Aviva Trivia

We pass by stately trees everyday in lawns and parks, watching in the spring as the first leaves appear and gazing in awe at the colorful foliage that fall brings. Many of us have planted them, and some of us even grow them in our own houses, but how much do you know about trees? Here are some interesting facts you may not have known about one of nature’s most noble creations.

– Sugar Maples can produce three gallons of sap every day. To make one gallon of delicious maple syrup, however, you will have to collect more than forty gallons of sap!

– The world’s tallest tree resides in California. It is a coast redwood and reaches more than 360 feet into the sky.

– Studies have shown that trees can be a vital part of the healing process for people. Patients that can see trees from their hospital room windows tend to get better faster.

– If you’re hot in the summer, grab some shade from a shade tree. A full-grown tree like an elm or an oak can provide the same cooling power as five air conditioners!

– The deepest roots recorded in the world are from a Wild Fig Tree in South Africa. The roots reached 400 feet into the ground.

– When it is fully mature, a birch tree can produce one million seeds in a year.

– To save one acre of trees, you have to recycle one ton of paper.

– Many cities in the United States have roads called Elm Street. Most of these streets used to be lined with beautiful elm trees, but many of the elm trees in the United States died when Dutch Elm Disease was brought to the country in the 1930s and 1940s.

– The bristlecone pines that grow in the western portion of the United States are the oldest trees in the world. They are more than 4,500 years old.

– The seeds from a cottonwood tree have tiny white hairs on them that can keep the seeds in flight for several days.

– In Athens, Georgia, you will find the only tree that owns land. The White Oak inherited the land in a will and owns a total of 64 square feet of property.

– The fastest-growing tree in the world is the Albizzia falcata from Malaysia. This tree can grow more than an inch every day!

– Oak trees have to wait 20 years before they start producing acorns, and many oaks don’t produce any acorns for up to 50 years.

– The world’s largest forests are in northern Russia, and cover almost 3 billion acres.

– For every acre of forest, more than one ton of leaves and branches can fall to the ground. That’s a lot of compost!

Elizabeth Walling