AIR
Climate, Air Pollution

WATER
Lakes, Rivers, Oceans

EARTH
Land Use, Planet Earth

PLANTS
Ecosystems, Flora

TREES
Forests, Tree species

ANIMALS
Fauna, Species data

PEOPLE
Countries, Cultures

Some species of tree only grow to 4 m (13 ft) high. The tallest species, redwoods and eucalyptus, reach heights of more than 110 m (360 ft). The giant sequoia redwood tree, named General Sherman Tree, in California's Sequoia National Park, has grown to a height of 84 m (275 ft) and a diameter of 11 m (37 ft). Trees live anywhere from a few years to thousands of years. There is a bristlecone pine growing in California's White Mountains that has been dated as at least 4700 years old.

Trees grow just about everywhere on Earth, from extreme cold regions near the Arctic and the Antarctic to hot tropical regions around the equator and even in deserts. Although trees can grow singly, in nature they more often grow in stands consisting of one or of a mixture of species. As more trees toward the outside of the stand grow and become mature, they drop seeds and continue the spread of the stand.

Forests are plant communities made up of the trees, shrubs, and many other plants and animals. In North America, forests typically include only a few different species of trees, but in tropical forests, hundreds of different species can be found.

Tallest Trees
Australian eucalyptus , originally 492 ft tall, the eucalyptus at Watts River, Victoria, Australia is officially the tallest tree ever.

Mendocino Tree / Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) The tallest tree standing today is the Mendocino Tree, a coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) found at Montgomery State Reserve near Ukiah, California, USA. Estimated to be about 1,000 years old, it is 367 ft 5 in tall with a diameter of 10 ft 4 in.

Oldest Trees
Bristlecone pines are found in California, Nevada, and Utah. Some of these trees in eastern California's White Mountains are more than 4,500 years old. The oldest known living Great Basin bristlecone pine is a tree named Methuselah, and is more than 4,700 years old.

Thickest Trunk
Montezuma baldcypress, near Oaxaca, Mexico has the thickest trunk with a diameter exceeding 40 feet.

Biggest Seeds
Coco-de-mer, or double coconut palm, of the Seychelles, an island group in the Indian Ocean, has nuts that may weigh up to 50 pounds.

The Baobab tree of Africa is one of the most useful trees in the world. It has an enormous trunk which people hollow out to store things in, such as water, or to live in. They eat the leaves, fruit, seeds, and roots.

The Banyan tree of India is the most wide spreading tree. Its branches spread out and send trunklike roots to the ground in order to support itself. Single Banyan trees may cover acres of ground.