Trees are the largest land plants. Currently, forest areas cover about 1/3 of Poland's territory, with the most numerous species of conifers, mainly pines.Oaks and birches predominate in deciduous plantings.The oldest Polish oak, Bartek, is over 600 years old and is already a monument of nature.
Since the dawn of time, trees have been attributed with magical power, associating them with power and durability. They were planted to commemorate important events in human life. Trees have always been respected and venerated.
Now that you can observe them leafless, you can see all their majesty and dignity. Each species has certain identifiers that make the tree recognizable even without leaves.These are the habit, the bark, and in the micro scale - the buds that form for the next year.
Adult trees with well-developed external organs are particularly easy to identify. The bark is smooth, as if cast from lead, and is characteristic of beech. In contrast, the bark of the oak is dark and furrowed.
The bark is a natural protective shield for trees, just like the skin for us. It protects internal cells against drying out, pests and fungal diseases.At the same time, it is home to thousands of living organisms, from microscopic larvae to bed bugs, beetles and other insects that live either under the bark or in the bark and on the bark.
Only a few of them are pests, like the bark beetle. Rather, they are creatures for whom the tree is a natural environment in which they are only a food link. The real specialists in picking out the more delicious insects from under the bark are the woodpecker and the blacksmith.
At this time of the year, the bark of trees, especially young plants, is also of interest to other representatives of the animal world, headed by deerA deer, in search of additional food, literally strips young trees of bark on the entire diameter of the trunk, disturbing the distribution of food in the plant. As a result, the plant dies.
In winter, frost cracks in the bark are also dangerous. When the temperature difference is large, the bark may flake off.When this happens, fresh, still young, soft patches of bark can be bent to the trunk and tied with tape.After a few months, the tape must be removed. The bark can be painted with lime.
Cutting the bark with a knife to, for example, carve out initials, is an unpleasant experience for plants, because it exposes he althy tissue to attacks from pathogens.The wounds heal over time, but the trace remains. And here's a curiosity, it turns out that trees grow upwards only in the highest part of the trunk.
In the lower part, the trunk grows only in thickness.So if, during a winter walk in the park or forest, we notice a sign cut out in the trunk, we can be sure that in a year and in two will be at the same height.
