Tree

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Trees are a type of floral plant that have appeared in every Animal Crossing game. Saplings can be bought from Tom Nook's Store or the Gardening Shop. Fruit can be planted, which will create a fruit tree.

Tree Characteristics

Tree Growth

Trees must be planted in the center of a 3x3 square of land that does not contain any other tree saplings or impassable objects, with the exception of bushes. Trees will also fail to grow if there are already too many saplings and trees in the vicinity. Trees that fail to grow become wilted saplings the next day, which then disappear the day after.

Prior to Wild World trees planted near buildings grew into short, more stumpy versions and never reached their full height unless the obstruction was removed (this also happens in reverse, planting trees two squares away from Nook's Cranny would grow into normal trees but become dwarf trees when it expanded as the shop grew bigger).

Fully-grown trees do not die unless cut down with an Axe, which leaves a tree stump behind. Animal Crossing tree stumps usually retain the typical swirl pattern on the tree trunk. In New Leaf, tree stumps were changed to make them more realistic, but this pattern is still obvious. Also in New Leaf, sometimes stumps with rare patterns can be found. The ability to sit on stumps was also added.

Seasonal Change

Non-fruit-bearing trees turn into Cherry Blossoms during the Cherry Blossom Festival. Trees are laden with snow during winter and Cedar Trees will have lights around them during days that lead up to Toy Day. Trees change color slightly through varying shades of green throughout the year to match the seasons.

Tree guide — A chart showing the seasonal changes to a tree in *New Leaf*.

A Bell Tree
A Coconut Palm Tree
A Peach Tree
A Cherry Tree
A Pear Tree
An Orange Tree
An Apple Tree
Banana Tree.jpg

Tree Shaking

Non-fruit trees can contain objects. These objects are hidden and can only be retrieved from the tree by shaking it, which will cause the object to fall on the ground. Either a piece of furniture, a beehive, 100 Bells, or nothing can be spawned in a randomly chosen non-fruit tree at the start of each day, typically 6:00 AM.

Fruit trees bear fruit every 3 days and can be replanted or sold to Tom Nook and Re-Tail.

Bugs on Trees

Many Bugs can only be found in and on trees or tree stumps. All cicadas and many beetles can only be found on trees and caution should be taken when approaching the tree so as not to scare the bug away. On the other hand, some bugs hide in trees and the tree must be shaken to reveal them. Bees, spiders, and bagworms require this method. Some bugs only appear on tree stumps and some rare beetles will only appear on palm trees.

Types

Tree

The generic trees (also sometimes called oak trees) are a recurring familiar symbol is the series. The leaves change colors to match the seasons. Many trees will turn pink during the Cherry Blossom Festival.

Trees are required in order for Acorns to spawn during the respective time period (only in Wild World).

Fruit Tree

Main article: Fruit

This tree resembles the Oak tree but bears 3 pieces of fruit. Unlike non-fruit trees, acorns will not spawn under this type of tree. The types of Fruit trees are Apple, Cherry, Pear, Peach, Orange, Mango, Durian, Lemon, Lychee, and Persimmon (Mango, Durian, Lemon, Lychee, and Persimmon are exclusive to New Leaf only).

Perfect Fruit Tree

Perfect fruit trees are exclusive to New Leaf. They can be created by planting a Perfect Fruit that matches the town's native fruit. Perfect Fruit sells for six times as much as the regular variant. This means that perfect fruit sells for 600 Bells in towns in which they natively grow, and 3,000 Bells in towns in which they do not natively grow. However, the Perfect Fruit Tree will die after up to seven harvests, leaving the player with a bare, dead looking tree.

Cedar Tree

These unique evergreen trees prefer the top half of the village mostly in higher altitudes and as such do not grow well near the coast. Around late December, Toy Day and New Year's Eve they are decorated with Christmas lights.

Palm

Main article: Palm

Palm trees grow only two fruit. They can only be planted on or near the beach. There are two types of palm trees: Coconut palms, and Banana palms.

Coconut

This coastal palm tree bears coconuts. They can only be planted near the beach. The coconut itself can be obtained through various means depending on the game. There are some beetles that only appear on palm trees, such as the Hercules Beetle, Cyclommatus Beetle, and Goliath Beetle.

In Wild World and City Folk a coconut will usually wash up on the player's beach at least once a week. In GCN games coconuts can only be obtained by visiting the Island, and only sell for 300 Bells (unlike in later versions of the game when they sell for 500 Bells).

Banana

A new addition to New Leaf, the Banana Tree functions similarly to the Coconut Palm. It, along with the coconut, can be acquired by visiting the Island.

Money Tree

Main article: Money Tree

A rare and infamous tree that bears money as its fruit. They can be grown by burying bells in the ground with a golden shovel. To maximize potential return and minimize expected loss, the player should bury 30,000 Bells.

The chances of making a profit with a Money Tree is very risky. Even if the tree fully grows, there is only a small chance that the money will grow on the tree.

Golden Tree

468px-Af goldenshovel — The player equipped with a Golden Shovel in front of a Golden Tree.

This Golden-colored Oak tree only appeared in Animal Forest+, Animal Crossing and Animal Forest e+. It could be grown by planting a shovel in a Glowing Spot. Once the tree is fully grown, golden shovels grow from it.

Trivia

In New Leaf, the leaves on the trees that don't have fruit are a different color than the leaves on fruit trees; the leaves of fruit trees are generally a slightly darker green, yellow, or orange depending on the season.