What makes a tree work? That's a question that is posed to our staff on a regular basis. Here's a quick primer on the ins and outs of tree anatomy.

 

Inside a tree
Under a protective layer of bark, each tree trunk has a series of inner layers. Moving from the outside in, the first layer is the phloem, or inner bark. It transports sap and sugars from the needles or leaves to nourish the rest of the tree. Next is the cambium. This is the growing part of the tree where new layers of wood and bark are produced. Under the cambium is the xylem, or sapwood. This is where water and nutrients are transported to the rest of the tree. At the center of the tree trunk is the heartwood. The heartwood helps hold up the tree and gives it a rigid structure.

In addition to figuring out how old a tree is by counting the growth rings it produces each year, you can see how fast it grew. A wide ring shows that the tree grew quickly that year. If the ring is narrower, the tree grew slowly.

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