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Fun Tree Facts:
- The shade and wind buffering provided by trees reduces annual heating and cooling costs by 2.1 billion dollars.
- Each average-sized tree provides an estimated $7 savings in annual environmental benefits, including energy conservation
and reduced pollution.
- A single tree produces approximately 260 pounds of oxygen per year. That means two mature trees can supply enough oxygen
annually to support a family of four!
- Water originating in our national forests provide drinking water for over 3400 communities, and approximately 60 million
individuals.
- One tree can absorb as much carbon in a year as a car produces while driving 26,000 miles.
- Over the course its life, a single tree can absorb one ton of carbon dioxide.
- An average American uses about 750 pounds of paper every year, and 95% of homes are built using wood. That means each
person uses the equivalent of one 100 foot tall, 16 inch diameter, tree every year for their paper and wood product needs.
- About one third of the United States of America is covered by forests.
- According to the last forest inventory, there are almost 247 billion trees over 1 inch in diameter in the U.S.
- The average tree in an urban/city area has a life expectancy of only 8 years.
- The tallest tree in the country is a Coast Redwood growing in northern California's Redwood National Park. It is 369
feet tall and over 2000 years old!
More Facts:
Deepest Roots:
A Wild Fig tree at Echo Caves, near Ohrigstad, Mpumalanga, South Africa has roots reaching 400 feet making it the deepest
a tree's roots have penetrated.
The Fastest Growing Tree:
In 1974, it was noted that an Albizzia falcata in Sabah, Malaysia had grown 35 feet and 3 inches in 13 months: an approximate
of 1.1 inches per day.
The Greatest Girth:
In the late 18th century a European Chestnut known as the Tree of the Hundred Horses on Mount Etna in Sicily, in Italy
had a circumference of 190 feet. It has since separated into three parts.
The Most Dangerous Tree:
The Manchineel Tree of the Caribbean coast and the Florida Everglades is a species that secretes an exceptionally poisonous
and acid sap. Upon contact to the skin, a break out of blisters would occur. In the occasions where there is contact to the
eye, a person can be blinded, and a bite of its fruit causes blistering and severe pain. This tree has been feared ever since
the Spanish explorers came to the Americas in the 16th century.
The Most Massive Tree:
The "Lindsey Creek Tree", a Coast Redwood with a minimum trunk volume of 90,000 cubic feet and a minimum total
mass of 3630 tons was the most massive known tree until it blew over in a storm in 1905. The most massive living tree is "General
Sherman", a giant sequoia found in the Sequoia National Park in California. It is 275 feet tall with a girth of 102 feet
and 8 inches.
The Oldest Tree:
Found in the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park in California, the oldest tree recognized is a Redwood known as Eternal
God. The tree is believed to be 12,000 years old, although it is argued as being only 7,000 years old, which still makes it
the oldest.
The Slowest Growing Tree:
A White Cedar located in the Great Lakes area of Canada, has only grown to less than 4 inches tall during its 155 years.
The Tallest Tree:
In 1872, an Australian Eucalyptus at Watts River, Victoria in Australia was said to measure to 435 feet, but it is speculated
that it probably measured to over 500 feet at some point in its life. The tallest living tree is a Coast Redwood known as
the "Mendocino Tree" found in Montgomery State Reserve in California. This tree, which is over 1000 years old, is
more than 367 feet and 6 inches tall and still growing.
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