The Truffula Tree is a species of tree featured in The Lorax and its adaptations.
A truffula tree
Appearance[]
They have yellow or white-and-black striped bark and a large tuft at the tops which can be knitted into a Thneed. This tuft is typically a warm color, commonly red, orange, yellow, pink, or rarely, purple. Truffula trees apparently give off the smell of butterfly milk. The tufts are furry to the touch and apparently "softer than silk."
Growth[]
According to the Lorax, it takes ten months for a seed to germinate, ten years to sprout into a sapling, and another ten years for the tree to become fully grown. (The movie version, however, tends to show a faster growth pattern in the germination and sprouting phases, most likely because its rare seed is tended to by the hand of a human with a caring heart; nonetheless, it still takes many years to grow to its full potential considering how sturdy the best trees are from the roots up.)
They also bear a fruit which resembles grapes. This fruit forms the primary diet of the Bar-ba-loots.
Role in The Lorax[]
The Truffula Tree's role in The Lorax is a source of material required in creating a Thneed. It is unknown what the trunk of the tree is used for, but due to the smog of the thneed factory, it most likely is used for firewood.
The Truffula trees also function exactly the same as other trees in real life, such as absorbing carbon dioxide and using it to convert it into food for themselves. The former example is especially prevalent in The Lorax movie, as when all of the trees are killed off, the air is filled with smog and smoke from the factories and Thneedville. The trees additionally grow fruits which the Bar-ba-loots rely on for food.
Trivia[]
- The Truffula Tree is based on a real species of tree in Elliot's house that Dr. Seuss saw when he traveled there with his first wife.
- In The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss episode "The Cat in the Hat's First-First Day", Morton is frightened by the shadow of a Truffula Tree.
- The trees bear a faint resemblance to the clovers in Horton Hears A Who.
- The trees made an appearance in the "mother of all messes" in the live-action adaptation of The Cat in the Hat.