outer bark
Trunk's protective layer
Outer bark is the dead, protective exterior layer of a tree trunk and branches, distinct from the living inner bark beneath it.
This corky tissue shields the tree from physical damage, insects, disease, and temperature extremes.
As a tree grows, outer bark cracks, peels, or flakes off in patterns characteristic to each species—the papery sheets of birch, the deep furrows of oak.
The outer bark had grown thick and rough over the centuries.
- corkTree bark bottle seal
- cork oakBark-harvested Mediterranean tree
- protective layerCovering that shields
- peelingComing off in strips
- roughUneven in surface
texture · trunk · rough texture · layer · protective · skin · rind · sheath · papery · paper birch · flaky · birch · fissured · rugged · woody · husk · old growth · covering