# Deciduous vs Coniferous Trees **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 25, 2005, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deciduous-vs-coniferous-trees/300977 "2005-04-25T05:01:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deciduous-vs-coniferous-trees/300977/1 "2005-04-25T05:01:30Z")
Why isit that deciduous tress keep growing back when you cut them down? If you cut down a pine tree, the stumpdies…whereas a maple tree stump will send up shoots and regrow. Same with the top of the tree- a pines tree will basically stop growing when you cut the tip off-and an apple tree will resume growing. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deciduous-vs-coniferous-trees/300977/2 "2005-04-25T06:35:19Z")
Redwood trees are conifers, and they will send up shoots if you cut the main trunk. Actually, they’ll send up shoots even if you don’t cut the main trunk. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deciduous-vs-coniferous-trees/300977/3 "2005-04-25T09:14:04Z")
> [@Jeff Lichtman](#): > > Redwood trees are conifers, and they will send up shoots if you cut the main trunk. Actually, they’ll send up shoots even if you don’t cut the main trunk. So do araucarias in Chile. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deciduous-vs-coniferous-trees/300977/4 "2005-04-25T12:19:10Z")
Remember that the roots of a tree comprise a significant percentage of its living matter. I suspect that the probability of regrowth from the stump of a downed tree is a factor of the relative proportion of living tissue in root and crown, independent of the larger classification scheme. In other words, families A and C of conifers but not families B and D, and families M, P, and Q of dicotyledons but not families N, O, and R, have a large quantity of living root matter, and will generally try to regenerate from stump. Or it may get right down to species. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deciduous-vs-coniferous-trees/300977/5 "2005-04-25T12:47:35Z")
I think it’s mostly to do with bud placement and/or distribution of tissue that can generate buds. Many conifers simply do not have the capacity to form new growth on old wood. ---
**Author:** ![GawnFishin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9bcb4/32.png) [@GawnFishin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GawnFishin)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deciduous-vs-coniferous-trees/300977/6 "2005-04-25T16:16:42Z")
I asked my wife to look at this thread as she’s the one in our household with the PhD in Forest Ecology, her answer: > [@DrDess](#): > > It’s not a question of conifer or not - it’s a question of species and regeneration strategies. Not a question of root biomass either. Some species sprout from the trunk, some species sprout from the roots (aspen), and some don’t. Some species of pine will also continue growing after they are cut down because they have root grafts with live trees. I have references for that. Some species will also root branches (black spruce and poplars) ---
**Author:** ![Doobieous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Doobieous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doobieous)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deciduous-vs-coniferous-trees/300977/7 "2005-04-26T04:15:55Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Why isit that deciduous tress keep growing back when you cut them down? If you cut down a pine tree, the stumpdies…whereas a maple tree stump will send up shoots and regrow. > Same with the top of the tree- a pines tree will basically stop growing when you cut the tip off-and an apple tree will resume growing. It’s not a matter of deciduous vs coniferous. It’s a matter of whether they have adventitious buds along the roots or the lower trunk or not. Several conifer species will stump sprout. Redwoods have ben mentioned, and Pacific Yew will also stump sprout. ---
**Author:** ![BookReader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@BookReader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BookReader)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deciduous-vs-coniferous-trees/300977/8 "2005-04-26T05:21:34Z")
“Pine” is a rather deceptive term, since a lot of pines aren’t pines. Many folks consider any evergreen with ‘needles’ to be a pine. However, if you cut the top off a Norfolk or Cook pine (both actually Araucarias) they will cheerfully sprout multiple tops and keep right on growing. I’m assuming that the ‘tops’ thus created are actually upward-growing branches, but each of them will sprout new branches of its own and behave in all ways like the main trunk would. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deciduous-vs-coniferous-trees/300977/9 "2005-04-26T05:45:50Z")
> [@BookReader](#): > > “Pine” is a rather deceptive term, since a lot of pines aren’t pines. Many folks consider any evergreen with ‘needles’ to be a pine. However, if you cut the top off a Norfolk or Cook pine (both actually Araucarias) they will cheerfully sprout multiple tops and keep right on growing. I’m assuming that the ‘tops’ thus created are actually upward-growing branches, but each of them will sprout new branches of its own and behave in all ways like the main trunk would. Real pines will often keep growing after being “topped” too. I’ve seen many lodgepole pines with a ‘C’ in the trunk where one of the horizontal branches became the new leader. Looks pretty funky. They can be killed this way, though, and I don’t think they ever sprout from a stump.