The Forest plants Cover a range of common forest whose characteristic is that the great majority of the trees present were established at the site by planting.
While a monoculture forest of geometric form of non-native species is an artificial plantation there are many ancient and famous forests in Europe that are however natural.
Examples include the New Forest in Britain, parts of the Black Forest in Germany, areas of the Foret de Compiegne in France and most of the forest in Denmark.
In general terms, there is no internationally agreed definition of forest plantations, although the term"planted forest"is now used to cover the types of forest where the forest origin is known to be sowing. Different countries have varying degrees of management and different objectives for planted forests.
However, planted forests are still considered forest plantations, which still have characteristics of uniformity, shape and often intensity of management that are easily distinguished from artificial plantations.
Types of forest plants
Bromeliads
The most common epiphytes are bromeliads. Bromeliads are flowering plants whose long leaves are arranged in a rosette that adhere to the host tree by wrapping its roots around its branches.
Its leaves channel the water towards a central"deposit". The deposit of a bromelia is a habitat in itself and as important data the water is not only used by the plant, but also by many animals of the tropical forest.
Birds and mammals drink from the deposit of this plant. In addition, many tadpoles grow there, putting the insects their eggs.
Heliconias or birds of paradise
Heliconias are flowering plants that grow in the tropical forests of the Americas. Specifically in the forest, and its brightly colored flowers attract the hummingbirds, which pollinate the plant.
They are popular all over the world and are used as ornamental plants. They are also known as"lobster claws"because of the shape of the flowers.
Buganvilla or trinitaria
It is a colorful plant in the rainforest, native to South America. They are grown as ornamental plants in other areas. Bougainvilleas are well known for their beautiful flowers that grow around the actual flower.
Amazon water lily
The Amazon water lily is an aquatic plant that grows in the lakes and rivers of South American rainforests. Its huge leaves can be up to 3 meters in diameter.
It has rows of sharp thorns at the bottom of its leaves and this discourages rainforest animals like manatees from eating them.
Orchids
There are many types of forest orchids and these are often epiphytes. Some have specially adapted roots that allow them to capture water and nutrients from the air. Others, however, have roots extending over the branch of the host tree.
One of the best-known species of this plant is the vanilla orchid, first used as a flavoring by the Aztecs. Today, the word"vanilla"is generally used to describe a flavor, rather than the plant from which it comes.
Vanilla orchids grow climbing up other trees and are pollinated by hummingbirds and melipon bees. These grow in Central and South America.
On the other hand, the most recognizable plants of a forest are its trees, although there are many other plants that thrive in the forest biome such as shrubs, wild flowers, ferns and mosses all can be found on the shady forest floor.
The types of forest trees are
Among the trees of the forest plantations we find timber and non-timber. As for the first type are:
Mahogany
The mahogany tree has characteristics that distinguish it from other tropical wood trees. It has a long and clean trunk, which sometimes extends from 18 to 24 meters in height.
Its gray-brown bark is fairly smooth and grows on large ridges or individual scales. In turn, the leaf of the mahogany tree is composed, similar to that of the hard nut.
The flower is very small, yellowish red, and tulip shaped. The seed grows inside a large woody capsule vertically. Interestingly, these seeds are the same golden brown color as that of aged mahogany.
Mahogany grows in rather specific climatic zones, including the West Indies, particularly Cuba, Santo Domingo and Jamaica, with small quantities of the same varieties in the extreme south of Florida.
In the American continent, mahogany extends from southern Mexico, northern Guatemala and Honduras, through Central America to northern Colombia and Venezuela. African mahogany is produced in Côte d'Ivoire, Gold Coast and Nigeria and is found in West Africa and parts of East Africa.
Oak
Oak trees are hardy trees with very long lives, can live up to 200 years or even longer. One of the oldest oak trees on record was in Talbot County, Maryland and is believed to be about 400 years old.
Mature trees can absorb almost 50 gallons of water on a daily basis through their root system and produce acorns from the age of 20. However, oaks produce more than 2,000 acorns each year, but only one in 10,000 acorns will become oak.
These trees live in the northern hemisphere and can survive in diverse forests, including temperate, Mediterranean and tropical climates. Oaks are prone to fungal diseases that can induce decay of the inner part of the plant.
Its wood is very strong and hard and is used in the manufacture of ships, furniture, floors and also used in the manufacture of barrels for the storage of vine, whiskey, brandy and other liqueurs. In addition, it adds a special aroma to these drinks.
Cedar
Cedar is a perennial tree that belongs to the family of pines (the term"cedar"is sometimes used to describe more than 30 species of plants belonging to three different families: Pinaceae, Cupressaceae and Meliaceae).
Cedar is native to the Himalayas and Mediterranean region, but can be found in temperate zones around the world. People cultivate cedar because of its ornamental morphology and scented wood, durable and resistant that has application in the construction industry and furniture.
This tree has a dark gray or brown bark and produces two types of shoots: long and short. The cedar crown usually has a pyramidal shape and its leaves are covered with a thick layer of white wax that avoids the loss of water.
The color of the leaves depends on the thickness of the wax and as a curiosity this tree does not produce flowers. Cedar wood was widely used in the past for the manufacture of boxes, boats, tools and weapons.
The fragrant oil extracted from the heart of cedar was used during the process of mummification in ancient Egypt and as a data to highlight this tree can survive more than 300 years.
On the other hand, in the case of non-timber trees the following types can be mentioned:
Rubber tree
This tree produces a milky latex sap that can be recovered from the plant once it matures at an age of about 6 years. They are native to the rainforest region of South America, as well as the tropical forests of Sumatra, Himalayas, India, Nepal and Java.
The tree can reach 30 meters in height and the leaves of the rubber tree are bright, oval shaped and dark green. They can reach 35 centimeters in length and up to 15.24 centimeters in width.
This type grows rapidly, and like most trees in the rainforest, it can reach full size in as little as 13 years. The tree grows best in the sunlight and although it is more suited to the hot and humid climate of the rainforest, it can survive in extremely dry conditions.
Among others Forest resources , Rubber is obtained from the trunk of trees and is used for all types of rubber products. As a curiosity, the seeds are a source of oil for the manufacture of soaps.
However, in the last 50 years, these forest plantations have not always been established on land devoid of tree cover, at least in the last 50 years.
By 2050, the total area of plantations is expected to exceed 200 million hectares, because of its productivity, generally higher than in natural forests, making forest plants the main source of timber products world.
References
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- Softschools Editors. (2005). Cedar Facts. 8-2-2017, from Softschools.com Website: softschools.com.
- Missouri Botanical Garden. (2002). Plant Adaptations. 8-2-2017, from mbgnet.net Website: mbgnet.net.
- Lea, D. (2002). Characteristics of Plants That Survive in a Rainforest. 8-2-2017, from E How Website: ehow.com/list.
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