Top 10 facts about trees



Ten things you didn't know about trees



This is National Tree Week, an annual celebration run by The Tree Council since 1975. See treecouncil.org.uk for details of their 40th anniversary celebrations.

 

1. “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening my axe.” (Abraham Lincoln)

2. The ficus religiosa, or sacred fig, is said to be the only tree that rustles its leaves when the air is still.

3. Gautama Buddha attained enlightenment while meditating beneath a ficus religiosa tree. 

 

The sacred fig, is said to be the only tree that rustles its leaves when the air is still

 

According to the Forestry Commission, there are 123,127,900 trees outside woodland in the UK

4. In 1988, an arboretum of some 40 trees mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays was planted at Anne Hathaway’s Cottage near Stratford-upon-Avon.

5. According to the Forestry Commission, there are 123,127,900 trees outside woodland in the UK.

6. A 100ft tall tree can absorb 50lb of carbon dioxide and produce 6,000lb of oxygen in a year.

7. The ailanthus altissima, or tree of heaven, is said to be the only tree that can grow in cement.

 

In Greater London, there are about the same number of trees as people: around nine million

8. Every US state has a state tree. Sugar Maple is the most popular being the state tree of New York, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

9. In Greater London, there are about the same number of trees as people: around nine million.

10. In Norse mythology, the Gods met each day at a sacred ash tree called Yggdrasil which was the meeting point of the nine worlds of their cosmos.