Why do trees need bark? Detailed answer

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Why do trees need bark? Detailed answer

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Why do trees need bark?

The outer shell of a tree trunk or root is called the bark. However, calling it a shell is wrong; rather, it is the outer part of the trunk or root. It is sometimes quite difficult to determine its thickness, because in trees such as palm trees, for example, there is no clear boundary between bark and wood at all. Why do trees need bark? One of its main functions is that it protects the inner, more delicate part of the tree. The bark not only prevents it from drying out, but also protects from all kinds of external damage.

The bark of some trees is even capable of resisting flames. There are cases when mammoth trees were found in America with traces of a fire on a thick, fibrous bark, while the reliably protected wood turned out to be intact. The process of bark formation can take years. For example, on a very young shoot of a maple, there is no hard bark as such, and small branches have an absolutely smooth surface. Therefore, when the woody layer of such a shoot begins to grow, the soft outer skin may burst in one place or another. However, damage of this kind, as a rule, is not terrible for a tree and heals itself from the inside.

Gradually, one by one, sections of the outer shell of a young plant dry up and die; it is these dead scales that give the bark its rough appearance. Some of them are constantly broken off or shed by the tree itself as it grows and matures. People have learned to use the bark of many trees for their practical needs. For example, almost all wood corks are made from the bark of the cork oak. The bark of the hemlock is used for tanning leather. The spice used in cooking, known to us as "cinnamon", is nothing more than the powdered bark of a tree growing in Southeast Asia.

Quinine - a wonderful medicine against malaria - is obtained from the bark of the cinchona tree. In medicine, in general, many extracts from the bark of branches and roots of various tree species are used.

Author: Likum A.

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