A tree is a large woody plant with one main stem, or trunk, and many branches that lives year after year. A forest is a large number of trees covering not less than 25 percent of the area where the tops of the trees, called crowns, interlock forming an enclosure or canopy when the trees mature. This chapter is about deciduous (dee-SID-joo-uhs) forests. Deciduous trees, such as oaks, basswoods, and elms, are those that lose their leaves during cold or very dry seasons, as compared to evergreen trees that keep their leaves year-round, usually for several years at a time. For information about evergreen forests, see the chapters titled "Coniferous Forest" and "Rain Forest."

Temperate deciduous...