What is the difference between broadleaf trees and evergreen trees

Facebook page opens in new window Instagram page opens in new window. Kids Nature School: Deciduous vs Evergreen Spring is a great time to teach children the differences between deciduous and evergreen trees. The Spring forest is filled with color. Pictured are a deciduous broadleaf sweet gum tree next to a coniferous evergreen loblolly pine tree. Both trees are native to Northern Virginia. Southern magnolias are broadleaf evergreen trees and are native to Northern Virginia.

Deciduous and coniferous dawn redwoods are native to China but often seen in DC area neighborhoods. Tags: kids kids activities nature spring trees. Author: CobraCaroline. Related Posts. September 22, We offer all our shows both virtually and in-person! Contact Us For Details! Most species of conifer, including pines, firs, spruce, junipers and cypresses, are evergreen trees. Their foliage tends look radically different from those of broad-leaved trees.

Members of the pine family have needle-like structures for their leaves, ranging from small and densely packed in firs and spruces, to long and graceful in the pines. Most conifers in the cypress family show minuscule, scale-like leaves wrapped tightly against the twig. Conifers called larches, common to boreal and mountain forests of North America and Eurasia, buck the trend by being deciduous, as do the dawn redwood and baldcypresses.

Many broad-leaved trees in milder climates are evergreen. Moist tropical forests include a host of them, from palms to mahoganies. Most are evergreen. Other evergreen broad-leafs inhabit drier, Mediterranean climates, characterized by winter rainfall and summer droughts.

This common description, often found in grade-school textbooks, may be accurate, but it doesn't tell the whole story. Deciduous refers to any tree that drops its leaves in the fall and goes dormant during cold weather. When the weather warms, deciduous trees produce new leaves. Although most deciduous trees are broadleaf trees, this in not always the case.

Some trees with needles are also deciduous trees. Coniferous trees are often referred to as evergreens, and the name is associated with trees that have needles instead of broad, flat leaves. Although this is true in many cases, it isn't always true.