Stand, in particular for Christmas trees

Claim 1

A stand for holding plants and trees comprising a holder including an upright tubular portion injection molded of plastic and adapted to hold a lower end of a tree trunk, and at least three support legs joined to said tubular portion, said legs being circumferentially spaced apart by equal distances, each support leg including inner and outer portions, said inner leg portion projecting generally radially outwardly from an upper end of said tubular portion, said leg outer portion projecting downwardly, said legs arranged to spaced a lower end of said tubular portion above a support surface, said stand including a water container positioned beneath said tubular portion and communicating with a lower end of an interior of said tubular portion, upper and lower sets of circumferentially spaced fastening screws disposed in vertically spaced upper and lower planes, respectively, located adjacent respective ends of said tubular portion, such that radially inner ends of said sets of fastening screws are able to support and align a lower end of a tree trunk, said upper set of fastening screws being superimposed above said lower set, each fastening screw disposed approximately midway between two circumferentially adjacent ones of said legs, as said stand is viewed from above, a plurality of support plates joined to radially inner ends of respective ones of said fastening screws of said upper and lower sets, said tubular portion including a plurality of circumferentially spaced vertical grooves which open radially inwardly and are of wedge shape, a plurality of inserts being correspondingly wedge shaped and removably disposed in respective ones of said grooves, each insert including upper and lower threaded holes for receiving a fastening screw of each of said sets.