1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Tree

TREE (O. Eng. trēo, treow cf. Dan. trae, Swed. träd, tree, trä, timber; allied forms are found in Russ. drevo, Gr. δρῦς , oak, and δόρυ, spear, Welsh derw, Irish darog, oak, and Skr. dāru, wood), the term, applied in a wide sense, to all plants which grow with a permanent single woody stem or trunk of some height, branching out at some distance from the ground. There is a somewhat vague dividing line, in popular nomenclature, between “shrubs” and “trees,” the former term being usually applied to plants with several stems, of lower height, and bushy in growth. The various species to which the name “tree” can be given are treated under their individual titles, e.g. oak, ash, elm, &c.; the articles Fir and Pine treat of two large groups of conifers; general information is provided by the articles Plants and Gymnosperms; tree cultivation will be found under Forests and Forestry and Horticulture; and the various types of tree whose wood is useful for practical purposes under Timber. Apart from this general meaning of the word, the chief transferred use is that for a piece of wood used for various specific purposes, as a framework, bar, &c., such as the tree of a saddle, axle-tree, cross-tree, &c.