How To Tell the Age of a Tree

You can tell how old a tree is, or the age of a tree, by counting the dark rings from a trunk cut section of the tree. You will notice that trees have a very dark center in the tree. This is known as the pith. Start counting the dark rings outside the dark center (don't confuse the pith with the heartwood) and you'll have the age of the tree by however many rings you counted. By knowing the age of a cut or fallen tree, you can guesstimate the age of a local stand of similar trees. You can also learn about the growth of the tree by its rings. Large bands will indicate years when the tree made substantial growth. This means the tree grew under optimal conditions in those years. Small bands usually indicate that the tree grew under less than optimal conditions, such as stress and dry weather. Try counting the rings on the next downed tree that you find to see if you can tell the age of that tree.