The center of a tree or shrub stem (from roots to trunk, branches, and twigs) is woody, composed of xylem cells that conduct water from the roots to the upper parts of the tree. That woody section ...

Bark textures are relatively uniform by tree species and make a great visual marker for broad tree identification. Textures are divided into at least 18 types, from smooth (beech) to spiny (locust).

Every time the grass is trimmed around a tree, little nicks are made in the bark. It does not take long for those nicks to cut through the area where the food transporting tubes are located.

The bark of this tree is certainly easily recognized. It starts out quite smooth on young twigs, but as the branches grow, the bark begins to peel and crack, thus exfoliating.

Think of the trunk of a cherry tree, with its narrow lines etched into the bark. Those lines—called lenticels, or “little windows”— are actually portals in the bark that let the tree breathe.

A reptile found in Madagascar is impossible to tell apart from tree bark by day. For decades, scientists had mixed it up with a relative. By Sofia Quaglia As night falls on the northern forests of ...

Trees absorb methane (CH 4) through their bark, thanks to methane-hungry microbes. Through this mechanism, forests could be as much of a methane sink as soil, according to a study published July ...