Mary Jo DiLonardo has worked in print, online, and broadcast journalism for 25 years and covers nature, health, science, and animals. Young trees sometimes have smooth bark that's unbroken by ridges.

Gardeners who limit their love to leaves and flowers are barking up the wrong tree. Sure, those ephemeral features are undeniably seductive, but their allure is limited to warmer months. In the ...

Well known as one of the best trees for a Japanese garden, acers are prized for their fall color, especially this one whose ...

The seasons are changing from fall to winter, and one of the major changes to the environment is that the deciduous trees have lost their leaves. Evergreen trees may still have green needles, but all ...

Here it is, the season of same-old-same-old: same old freezing rain, same old snow, same old chill winds, gray skies and barren, shivering timbers. In most parts of the country, it is the season of ...

The center of a tree or shrub stem (from roots to trunk, branches, and twigs) is woody, composed of xylem cells that conduct water from the roots to the upper parts of the tree. That woody section is ...