树木
shùmù · HSK 7
tree
🌳🌲 树木 = 树 (tree) + 木 (wood/tree); doubling up gives the collective word for trees
树 means a single tree and 木 means wood or tree as a radical. Pairing the two stacks the idea, so 树木 covers trees as a group rather than one lone trunk.
树 — wood 木 + 對 (phonetic, simplified to 对)
树 originally combined 木 'tree' with 尌, suggesting planting something upright. The right side served mainly as a phonetic clue, while 木 carried the meaning. Over time it came to mean both 'tree' and the verb 'to plant' or 'establish'.