12 Amazing Tree Facts

Not only do trees enable is to breathe and provide the vital ingredients for cider, they also have some weird and wonderful tricks! Here’s some of our favourite amazing tree facts.

1 – Trees Can Talk

Some forests have been found to have their own communication systems allowing them to swap nutrients and send warnings about drought or disease using networks of soil fungi, known as mycorrhizal networks. For trees it’s like logging on to the world wild web… ‘logging on’…? No..? We’ll see ourselves out.

2 – Trees Can Walk

Some species of palm trees and banana trees have been found to walk. Banana trees are particularly fleet of foot and can travel up to 40cm in their lifetime.

3 – They Send Emergency Signals

Trees can also communicate when under attack. When insects or animals start to feast on some trees, they respond by producing chemical compounds into the air and roots. Nearby trees detect these and start to produce toxins that make their leaves or fruit taste bitter to put off potential pests.

4 – Great Provider

A single oak tree can support up to 2,300 species of animals, insects and plants.

5 – Tree Roots Can Sink 100s of Feet

Most tree roots remain no deeper than 18 inches from the surface. But some tree species such as the Shepherd’s Tree (boscia albitrunca), found in the Kalahari Desert, sink their roots up to 70 meters or 230 feet deep.

6 – They’re Very Very Old!

In 2009, a bristlecone tree in the White Mountains in California was dated at around 5,070 years old. That means the tree was alive when mammoths roamed the earth.

7 – Taller Than Big Ben

The tallest tree discovered is also in California. ‘Hyperion’ is a coast redwood and measures a staggering 115.85 meters (380 feet), that’s taller than the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Big Ben or the Statue of Liberty.

8 – They’re Big (not ‘fat!’)

Another coast redwood nicknamed ‘General Sherman’ is credited as being the largest and widest tree, measuring 11 metres in diameter at the base, 83.8 m (274.9 ft) tall and weighing an estimated 1,385 tons.

9 – Trees Can Be Quick

Some species of balsa tree can grow as much as 3 – 4 metres in 6 months. Within 10 years they’ll have reached full maturity and a height of 20 – 30 metres (98 feet). The rapid growth is thanks to their light weight. Balsa trees are short-lived and usually don’t last longer than 20 years.

10 – 60,000 Tree Species

There are more than 60,000 known tree species.

11 – Most Trees Are Native To One Nation

58% of all tree species can only be found in single countries.

12 – 20% of Oxygen

The Amazon Rainforest produces 20% of the world’s oxygen.