Interesting facts: deciduous trees

All the existing shrubs and trees can be divided into deciduous and coniferous.

general description

Deciduous trees and deciduous shrubs are usually plants with leaf petiolate leaves, which have an obvious branched venation. Leafy plates they are simple, lobed or dentate, less often - complex.

If we give a general classification, then deciduous trees represent the plant kingdom, the department of higher plants, the department of angiosperms (floral). This category includes about 165 detachments, 11 thousand genera, 545 families, 260 thousand species.

Deciduous plants appeared on Earth much later than others - during the Jurassic period, and in the middle of the Cretaceous fairly quickly spread throughout the planet. They have a perfect structure of tissues, generative and vegetative organs, have a variety of methods of pollination (the most effective of which - with the help of insects) and the spread of seeds. Now deciduous plants have taken a dominant position among other plant species, because, among other things, they can perfectly adapt to the changing environmental conditions.

Species of deciduous forest

In comparison with coniferous, deciduous forest develops and spreads much faster. In such a forest is light and spacious, as the trees grow much less often. The leaves of trees and shrubs in the central belt fall completely once a year, at the end of autumn, so that plants do not lose moisture during the winter cold. And in spring many fresh leaves grow from numerous kidneys.

Deciduous trees of Russia are mostly represented on the European territory, and in Siberia the coniferous forest prevails.

Basic hardwoods

Deciduous trees and shrubs are divided into soft-leaved species (alder, linden, birch, poplar) and hardwood (maple, oak, ash). They grow almost anywhere in the world. Most often in our latitudes of hardwoods one can find linden, birch, oak, poplar, willow, walnut, alder, maple, ash, elm, apple tree, cherry, cherry.

These trees and shrubs feel great both in the forest and in urban conditions. They are remarkably adaptable to the environment, easily tolerate transplantation and take root in different types of soil. Most deciduous plants grow up quickly enough and live long.

Deciduous trees have different growth rates. For example, an oak tree increases its crown by one meter a year. At the beginning of summer, growth is much faster than at the end.

Interesting Facts

Oak by right refers to the trees-long-livers: its average age reaches five hundred years. Of other deciduous trees, alder and ash live on an average of three hundred years, and aspen - up to a hundred. Among coniferous trees, only spruce can be compared to oak in terms of life expectancy, with each needle from 5 to 7 years old.

The oldest tree in Europe is the oak "Old Man", which grows in Lithuania: it is almost 2 thousand years old. And in Poland there are three "Friendship Oaks", which are 900 years old. They are called Czech, Leh and Rus.

The most common deciduous trees in Russia are oak and birch, and in Western Europe - beech and hornbeam. The hardest tree in Russia is the Schmidt birch, which grows in the severe Pomorze. It can not be cut off with an ax, or pierced with a bullet.

Application of deciduous plants

The most valuable species of deciduous trees have long been considered to be oak, pear, beech, cherry, walnut and maple. They are widely used in construction and for industrial purposes.

Many other deciduous plants are useful because their fruits can be used for food or medicinal purposes. In addition to practical application, these trees and shrubs are widely used for decorative and aesthetic purposes - from landscape design to the creation of various art objects.

Special ornamentation of deciduous trees and bushes gives blossoming and foliage change. The appearance of tender light green leaves in the spring, summer riot of greenery, then the change of shades in autumn to golden yellow or richly crimson make the seasons change noticeable and very beautiful.