TreeNote

Like Europe's giant Gothic cathedrals, there are large trees that rely on flying buttresses for support.

It’s no wonder that trees have long inspired artists. Not only are they beautiful, they also symbolize renewal, growth, time, knowledge and spirituality.

You may have heard of crepuscular animals — those that are most active during dawn and dusk — but what about the world of crepuscular trees?

No chocolate fan has to wonder why the scientific name of the cacao tree translate from the Greek to "the food of the gods."

When winter settles in, it’s great to get outside to navigate our snowy landscapes. But we don’t often think about how our winter adventures are often brought to us by trees.

The origin story of those little tree-shaped, pine-scented air fresheners goes back to a milkman who preferred the smell of fresh pine to sour milk.

Birds and trees are natural partners, but the Great Green Macaw and the Almendro Amarillo tree depend on each other for survival.

The connection between trees and puppetry goes back for centuries.

I recently took the train from Salt Lake City to California, my first such experience in decades. Each mile, my train passed over 3,000 railroad ties — nearly all of them made from trees.

With the holidays come evergreen wreaths on people's doors and windows — which got host Nalini Nadkarni asking: Where does all of this holiday greenery come from?

These two tree resins have a long human history, and these days are in danger of being over sourced.

Orchestras are full of wooden instruments, but the piece that unifies the group is the one that most of us forget about.

You've seen coconuts, but what about the giant — and wonky — double coconuts?

The first time I helped my mom make a pumpkin pie for our Thanksgiving dinner, my job was to retrieve the spaces for the filling. I knew what cinnamon and nutmeg were, but what in the world was allspice?

It's that time of year when nature goes all-in on leaf demolition. So, what's the process?

In the four decades that I've studied treetop biology, I've always focused on canopy-dwelling plants. But forests also support a fascinating array of arboreal animals.

One of my favorite traits of maple trees is how they distribute their seeds.

If you look up at a forest canopy, you might see what look like tangled clusters of twigs scattered among the branches.

Trees grace many works of fiction. Think of the magnificent treehouse in “The Swiss Family Robinson,” a beautiful, elevated place of safety on a deserted island.

Clarinets are made from a tree in the rosewood family, a dense hardwood that allows makers to create instruments with long vibrations and resonant tones.

On a recent visit to south Florida, I was intrigued to learn about Spanish moss, a plant that looks like wispy gray hair draped in the crowns of live oak and other trees in subtropical woodlands.