Forest Crossword

Print a criss-cross forest crossword of trees, layers, forest-floor plants, animals and ecology words, with its answer key.

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Forest Crossword

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Answer key: Forest Crossword

1D2FER3NEE4BE5ARS6VC7TWIG8MOSSNRE9CAN10OPYOWN11LOGE

Across 2 FERN · 4 BEAR · 7 TWIG · 8 MOSS · 9 CANOPY · 11 LOG

Down 1 DEER · 3 NEST · 5 ACORN · 6 VINE · 9 CONE · 10 OWL

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Forest Trees 33

  • Alder Streamside tree that enriches the earth with nitrogen
  • Ash Tree whose strong, elastic wood is made into tool handles
  • Aspen Tree named 'quaking' for its fluttering leaves
  • Beech Tree whose bark is smooth, not ridged or scaly
  • Birch Its bark was once peeled for canoes
  • Cedar Tree known for its fragrant wood
  • Chestnut Tree whose nuts grow inside spiny burs
  • Conifer Word for the group of trees that includes cypresses
  • Deciduous Dropping every leaf in fall
  • Dogwood Tree whose four showy white 'petals' are really leaves
  • Elm Tree hit hard by a disease that carries its name
  • Evergreen Tree that looks the same in July and in a snowstorm
  • Fir Tree whose upright cones crumble before they can drop
  • Hardwood Wood from trees with broad leaves
  • Hawthorn Thorny small tree with red fruits called haws
  • Hazel Shrubby tree that bears filberts
  • Hemlock Tree that thrives in deep shadow, with short, flattened needles
  • Hickory Tough-wooded tree with hard-shelled nuts, a relative of the pecan
  • Holly Its spiky leaves and scarlet fruit decorate December
  • Juniper Shrubby tree whose 'berries' are really fleshy cones
  • Larch Tree with soft clusters of thin leaves that all drop in the fall
  • Linden Tree with heart-shaped leaves, called basswood in America
  • Maple Tree whose seeds spin down like tiny helicopters
  • Oak Tree whose nuts wear little caps
  • Pine Its needles come in little bundles
  • Poplar Fast-growing tree related to the cottonwood
  • Redwood California coast giant, taller than any other tree
  • Sequoia Giant ___: no tree on Earth grows bigger
  • Softwood Wood from trees such as pines and spruces
  • Spruce Tree whose needles are square in cross-section
  • Sycamore Tree with mottled bark that looks like camouflage
  • Walnut Tree with a round green husk around each nut
  • Yew Slow-growing tree whose wood was prized for longbows

Layers and Tree Parts 34

  • Bough Large branch of a tree
  • Bud Next year's leaf, wrapped tight for winter
  • Burl Rounded, lumpy growth on the side of a tree
  • Cambium Thin layer of growing cells between the wood and the bark
  • Canopy Roof of the forest, made by the tops of the tallest trees
  • Cone Woody seed holder made of overlapping scales
  • Crown Leafy head of a tree, where the limbs spread
  • Deadfall Fallen trees and branches lying dead on the ground
  • Floor Forest ___: the ground layer of fallen leaves and branches
  • Glade Open, sunny space in the woods
  • Heartwood Dark, decay-resistant wood at the center of an old tree
  • Humus Rich brown end product of rotting leaves
  • Knot Dark swirl in a plank, left by an old branch
  • Limb A tree's big arm
  • Litter Leaf ___: layer of dead leaves on the ground
  • Lobe One rounded bulge along the edge of a leaf
  • Log Salamanders live inside a rotting one
  • Needle Very thin, stiff leaf with a point
  • Ring One band of wood for each year a tree has grown
  • Root It grips the soil far below the branches
  • Sap It rises in spring and drips from a cut branch
  • Sapling Slender young tree, past its first sprouting
  • Sapwood Pale, living outer wood that carries water up
  • Seedling Tree in its first tiny stage, just sprouted
  • Shoot New growth rising from a seed or a cut base
  • Shrub Another word for a bush
  • Snag Dead tree still on its feet, a home for birds and other wildlife
  • Stand Group of trees of one kind or age growing together
  • Stump Short seat left by a chainsaw
  • Thicket Brush so thick that a rabbit can vanish in it
  • Timber Trees grown for their wood; also a logger's warning shout
  • Trunk What a tree hugger hugs
  • Twig Snap! A small one breaks under a boot
  • Understory Middle story of a forest, shaded by the taller trees above

Plants and Fungi of the Forest Floor 35

  • Acorn Nut that wears a little scaly cap
  • Beechnut Small three-sided nut inside a prickly husk
  • Berry Blue, black or rasp, for example
  • Bluebell Flower that carpets European woods in violet-blue each spring
  • Bracken Large, coarse plant with fronds that spreads over open ground
  • Bracket Shelf-shaped growth on the side of a tree
  • Bramble Prickly tangle of blackberry canes
  • Catkin Slim, drooping flower cluster on many trees
  • Duff Layer of partly rotted leaves and needles on the ground
  • Fern Plant with fronds; its young shoots are called fiddleheads
  • Fiddlehead Curled young frond, shaped like the scroll of a violin
  • Fungus Living thing that feeds on dead wood and is neither plant nor animal
  • Honeysuckle Twining plant whose flowers hold a drop of sweet nectar
  • Huckleberry Small dark fruit of mountain woods, a cousin of the blueberry
  • Ivy Woody climber that can clothe a brick wall
  • Laurel Mountain ___: bush of the eastern United States with clusters of pink to white flowers
  • Lichen Slow-growing crust that can live on bare stone
  • Mayapple Plant named for a month and a fruit, with leaves like umbrellas
  • Mistletoe Green ball high in a bare tree that lives off its host
  • Mold Slime ___: creeping blob found on rotting wood
  • Morel Prized spring find with a pitted cap
  • Moss Rootless green plant that soaks up rain like a sponge
  • Mushroom Cap on a stalk that seems to appear overnight
  • Mycelium Hidden web of fine threads in soil and rotting wood, the body of fungi
  • Nettle Plant covered with stinging hairs
  • Puffball Ball-shaped growth that bursts in a cloud of dusty spores
  • Rhododendron Bush known for its brightly colored flowers; azaleas belong to its group
  • Samara Winged seed that spins as it falls
  • Sorrel Wood ___: clover-like plant with sour leaves
  • Spore Tiny speck that ferns and fungi use instead of seeds
  • Toadstool Folk word for a poisonous cap-and-stalk growth
  • Trillium Wildflower built on the number three
  • Truffle Prized lumpy delicacy that grows underground near tree roots
  • Vine Climber such as wild grape
  • Wintergreen Low plant with red berries; its leaves smell of the oil named for it

Forest Animals 40

  • Antler A buck grows a new pair each year, covered at first in velvet
  • Badger Stocky digger with white markings on its face
  • Bat Night flier that roosts in hollow trees
  • Bear Big animal that spends the winter asleep
  • Beaver Flat-tailed builder of dams and lodges
  • Boar Bristly wild hog that digs for acorns
  • Bobcat Spotted wild cat that hunts rabbits and hares
  • Chickadee Little feeder bird named for its call
  • Chipmunk Its cheeks stretch to carry seeds back to a burrow
  • Cougar Mountain lion, by another name
  • Deer Shy grazer; the male grows antlers
  • Den A wild animal's bedroom
  • Elk Large antlered grazer whose males bugle
  • Fox Bushy-tailed hunter with pointed ears
  • Grouse Plump ground bird; the ruffed kind drums with its wings
  • Hare Jackrabbits are this, not rabbits
  • Hedgehog Prickly snail-and-insect hunter of European hedges and woods
  • Jay Noisy blue bird with a crest and a black collar
  • Lynx Short-tailed cat with a ruff under its chin and big padded paws for snow
  • Marten Slender, agile hunter of the northern forest with a bushy tail
  • Millipede Slow, many-legged curler; its name means thousand feet
  • Moose Largest member of its antlered family, with broad flat antlers
  • Nest Cup of woven grass high on a branch
  • Nuthatch Upside-down climber that wedges seeds into bark
  • Opossum The world's northernmost marsupial, famous for playing dead
  • Owl Hooter with eyes that face forward
  • Porcupine Prickly rodent that gnaws bark
  • Raccoon Night raider with a bandit's face and a banded tail
  • Raven Bigger cousin of the crow, with a shaggy throat
  • Salamander Smooth, moist-skinned amphibian that hides in rotting wood
  • Shrew Tiny, pointy-nosed insect eater that looks like a mouse
  • Skunk Black-and-white warning colors, then a foul spray
  • Squirrel Tree climber that stores food in many small hiding places
  • Thrush Wood ___: brown bird known for its lovely song
  • Toad Warty, short-legged hopper
  • Turkey Big ground bird; the male fans his tail and gobbles
  • Vole Small, stout rodent, a relative of the lemming
  • Warbler Small singer that flits through the leaves after insects
  • Wolf Howler that lives and hunts with its pack
  • Woodpecker Bird with a chisel bill that knocks holes in dead trees

How a Forest Works 47

  • Arboreal Living in trees, as a tree frog does
  • Autumn September to November, north of the equator
  • Biodiversity Many kinds of life in one forest: a long word for it
  • Boreal Describes the great cold forest of the far north
  • Carbon Trees store this element, taken from the air, in their wood
  • Chlorophyll What a leaf loses when it turns yellow
  • Clearcut Patch of forest where almost every tree was felled together
  • Conservation Careful use and protection of forests and wildlife
  • Decomposer Nature's recycler: it turns dead leaves back into soil
  • Dormant Not growing for now; asleep until spring
  • Ecosystem A forest is one: every living thing in it, plus the soil, water and air
  • Foliage What 'leaf peepers' travel to see in the fall
  • Food web Map of who eats whom, with many crossing links
  • Forester Person trained to care for woods
  • Habitat Home ground: for a trout, a cold stream
  • Hibernate What a woodchuck does from fall to spring
  • Invasive Like kudzu: spreading fast where it does not belong
  • Logging The work of a lumberjack
  • Lumber Two-by-fours and planks
  • Mast Crop of nuts dropped by forest trees, food for wildlife
  • Migrate Leave for the south when the days shorten
  • Native Living naturally in a place, not brought there by people
  • Nutrient Nitrogen is one that trees take from the soil
  • Old growth Forest that has grown for a very long time without being disturbed
  • Oxygen Gas that trees give off
  • Photosynthesis Food-making in a leaf, powered by the sun
  • Pioneer Word for the first plants to move into bare ground
  • Predator A hawk, to a mouse
  • Prey A mouse, to a hawk
  • Rainforest Hot, wet forest near the equator
  • Ranger Person who patrols and protects a park or forest
  • Rot What a fallen branch slowly does
  • Sawmill Place where tree trunks are cut into boards
  • Shade Cool darkness under the leaves
  • Shelter What a hollow tree gives an animal in a storm
  • Species The brook trout is one; so is the luna moth
  • Succession Slow change as a bare field becomes brush, then forest
  • Sunlight What leaves spread out to catch
  • Sylvan Having to do with woods
  • Taiga Russian-born name for the vast northern forest of pines and spruces
  • Temperate Describes a forest with warm summers and cold winters
  • Timberline Line on a mountain where the closed forest ends
  • Trail Hiker's route, marked with blazes on trees
  • Watershed Area whose rain all ends up in the same river
  • Wilderness Wild land that people have left alone
  • Wildfire Blaze that sweeps through woods and brush
  • Woodland Trees with room between them and sunny ground below

How this list was compiled: Clues written for this site for a habitat or ecosystem unit, in five sets: forest trees, layers and tree parts, plants and fungi of the forest floor, forest animals, and how a forest works. Facts were checked in English Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA 4.0) and word meanings in Wiktionary (en.wiktionary.org) in October 2026. No clue was copied from a published puzzle. Licence: own work

How it works

This forest crossword treats the forest as a habitat, from the canopy to the leaf litter. The first puzzle has 12 easy words, among them Acorn, Fern, Moss, Owl and Deer. It is a vocabulary crossword for Letter or A4.

Read the full guide

Five sets, from canopy to floor

Forest Trees has Hickory, Hemlock and Sycamore. Layers and Tree Parts has Understory, Cambium and Snag. Plants and Fungi of the Forest Floor has Trillium, Lichen and Mycelium. Forest Animals has Marten, Nuthatch and Salamander. How a Forest Works has Succession, Decomposer and Watershed.

A temperate forest, mostly

The trees and animals are those of the temperate woods of North America and Europe, where most leaves drop in fall. The cold northern forest appears as Taiga and Boreal, and tropical forest is on the jungle crossword.

  • After a walk in the woods, print Layers and Tree Parts: pupils meet again what they saw, from Stump and Log to Canopy.

Questions and answers

Is the forest crossword free to print with an answer key?

Yes, and no account is needed. The answer key comes out last, on a sheet of its own, so you can hand out the puzzle and keep the key.

What grade is the forest crossword for?

Easy Forest Words suits grades 2 to 4, with answers such as Nest, Twig and Fox. The five themed sets suit grades 4 to 7 and a unit on habitats or ecosystems. These bands are our judgment, not a published standard.

What are the layers of a forest?

From the top: the canopy of the tallest crowns, the understory of smaller trees, the shrub layer, the low herb layer of ferns and wildflowers, and the forest floor. Canopy, Understory, Shrub and Floor are answers in Layers and Tree Parts.

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