40d:Tree

Across the world, trees can be found littering the landscape. Depending on the biome (i.e., whether trees are scarce or dense), they can be a great renewable source of wood. There are many different varieties that grow in different biomes. Tower-caps grow only underground, every other variety occurs only outdoors. The only difference between trees is the (usually very minor) weight difference of the wood they produce; otherwise all trees are of equal usefulness and value.

Trees are currently^{v0.28.181.40d} not a source of food or other material, so it is not possible to harvest mangos, maple syrup, nuts, rubber, etc.

Trees are a type of map tile, not constructions, similar to solid rock or bushes. They must be designated for removal from the designations menu chop trees, which will instruct dwarves with the woodcutter skill to grab an axe and begin chopping down the tree. Once cut down, they become one unit of wood, which is movable and can be hauled by enabling the the Haul Wood labour on any dwarf and designating a wood stockpile.

Trees viewed from one z-level higher look like coloured rectangles or stone blocks floating in the air. Deciduous trees will change colour to red or yellow in autumn, and lose their leaves in winter: ╞. This does not affect their usefulness - they may be cut down in any season.

Trees grow from saplings, which start growing randomly on tiles of a suitable biome. Saplings can be destroyed by heavy traffic. To grow from a sapling to a tree takes about a year and a half, though this seems randomized to some degree. Even if a map is stripped of all trees, new saplings will regrow.

Trees will not as of yet be destroyed by magma or fire (nor will water damage them in any way). Saplings can 'drown' in water and magma, though. Ballista arrows can destroy trees, but catapult stones will not.

Trees (but not saplings) will block channeling, and walls and other constructions.

Trees also gain names near elven settlements. It is unclear what effect this has on gameplay, if any at all.

Saplings will not grow on a tile with items on it (such as stone, food, etc).

Under certain circumstances arrows can wind up "on top" of trees (1 z-level above the tree). This appears to happen when an arrow hits a wall and falls onto the tree.

A given area block has a limit of "things that can grow on it" - and trees and shrubs compete for this when that maximum is reached. Removing shrubs will allow more trees to be able to grow.^[Verify] A downside to removing these shrubberies is that most of the saplings in the area will be trampled in the process unless they are marked as low-traffic areas first, a time-consuming process.

Elven Diplomats

Elven diplomats eventually come to talk about the "tree situation" in your fort. Sometimes the diplomat will arrive and merely complain but most often the diplomat will want to set a limit to the number of trees butchered harvested to feed fuel your earth blighting death machines industry. This quota is based on all the logs you have in your stocks, no matter what the source. It doesn't matter if you have a Tower-cap farm or if you import all your wood; if you have any wood in your stocks, the treehuggers elves will complain.

List of Trees

Tree Name	Habitat	Tile	Alignment	Density (Weight)	Deciduous
Mangrove	Mangrove Swamp (Wet)	♣	All	500	No
Saguaro	Any Desert (Dry)	╞	All	500	No
Pine	Taiga Forest (Dry) Temperate Conifer Forest Tropical Conifer Forest	↑	All	560	No
Cedar	Temperate Conifer Forest (Dry) Tropical Conifer Forest	↨	All	380	No
Oak	Any Temperate Broadleaf Forest (Dry)	♠	All	700	Yes
Mahogany	Any Tropical Forest (Dry)	♠	All	600	No
Acacia	Tropical Dry Broadleaf Forest (Dry) Tropical Grassland Tropical Savanna Tropical Shrubland	♣	All	500	No
Kapok	Tropical Moist Broadleaf Forest (Dry)	Γ	All	500	No
Maple	Temperate Broadleaf Forest (Dry) Temperate Grassland Temperate Savanna Temperate Shrubland	♣	All	755	Yes
Willow	Any Temperate (Wet) Any Tropical Forest Tropical Grassland Tropical Savanna Tropical Shrubland Tropical Freshwater Swamp Tropical Saltwater Swamp Tropical Freshwater Marsh Tropical Saltwater Marsh	⌠	All	420	No
Tower-cap	Subterranean Water (Wet)(Dry)	♣	All	600	No
Glumprong	Not Freezing (Dry)	┤	Evil	1200	No
Feather tree	Not Freezing (Dry)	♣	Good	100	No
Highwood	Not Freezing (Dry)	¶	Savage	500	No
Larch	Taiga Forest (Dry) Temperate Conifer Forest	↑	All	590	Yes
Chestnut	Any Temperate Broadleaf Forest (Dry)	♠	All	500	Yes
Alder	Any Temperate Broadleaf Forest (Dry)	♣	All	410	Yes
Birch	Any Temperate Broadleaf Forest (Dry)	♣	All	670	Yes
Ash	Any Temperate Broadleaf Forest (Dry)	♠	All	620	Yes
Candlenut	Any Tropical Forest (Dry)	Γ	All	500	No
Mango tree	Any Tropical Forest (Dry)	Γ	All	500	No
Rubber tree	Tropical Moist Broadleaf Forest (Dry)	Γ	All	500	No
Cacao tree	Tropical Moist Broadleaf Forest (Dry)	Γ	All	500	No
Palm	Any Tropical (Dry)	Γ	All	500	No