Evergreen and deciduous trees
Biology · Key Stage 1 · The School
Two kinds of tree
Deciduous trees lose all their leaves in autumn. They stay bare all winter. New leaves grow back in spring. Evergreen trees keep their leaves all year. They never look bare.
Examples to spot
Oak, horse chestnut and silver birch are deciduous. Look for bare branches in winter. Holly, pine and fir are evergreen. Look for green leaves even in the coldest months.
Needles instead of leaves
Many evergreen trees have needles, not flat leaves. Pine and fir trees are like this. Needles are thin and waxy. This helps them survive frost and wind. Holly has waxy leaves too, with a different shape.
Why deciduous trees drop their leaves
Leaves lose water all the time. In winter, the ground is often frozen. Frozen ground means less water for roots to take in. Dropping leaves saves water the tree cannot easily replace. It is a way of surviving winter, not a sign of dying.
Spotting the difference in January
Walk through a park in January. An oak tree stands completely bare, every leaf gone since autumn. Right beside it, a holly bush is thick with dark green, waxy leaves. Same cold weather, two different strategies. The oak saved water by dropping its leaves. The holly kept tough, waxy leaves that lose very little water anyway.