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Trees

Arborists gather around the "Big Tree" last year to remove soil that had built up around its base.

Trending Today

Despite Harvey’s Wrath, This 1,000-Year Old Tree Still Stands Tall

The Big Tree has survived at least 40 hurricanes

A witness tree on Stuart's Hill loop trail in Manassas National Battlefield Park

American South

These Five “Witness Trees” Were Present At Key Moments In America’s History

These still-standing trees are a living testament to our country’s tragic past

How Many Ways Can Snake Venom Kill You and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

Salicylic acid, the main ingredient in aspriin, is found in a number of plants, including jasmine, beans, peas and clover as well as willow trees.

Aspirin’s Four-Thousand-Year History

It’s 2000 B.C. and you have a headache. Grab the willow bark

Bei Bai, July 28, 1916

Pandamonium

Watch: The Panda Cub’s Favorite Game Is Belly Flopping Out of Trees

Bei Bei, the nearly two-year-old giant panda shows off his climbing—and falling—skills

A view from within the Tyson Forest Dynamics Plot in Missouri.

New Research

Why Do We See More Species in Tropical Forests? The Mystery May Finally Be Solved

Surveying 2.4 million trees showed that predators may help keep the trees at sustainable levels

Tree rings are easiest to see in trees that grew in temperate places, because the temperature changes at different times of the year.

Why an Astronomer Turned to Trees to Try to Solve a Celestial Mystery

Andrew Ellicott Douglass’s theory of sunspots and climate was wrong, but he still pioneered the science of tree-ring dating

The big tree being prepared for its move in Boise, Idaho.

Cool Finds

Watch a 100-foot-tall Giant Sequoia Get Transplanted in Boise

A gift from John Muir, the beloved tree was transferred to a local park by St. Luke’s Medical Center so the facility can expand

New Zealand’s Iconic Pōhutukawa Tree May Have Roots in Australia

Fossils belonging to the pōhutukawa’s ancient ancestors were found on the coast of Tasmania

Mateo-Vega (derecha) muestra a los compañeros Emberá y Kuna cómo tomar medidas forestales. De izquierda a derecha, los técnicos indígenas Edgar Gariboldo, Chich Chamarro, Baurdino López, Evelio Jiménez, Alexis Solís. (Sean Mattson / Smithsonian)

Future of Conservation

Cómo Los Científicos y Grupos Indígenas Pueden Aliarse Para Proteger Los Bosques y el Clima

Compared with the trees, lianas are able to put more energy into the production of leaves and seeds and less towards growing a trunk.

Tarzan’s Favorite Mode of Travel, the Liana Vine, Chokes Off a Tree’s Ability to Bear Fruit

With lowered fruit production, fewer seeds are dispersed to grow new trees

These Trees Uncover What Plunged Egypt’s Climate Into Chaos

Examining tree rings inside the world’s oldest trees reveal a seismic event that took place around 3,500 years ago

Torrance Coste of the Wilderness Committee illustrates the immensity of the missing Carmanah cedar in 2012.

Future of Conservation

How Thousand-Year-Old Trees Became the New Ivory

Ancient trees are disappearing from protected national forests around the world. A look inside $100 billion market for stolen wood

Aspens are one of the American tree species moving northwest.

New Research

American Trees are Shifting West

For 86 common species, northwest seems to be best. But why?

The ginkgo biloba or Maidenhair tree has been around for at least 270 million years, making it the botanical equivalent of the shark.

Age of Humans

The World Told Through the Eyes of the Ginkgo Tree

By deciding this ancient plant was worthy of their attention, humans ended up dramatically shaping its evolution

Mateo-Vega (right) shows Emberá and Kuna colleagues how to take forest measurements. From left to right, indigenous technicians Edgar Garibaldo, Chicho Chamorro, Baurdino Lopez, Evelio Jiménez, Alexis Solís.

Future of Conservation

How Scientists And Indigenous Groups Can Team Up to Protect Forests and Climate

A collaboration between Smithsonian researchers and the Emberá people of Panama aims to rewrite a fraught narrative

Treepedia's map of Toronto

Future of Conservation

MIT’s ‘Treepedia’ Shows How Green Your City Grows

Using data from Google Street View, researchers created an interactive map that measures tree density on city streets

New Research

New Survey Estimates Earth Has 60,065 Tree Species

Researchers from Botanic Gardens Conservation International compiled the list, finding that at least 10,000 tree species are at risk of extinction

Underground, all these aspen trees share a singular root system.

Where to Hike to (and Through) the World’s Largest Organisms

Some of the largest organisms will surprise you

One of the world's most iconic deserts was once lush and green. What happened?

New Research

What Really Turned the Sahara Desert From a Green Oasis Into a Wasteland?

10,000 years ago, this iconic desert was unrecognizable. A new hypothesis suggests that humans may have tipped the balance

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