Trees have had a huge impact on human culture. The Buddha’s fig tree, the Tree of Knowledge, Newton’s apple tree - trees from nature and myth have shaped how we see ourselves and the world around us.

Trees are so ubiquitous, you might think you know everything there is to know about our leafy neighbors. But here are some facts that might surprise you...

The Pando Tree in Central Utah began as a single seed and has now spread over 106 acres... that's roughly the size of 106 football fields!

Trees can also be really tall, like the Californian redwoods...

...which can grow to be over 115m high! But this isn't the highest up a tree has ever been, because...

One small step for a seed, one giant leap for tree-kind. On January 31, 1971, Apollo 14 left on the third NASA trip to the moon, carrying three astronauts and 500 tree seeds into space.

Once back on Earth, these seedlings were planted across the U.S. and became known as the 'Moon Trees'.

Just like us, trees have social networks that scientists have called the 'Wood Wide Web'. Through an underground network of fungi and bacteria they can communicate and share resources.

Trees clean air and store carbon. They provide food, timber, fuel, and medicine. Scientists call these benefits ‘ecosystem services’. If trees were to disappear, humans would have to pay billions of dollars for these services.

Despite their critical importance to humans and ecosystems, trees are under increasing threat, with around 35% of the world’s trees at risk of extinction. Learn more about rare and threatened species with Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Native range: Yemen
Conservation status: Vulnerable
The dragon's blood tree may look funny, but its shape is no joke: The dense crown absorbs moisture during Yemen's monsoon season and provides shade for the roots below, helping reduce evaporation when the rains subside.

Native range: Madagascar
Conservation status: Endangered
The largest of Madagascar's baobab species, the Grandidier is noted for its enormous, cylindrical trunk, which can span up to 3 meters across. Locals prize the bark, the long fibers of which can be spun into sturdy rope.

Native range: United States, Mexico
Conservation status: Least Concern
A resident of the Mojave Desert, where rainfall is rare, the shaggy Joshua tree sends its roots up to 11 meters beneath the sandy soil in search of moisture. Unlike most trees, the Joshua lacks growth rings.

Native range: United States
Conservation status: Least Concern
Great Basin bristlecone pines live to fantastic ages: The oldest known specimen is more than 4,800 years old (its precise location a secret), and dead bristlecones as old as 7,000 years have been found still standing.

Native range: United States
Conservation status: Endangered
The world's tallest tree species, the coast redwood reaches up to 115 meters in height and some 8 meters in diameter — wide enough to drive your car through.

Native range: Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Philippines
Conservation status: Vulnerable
Every summer, this rainforest dweller sheds its outer skin to reveal a painter's palette of greens, yellows, reds, oranges and even shades of purple in its underlying bark.

Native range: India
Conservation status: n/a
To support its sprawling canopy, the banyan tree sprouts special above-ground roots that help prop up the heavier branches. One tree, known as The Great Banyan, sports a canopy larger than three football fields.

Native range: Central and South America
Conservation status: Least Concern
This tree has a close relationship with a species of ant that lives within the trunk. Venomous and territorial, these ants are known for attacking intruders who venture too close to Triplaris americana.

Native range: Canada, United States
Conservation status: Near Threatened
Though its foliage is poisonous and its fruit sometimes deadly, the Pacific yew is a life-saver. In the 1970s, researchers studying the tree isolated the compound paclitaxel, an important cancer medication.

Native range: Europe, Asia
Conservation status: Least Concern
Ancient peoples knew that white willow bark was effective in relieving pain, but it wasn't until the 19th century that researchers isolated the key compound, salicylic acid, which today is used to make aspirin.

Native range: South Africa, Namibia
Conservation status: Critically Endangered
One of the rarest trees, the bastard quiver tree is found only within a 200 square-kilometer area on the border between South Africa and Namibia. Fewer than 5,000 specimens are thought to remain.

Native range: United States
Conservation status: n/a
Located in Utah, Pando is the name of a single quaking aspen that has cloned itself over the millennia. Today, the tree covers 108 acres and weighs more than 6,600 tons, making it the largest organism on Earth by mass.

Native range: Asia, Europe
Conservation status: Least Concern
A native of harsh taiga regions, the Dahurian larch is the northernmost tree in the world — even growing within the Arctic Circle — and one of the hardiest, withstanding temperatures as low as -70°F / -21°C

Native range: United States
Conservation status: Least Concern
The bald cypress is well adapted to swampy areas: The stump-like protrusions that surround the tree are actually a type of aerial root that are thought to help the tree breathe and keep it anchored in the soft soil.

Native range: North America
Conservation status: Least Concern
A fixture of the hilly Appalachian woodlands, the sweet birch offers several edible options for the hungry hiker: Its bark can be eaten raw, its twigs can be used to make tea, and birch beer can be brewed from its sap.

Native range: China
Conservation status: Endangered
The tenacious ginkgo has been around since the dinosaurs — making its debut in the fossil record some 200 million years ago. The tree produces beautiful, fan-shaped leaves that have become staples of traditional Chinese medicine.

So much, but our relationship with them goes beyond a cost-benefit analysis. They provide oxygen for us to breathe as well as vital food, fuel, construction material, refuge and relaxation. Without trees, life as we know it would be unimaginably different.

Here in the Forest of Dean, ancient lime and yew trees cling onto rocks quarried by Iron Age and Roman settlers. They offer a glimpse of a late prehistoric world nearly two millennia ago. Undisturbed, these amazing trees prove that nature will always find a way.

Spectacular ornamental cherries, have been cultivated in Japan for over a thousand years and are now grown around the world. Millions of people enjoy stunning displays of blossom each spring. In Japan this custom of enjoying the transient beauty of flowers is known as 'hanami'.

Every autumn we are treated to a dazzling display of colour as deciduous trees reabsorb the chlorophyll from their leaves, revealing other colourful pigments. Warm days and cold nights are needed for the best displays and so the colours of autumn may change as the climate warms.

Britain's woods are home to nearly 50% of the global population of our native bluebell. Flowering in early spring, they create a beautiful blue carpet which is often found beneath the canopy of beech trees. They are enjoyed by early pollinators such as bees and hoverflies.

Leafless deciduous trees can often be overlooked in winter months without their vibrant foliage. But look closely and we have a unique opportunity to observe the true form of a tree, in all its striking glory. Add snow, and you have something really magical.

The relationship between fungi and trees is almost co-dependent. Underground fungal networks, known as mycelia, allow trees to communicate and exchange nutrients with one another. Fungi are also crucial to breaking down dead wood to replenish soil nutrients for the next generation of trees.

This rare native Devon whitebeam is found exclusively in the county and often grows along hedgerows. Devon has some of the oldest and most bio-rich hedgerows in the world, providing food in the form of berries and crucial wildlife highways that allow species to flourish.

This striking root display was caused by a river eroding the tree’s supporting soil. However trees, like all living things, have an innate instinct to adapt and survive, which is what caused this root system to journey downward like straws and adapt to a difficult situation.

Pests and diseases are part of the life of many trees. One of these is the oak leaf roller moth, which plagues oak trees. These insects lay eggs that hatch in spring, just in time for the caterpillar to eat newly developing leaves. This defoliation can be damaging, but rarely fatal.

Dutch elm disease is caused by a fungus carried by elm beetles. Their larvae grow under the bark of the tree and leave distinctive 'feeding galleries' as they search for food.  

The fungi block the elm tree’s ability to transport water, often causing it to fail. It is thought that over 30 million elm trees have been lost in Britain since the 1960s.

According to satellite data, from 2002 through 2019, global tropical forest loss averaged 3.36 million hectares (8.3 million acres) a year — an area larger than Belgium.

More than half the world’s tropical forests have been destroyed since the 1960s.

In 2019, the world lost an entire soccer field worth of primary rainforest every six seconds.

Between 2001 and 2019, Brazil lost 565,000 square kilometers (218,148 square miles) of tree cover — an area larger than the state of California — to deforestation.

Ghana saw a 60 percent spike in the loss of its primary forests between 2017 and 2018 — more than any other tropical country.

Commercial agriculture — such as cattle ranching, soy cultivation and oil palm plantations — drives 40 percent of deforestation worldwide. Mining, infrastructure and urbanization are also key culprits.

Globally, the formal forest sector provides 45 million jobs and about US$ 580 billion in labor income. Estimates are likely much higher if the informal forest sector is included.

Deforestation impacts 1.6 billion rural people worldwide who rely on forests for their livelihoods — most live in extreme poverty.

Forests release carbon dioxide when they are cleared or burnt. About 12 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions come from deforestation — roughly equivalent to emissions from all the cars and trucks on Earth.

By 2050, the global demand for food could double. Using existing farmland more efficiently could feed more people without clearing additional forests and wetlands.