Roots, Trunk, and Branches in the Summer

What Do Roots Do?

Roots have many functions. You already know that roots absorb water from the soil. At the same time, they absorb minerals that the tree uses to grow tissues.

Roots have another very important function: they serve to anchor the tree in the soil so that the first windstorm doesn't blow it over!

Roots Are Sponges

Well, to be precise, the roots don't take up water and minerals from the soil. That's done by what we call root hairs, which grow on the roots. They act a little like sponges.

Roots, which are woody like the tree's trunk and branches, transport the water and mineral salts to the tree's trunk and cells.

Branches

A tree grows both in height and girth each year. The branches stretch skyward to get as much light as possible.

The trunk and branches grow to support an increasing number of leaves and branches.

Most of this growth occurs in the spring, well before summer officially arrives, because there is an abundance of water in the soil.

Wood Cells and Annual Rings

The wood produced in the spring is called early wood. When summer arrives, growth slows since there is less water in the soil. Fewer and smaller wood cells are produced then. This wood is referred to as late wood.

In late summer, the tree stops producing wood cells. It would rather put its energy into storing reserves and producing buds. Early wood and late wood differ in color, which allows us to distinguish annual rings. Each year, therefore, the tree produces one ring. The age of a tree can be determined by counting its annual rings.

Bark

The bark's main purpose is to protect the tree. It's a little bit like our skin. The bark protects the tree against disease, insects, fire, drought, injury, and animals.