shrubs or lianas and grow throughout the world between 72 degrees north and 55 degrees south.

Types of trees: angiosperms

1. The trees that belong to the angiosperms are those with seeds whose flowers have whorls inside which they enclose the ovules and receive pollen for reproduction. Unlike gymnosperms, angiosperms receive pollen on the stigmatic surface rather than directly on the ovule.
2. The term comes from the Greek and means “packaged seeds”, which refers to the fact that its ovules are enclosed by the carpel.
3. We can find remains of angiosperms from the Cretaceous period, 130 million years ago.  It is precisely at this moment that fossils of very diverse species suddenly appear.
4. 90% of the plants on our planet are angiosperms and they have occupied practically all the ecological niches that exist. You can find angiosperms in a desert, in a swamp, on the land surface or in the water, but their diversity skyrockets especially in tropical and humid areas, where 75% and 60% of these species are located, respectively.

Tips

Did you know that there are some trees so poisonous that just touching their bark can cause death? So that’s it. The Hippomania mancinella tree is so poisonous that more than one person has died from it. It is known as the tree of death or the chamomile of death and both its fruits and its bark are highly toxic.

In fact, its bark is covered with a poisonous sap that, once it comes into contact with the skin, causes terrible blisters and even temporary blindness. Moreover, simply if you approach one of these trees you will notice a terrible burning in the eyes and in the respiratory tract.

If you live in Mesoamerica or the islands of the Caribbean Sea, you may have to face this “chamomile of death” on occasion. Its fruits are very similar to apples. They have a really attractive appearance and a very pleasant smell, so if you find yourself lost in the jungle you can make the serious mistake of consuming them, which would cause death.

These trees can easily reach 20 m in height, but, being distributed in coastal areas, it is normal that the weight is too high for the sand to support them, so they can end up collapsing. In these cases they end up acquiring a creeping and very tortuous shape. Its bark, thick and very toxic, is grey, and its crown is wide and globe-shaped. Although it is a very toxic tree for both humans and mammals, it is true that some species of reptiles feed on it and live in its crown.

If you ever get lost in the jungle and are terribly hungry, be wary of any tree whose fruit reminds you of an apple, because you are probably facing the tree of death.