The Taiga takes up about one-tenth of the Earth’s land surface, it is the second largest biome in the world. Many trees fill the taiga forests, most of which are conifers, these trees keeps their leaves all year round. However, they bare pine-cones, unlike flowering plants. Some of these conifer trees include:

• Spruces
• Pine
• Fir

These trees cover most of the forest area. Most of the taiga grows close to the arctic circle. This is the coldest area in the world where large trees can grow properly, rather than small bushes etc. Another word for taiga is ‘Boreal Forest’. Some of these giant forests grow on the north-west coast of North America. The taiga gets so much rainfall, the it is sometimes reffered to as a rain-forest!

The word taiga come from the Russian word for ‘marshy pine forest. The word Boreal comes from the word Boreas, who was the Greek god of the north wind.