Live Tree or Die Debate Resources
Use these sources to research your assigned tree for the Live Tree or Die debate. Start with the general guides and encyclopedias, then use the catalogs and databases for species-specific detail.
A Guide To Trees
Covers the basics of what makes something a tree, deciduous vs. coniferous categories, the parts of a tree, and how trees support wildlife through every stage of their life — good place to start for background before researching a specific species.
All State and Territory Trees
A table of every official U.S. state, federal district, and territory tree, with common name, scientific name, adoption year, and a photo of each — useful if your tree is a state symbol.
NH Big Trees Catalog
UNH's NH Big Tree Program tracks the largest known example of each species in the state through an interactive map of over 1,000 champion trees, with measurements and locations for each one.
Arbor Day Tree Guide
A field guide for identifying common North American trees by leaf shape and other features, sold through the Arbor Day Foundation's online store.
Bower and Branch Encyclopedia
A nursery's "library of knowledge" on flowering trees, evergreens, fruit trees, and shade trees, with growing and care information alongside the plants it sells.
Morton Arboretum Center for Tree Research
A searchable tree and plant database you can filter by type, size, hardiness zone, and growing conditions, plus curated collections and expert advice from the Arboretum's Plant Clinic.
Silvics of North America
Detailed scientific chapters on individual conifer and hardwood species native to North America, covering characteristics, habitat, and forest management — more technical than the general guides above.
Trees and Shrubs Online
A free encyclopedia with over 16,000 articles and 30,500 images on woody plants that grow in temperate climates, covering identification, history, and care.
The Complete Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs
A digitized reference book with over 1,400 color photographs, organized both alphabetically by genus and by general botanical characteristics.
“Treesearch”
A searchable database of peer-reviewed forestry research papers and technical reports from the U.S. Forest Service.
This is for academic papers. If you're looking for an extra challenge, look for information about your tree here — but don't start your research on this page.
NH's Own State Tree
New Hampshire's official state tree is the white (paper) birch, named in 1947. Native peoples used its papery, waterproof bark to build canoes — and to write on.
Source: NH.gov, State Symbols USALive Oaks Stay “Live”
Georgia's state tree, the southern live oak, gets its name because it's evergreen — it stays green (“live”) through winter while most other oaks go bare.
Source: State Symbols USAWorld's Tallest
Hyperion, a coast redwood in California, is the tallest known tree on Earth at about 380 feet tall — taller than a 35-story building.
Source: Wikipedia, Guinness World RecordsDo Trees Die of Old Age?
Not really. Trees are usually killed by fire, disease, drought, storms, or people — not aging itself. Some species barely show the effects of age at all, which is part of why a few individual trees are thousands of years old.
Source: ScienceDaily, New PhytologistCalifornia Has Two
California couldn't pick just one: since 1953 it has officially recognized both the coast redwood and the giant sequoia as its state tree.
Source: Save the Redwoods LeagueOne Tree, Four States
Sugar maple is the official state tree of New York, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin — more states than any other species.
Source: State Symbols USAYou Can Eat Texas's State Tree
Texas's state tree, the pecan, is the only U.S. state tree that's also a major food crop. Pecan trees can live over 1,000 years and grow past 100 feet tall.
Source: Texas Highways, State Symbols USAWorld's Largest
By volume, the biggest tree alive is General Sherman, a giant sequoia in California with roughly 52,500 cubic feet of wood — enough lumber to frame about 120 houses.
Source: National Park ServiceWorld's Oldest (Named)
Methuselah, a Great Basin bristlecone pine in California, is over 4,850 years old — older than the pyramids of Giza. Its exact location is kept secret to protect it.
Source: Conservation International, USDAThe World's Biggest Living Thing
Pando, a single quaking aspen in Utah, has cloned itself into 47,000 trunks sharing one root system. It may be up to 80,000 years old — a strong candidate for the oldest and largest organism on Earth.
Source: Live Science, Natural History Museum of Utah