Page 14 - The Tree Book

Trunks and bark
A tree trunk holds up the branches of a tree, just like a skeleton holds up your body. Trunks are very sturdy and strong because they have to support the weight of all the branches.
Bark
If you cut through a trunk, you will see lots of rings in the wood, which tell you how old a tree is.
Rings
2
1
A new ring appears every year. If the rings are close together, it means the tree didn’t grow very much that year. If the rings are wide apart, the tree grew very quickly.
1. Trunk 2. Branch
Blotchy, yellow lichen Bark isn’t always brown, sometimes grows on bark it can be white too
Tree trunks are covered in a tough outer layer called bark. It protects the inside of the tree from insects and also stops the tree from drying out in hot weather. Different types of tree have different types of bark. A young tree has smooth bark, but as it gets older the bark becomes cracked and wrinkly.