There are 60,065 species of trees in the world, according to a comprehensive study of the world's plants, BBC reports. 

Botanical Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) compiled the tree list by using data gathered from its network of 500 member organisations.

It hopes the list will be used as a tool to identify rare and threatened species in need of immediate action to prevent them becoming extinct.

Details of the study appear in the Journal of Sustainable Forestry.

The data revealed that Brazil was the nation with the greatest number of tree species, home to 8,715 varieties.