Determining the age of a pine tree by rings and other signs

How to distinguish oak from a fake?

The best hardwoods for making furniture are beech, oak and ash.

How to determine by appearance without cutting

You can find out how old a pine tree is during its lifetime, without causing damage to it. This is easy to do in several ways. For example, measure the diameter of the trunk and its height, and then make certain calculations. You can also count the number of whorls.

By trunk diameter

In order to use this method, you must complete the following steps:

1. Use a tape measure to measure the circumference of the trunk, 1.4 m from the ground surface.
2. Determine the diameter using the formula: trunk thickness in cm divided by 3.14.
3. Divide the diameter by the annual growth rate of the tree's circumference. In pine it is 0.7.

Did you know? Pine is considered a long-lived tree. The oldest plant known to scientists is 4842 years old and is called Methuselah.

To make it more clear, imagine that the circumference of the tree trunk, whose age needs to be calculated, is 152 cm. Accordingly, the diameter will be equal to 152: 3.14 = 48.4 cm. Next, you need to divide the diameter by the annual growth: 48.4: 0 .7 = 69. This will be the approximate age of the pine.

By whorls

Whorls are shoots that grow fan-shaped and are formed annually. They are located at approximately the same height. If you count their number, you can roughly determine how old the plant is.

Important! When counting whorls, you should carefully inspect the trunk so as not to miss any knots.

There are 2 ways to count:

1. Count how many whorls are located above the person’s chest level and add one to the sum. This increase must be made taking into account the top of the plant.
2. Count the total number of whorls on the tree, starting from the bottom of the smooth trunk, and add the resulting number with the number 3. The increase takes into account the fact that pine whorls appear at the age of three.

For example, if 13 whorls were counted on a pine tree, it means that the tree is approximately 16 years old (13 +

By height

By measuring the height of a tree, it is impossible to accurately determine its age. After all, the growth rate of a plant is influenced by many factors: climate, weather conditions, soil composition, place of growth, etc. Knowing how many meters the trunk of a pine tree has grown, you can approximately determine its age.

The annual growth in height of the described tree can be found in the table:

After reaching 30–50 years of age, growth rates slow down. During this period, the tree begins to actively grow in width. Pine, as a rule, reaches its maximum height by 60–70 years. In total, pine can live 150–300 years.

By bark

This method is very approximate. It allows you to determine only whether a tree is young or old. To use it, you need to know what this part of the plant looks like in mature and young specimens and what differences exist.

Did you know? The tallest pine in the world is Lambert. It reaches 70–80 m.

When young, pine trees have gray bark. As it matures, it turns brownish-red. The lower part is covered with long longitudinal cracks. Also, a thick, about 10 cm, layer of crust forms at the bottom. At the top of the trunk, the bark is orange-red. It is smooth to the touch. Peeling of thin films with torn edges can be observed.

So, you can determine the age of a pine tree in several ways, including by appearance, without cutting it down. However, they all provide only approximate indicators. It is possible to find out exactly how old a tree is only by having information about the date it was planted in the ground.

What does an oak tree look like?

Oak is a large tree, usually with a powerful crown and a powerful trunk. ... Oak flowers are collected in long hanging earrings 2-3 cm long. Oak acorns are usually oblong, growing from 1.5 to 5 cm. In summer, acorns are green, in autumn they turn yellow and fall off.

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Determining age by rings

The easiest way to find out how old a tree is, known to everyone since childhood, is to count the number of annual rings or concentric circles on the cut of the stump. It is believed that a plant grows one such circle in one year of life.

To count the years, you need to count from the dark-colored pith to the bark. To accurately determine the age, you should add 5 to the sum of the rings. If the tree is young, then the increase should be 3–4.

If you look closely at the circles, you will notice that they are different in thickness and color. This depends on the weather conditions observed in different years. By the differences in the circles, you can determine what year it was - warm, cold, rainy, dry, etc. The widest rings can be seen on young specimens.

Important! To make the rings appear more clearly, the cut must be cleaned with sandpaper and moistened with water.

Picture This is a tree identification app.

After the program opens, select the option to upload pictures. Photos can be added from the gallery, or taken on the spot using the camera on your phone. Tap the desired option with your finger.

Ways to add a photo

If you decide to make an image right now, try to place the desired part of the tree in the “sight” in the form of a flower with five leaves. It should look clear at the same time. If you don't get the plant in focus, you won't get an accurate result.

Shooting a plant through a camera

When the application processes the photo, you can read a detailed article about the photographed tree. Select the most plausible result from the list of options and go to the encyclopedic help.

Birch

This beauty is quite easy to recognize. Its white trunk is covered with thin bark that peels off in horizontal stripes.

The bark of an adult oak is brownish-gray. It is cut through by deep vertical “wrinkles”. In a healthy tree it does not peel off; it takes effort to separate a piece.

Some interesting facts about leaves

• The most delicate leaves are those of a fern called maidenhair fern. There are simply no thinner ones in nature.
• The sharpest leaves are those of the putang grass. The local population says that this grass is sharper than a knife.
• Cypress has more than 45 million leaves.
• Welwitschia never grows more than two leaves.
• Victoria water lily has leaves more than two meters in diameter.
• The leaf length of the Raffia palm tree is 20 meters.
• Not all plants shed their leaves for the winter. There are those called evergreens.

Climate change

Based on the data obtained, scientists were able to establish that the average temperature on the planet dropped by 0.3 degrees every millennium. This continued until the beginning of the twentieth century - the Industrial World Revolution. The development of scientific and technological progress has led to a significant increase in the amount of greenhouse gases on Earth. Dendrochronologists have not studied this period in detail.

During the time of the Roman gladiators, the climate on the planet was much warmer. The Middle Ages can also be called a “warm phase”. Then came a cold snap that continued every year until 1900. Our modern man, on the contrary, is now concerned about global warming. As you can see, even a small cut from a tree branch can tell a lot. Unfortunately, with the onset of the greenhouse effect, with conditions in which the atmosphere is polluted and the climate depends, in some way, on human activity, dendrochronological data can only indicate temperature fluctuations.

Types and color of leaves

Oddly enough, the color of a leaf often does not depend on its shape or location. It’s just that this color is inherent in the plant, that’s all.

What makes up the color of a leaf? In summer, almost all plants are colored green due to the presence of a special pigment in their tissues - chlorophyll. This substance helps plants maintain their vital functions; with its help, the plant performs an unprecedented trick: during the daytime it synthesizes glucose from carbon dioxide. In turn, glucose becomes the building material for all essential nutrients.

Leaves with a complex structure

Types of leaves of trees and plants form the second large group - complex. They are called complex because they have several plates. They are conventionally divided into ternate, palmate and pinnate.

Representatives of the flora with trifoliate leaves are garden strawberries and wild strawberries, clover. Their distinctive feature is three leaves on one petiole. The belief about the four-leaf clover passes from generation to generation. It is impossible to find such a plant.

Palmate leaves include the leaves of horse chestnut and garden lupine.

Pinnately - leaves of raspberry, rowan, pea. They also have their own subspecies: those with two leaves at the end of the stem, for example, like a pea, are paripirnate, and the rose is imparipinnate, with a petiole ending in one.

Classification of lumber

Lumber manufacturers offer customers two types of boards: edged and unedged.

Edged board is a rectangular material made by special processing (planing). Careful sanding allows you to install edged boards directly to the desired area.

An unedged board is a material that has uncut edges on the sides. This type of product is several times cheaper than edged.

The grade of wood is determined according to various criteria, which include: size, humidity, presence of irregularities, etc.

The wood classification has 5 grades, ranging from selected boards to wood scraps.

1. Selected variety is the highest quality and most prestigious of all. The material does not have knots, stepsons, cracks from shrinkage and bark residues. It also lacks putrefactive lesions and other similar defects. The boards are used in automotive production and shipbuilding. They are used to make masts for yachts, deck coverings and high-quality luxury furniture.
2. 1st grade is a popular and sought-after product. This includes lumber with a minimum number of knots and cracks. The boards are free of putrefactive damage, through holes, traces of parasites, as well as mold and other foreign elements. First grade wood is used for the manufacture of critical structures, door and window blocks.
3. 2nd grade - this category includes lumber with small “defects” that do not spoil the appearance of the product. The presence of deep cracks, rotten knots, and rottenness is not allowed. Acceptable defects include the presence of loose knots with a diameter of up to 20 mm. Such boards are used to lay sheathing or build wooden panels.
4. 3rd grade - a group of lumber with low quality. The products are intended for the production of transport packaging boxes, decking or pallets. The main requirement is the absence of large fused knots and deep cracks. Traces of wormholes, through cracks, tobacco knots and mold are quite acceptable. In addition, this type has a fairly low load-bearing capacity.
5. Grade 4 is the cheapest class of lumber, which involves a large number of flaws. Products are often used for the construction of temporary fences and enclosures, sheds, and outbuildings. Acceptable defects: roughness, wingedness, general rot damage, fused knots, presence of wane.

The varieties listed above differ in cost and quality. However, any product always finds a use. The first 3 types of wood are suitable for construction needs, and all the rest are used for cladding or flooring, or for the production of containers.

PlantNet - determines what kind of tree is in the picture

A simple PlantNet app is available in the App Store. It is also available for download on Google Play.

How to use it:

Result of searching for a tree by photo

You will also be able to confirm the search result by participating in the development of the project. However, to do this you will need to create an account.

PlantNet is a completely free project built by enthusiasts. You will not find any advertising in this program.

A real disaster

One tree can have dozens or even hundreds of mistletoe bushes of different sizes and ages. Yes, looking at its evergreen beauty, especially in a dull autumn or winter landscape, is really pleasant. But this beauty is deceptive and very dangerous.

And yet, the most effective and efficient way to combat mistletoe is to cut down the affected branches and burn them. Moreover, it is necessary to cut not only the bushes themselves, but also to capture part of the branch of the host plant on which the parasite has settled: new bushes will later begin to form from the roots hidden in the wood. In addition, you need to destroy mistletoe both in your garden and on wild trees in the area to prevent its re-introduction into the area.

She doesn't care

The first few mistletoe do not bloom, and then in March-April it produces buds - inconspicuous greenish-yellow flowers with a diameter of 1-3 mm. And large white milky fruits (8-10 mm in diameter), similar to berries, ripen in October-November. Inside them there is sticky pulp and one (rarely two) large oval grain, covered with a layer of viscous mucus.

Mistletoe, unlike other plants, is not afraid of either heat or cold: its leaves, both in winter and summer, are always juicy and the same green-yellow color.

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Pine

The pine trunk is reddish-brown in color, with lighter scales on its surface. They peel off easily. A distinctive feature of all conifers will be drops of resin emerging from small cracks.

The bark of spruce is darker than that of pine. And the scales are also light, brownish-yellow. There may be resin leaks between them.