Kayamanan ng Pilipinas ( Treasures of the Philippines ) by Derek Tumala
Inside a tree
Photosynthesis: a light snack
All shapes and sizes
Tree Alphabet by Katie Holten
Tree travellers
Can trees talk?
Forest Mind by Ursula Biemann
Friendly fungi
Underground network
Arcyria denudata by Barry Webb
Fighting for light
Forests grow all around. There are three main types: tropical, temperate and boreal. Tropical forests, such as the Amazon rainforest, are found on the equator, where it is always warm and rainy. Temperate forests grow where the temperature changes with the seasons and winters are not very harsh. These forests have deciduous trees – trees that lose their leaves in autumn. Some temperate forests have evergreen trees, which keep their leaves all year round. Boreal forests are found only in areas with high snowfall and short summers, surviving freezing winters. These forests have mostly evergreen trees. On mountains, the ‘tree line’ is the point above which trees will not grow because it is too high and cold.
Adapting well
Mangrove trees can survive in seawater by filtering out the salt. Pine trees in the icy north have needles for leaves with waxy coats to protect them from frost.
Forests once covered about half of the land on Earth –they now cover about a third
Y Z S T U V W X M N O P Q R G H I J K L A B C D E
Zelkova F Fir A pple B eech E lm Dogwood C edar
G inkgo J uniper
I lex Horse chestnut Mulberry Oak Nannyberry L inden
R edwood Pine S ycamore Tree of heaven
Umbrella tree Xanthoxylum
Irish artist Katie Holten is famous for her Tree Alphabets – secret languages that use the silhouettes of different species of trees instead of letters. Here, we have A for apple tree, B for beech tree, and so on. Below is a poem, translated from a Japanese haiku by Matsuo Bashō, written in tree. Can you translate it using the alphabet on the left? (Answer on page 119)
More tree letters are hidden on pages within this book for you to find. Put them together to spell out the mystery word. (Answer on page 119)
Write a secret message in tree and ask friends to work it out.
Thin, dark rings show the slower growth during late summer and autumn
A lightning strike scorches the wood
The trunk shows wider rings where the tree has grown more on one side to keep itself upright on uneven ground
Wide, pale rings show spring and early summer growth
Wood-boring larvae tunnel into the trunk
A forest fire damages the tree
The tree starts life as a seedling
When wildfires burn out of control, it is terrifying for those with homes in the area, whether humans or animals. But some trees, such as the conifer species lodgepole pine, have ‘sleeping seeds’ that need extreme heat to trigger growth. And the ashes that result from a fire are a perfect fertiliser. Other trees, such as giant sequoias, have adapted to seasonal fires by developing thick, fire-resistant bark. However, there is now a huge increase in extreme wildfires, driven by the climate crisis. If this carries on we may lose more forest than can regenerate.
Happiness Beyond Paradise is a work by Brazilian artist Luiz Zerbini . He is inspired by the enchanting landscapes and lush vegetation of his country, and also by the mathematical order of geometry. His grid looks a little like a mosaic, or the front of a tower block. This work is three metres high and six metres wide, and the artist
wants people who look at it to feel that they might be standing in a real forest. His swirls and patterns also provide a feeling of movement, like trees in the wind.
Usenatural materials fromoutdoors to createamosaic that represents ‘happiness’.
Our beautiful forests are too vast to cover with a glass dome, but we can protect them in other ways.