In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, after flowering; and to the shedding of ripe fruit. The antonym of deciduous in the botanical sense is evergreen.
Like a number of other deciduous plants, Forsythia flowers during the leafless season.
Deciduous plants in mid- to high latitudes shed their leaves as temperatures drop in autumn.
Deciduous trees were introduced to the temperate regions of Australia where they are used as ornamental plants, as seen here at a suburban street in Sydney.
Dry-season deciduous tropical forest
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are usable as lumber or plants above a specified height. In wider definitions, the taller palms, tree ferns, bananas, and bamboos are also trees.
Common ash (Fraxinus excelsior), a deciduous broad-leaved (angiosperm) tree
European larch (Larix decidua), a coniferous tree which is also deciduous
Tall herbaceous monocotyledonous plants such as banana lack secondary growth, but are trees under the broadest definition.
The Daintree Rainforest
