Post on 21-Jul-2021
Tree spotting at Badbury Woods Badbury Woods is a great place to explore and discover some of our
native tree species in the UK.
Whether you’ve come for a peaceful, solitary walk, are with a group of
friends or want to explore with the family, use this guide to help you
identify some of the trees standing tall around you.
Larch (Larix decidua)
This is a pretty quick growing tree which can
reach dizzying heights of up to 50 metres,
although 30 metres is the average. They can
live for up to 250 years!
The Larch is a ‘coniferous’ tree in that it has
needle-shaped leaves and produces cones.
However, unusually, it is also ‘deciduous’
meaning that it sheds its needles in the winter.
It’s bark is a pinkish brown colour.
Tree thinking
Larch reminds us to rest and recover. In European Folklore, it was thought that it
protected us from enchantments and wearing and burning it helped to ward off
evil spirits.
Beech (Fagus sylvatica)
A fast growing tree which can reach heights of
up to 40 metres.
They have shallow roots which makes them
vulnerable to high winds and droughts.
It has oval shaped leaves which are arranged
alternately along the twigs.
Young leaves are light green and hairy, but
they gradually darken and lose the hair as the
leaf matures.
It’s bark is smooth and grey.
Tree thinking
Beech trees are associated with truth and femininity and is often considered the
queen of British trees, where the Oak is the king.
The leaves were also thought to have medicinal properties and were boiled to
make a paste to help relieve swellings.
A very fast growing tree which is
considered by some as a weed.
It isn’t native to the UK instead coming
from central and southeast Europe.
Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus)
It has large leaves which look a bit like
Maple leaves and have very heavy leaf
fall in the Autumn.
When its flowers are fertilised they
form ‘winged’ seeds, which float like
helicopters on the wind, helping with
its dispersal.
Tree thinking
In Wales, sycamore trees were used in the traditional craft of making ’love
spoons’, which were decoratively carved wooden spoons given as a romantic
gesture.
Oak (Quercus robur)
Tree thinking
In England, the Oak is a symbol of strength. Druids believed them to be sacred
and practised their rituals in Oak groves. The Oak leaf is the emblem of the
National Trust and The Woodland Trust as well as many other environmental
organisations.
Oaks can grow up to 50 metres high and live for
up to 500 years or more!
As they get older they shorten in order to
extend their lifespan.
Young Oaks have green/yellow bark which turns
to grey as it matures.
The Oak produces male and
female flowers. The females are
small and found in the axils of
the leaves. The males are
drooping catkins. When
fertilised they develop into
Acorns.
Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris)
Tree thinking
In folklore, pine cones were recognised as symbols of fertility and the evergreen
nature of the pine represented immortality. In England, clusters of Scots pines
were planted around farmsteads as windbreakers and along driveways to help
travellers find out where they were going in bad weather!
Scots Pine can grow up to 35 metres and live for
up to 700 years.
They are native to northern Europe and are
truly majestic!
The leaves are shaped like needles and
are blue-green.
The male and female flowers grow on
the same tree and this is called
monoecious. After they are pollinated
by the wind they develop into cones.
It’s bark is scaly orange-brown.
Silver Birch (Betula pedula)
Tree thinking
In Celtic mythology, the Silver Birch is a symbol of purity and renewal. At New
Year’s, people would bundle up birch twigs and use them to drive out the bad
spirits of the old year and, to this day, some gardeners still use birch besom to
purify their gardens.
These are quite short lived trees that
are quick to colonise open areas and
are known as a ‘Pioneer species’.
After the last Ice Age they were
amongst the first species to colonise
the UK.
They have roughly triangular-shaped leaves with
rounded corners and are serrated or have ‘teeth’.
The leaves are a great source of food for butterflies.
It’s bark is brightly coloured, starting off red on young
stems and becoming white-silver with age.
After pollination, they develop hanging catkins which
contain hundreds off seeds which are then dispersed
by the wind.
Black Pine (Pinus nigra)
Tree thinking
Firs and spruces represent fertility, protection, good fortune and prosperity. They
were thought to help ward off bad spirits and protect buildings and livestock
from destructive weather, disease and bad luck, so people would hang sprigs
above their doorways.
They are fast growing evergreen trees
which can grow up to 60 metres and
live for up to 500 years! They can
grown between 30cm—70cm a year.
They are from the Mediterranean area
i.e. Spain, Cyprus, Corsica and parts of
North Africa.
After pollination, long cones form which
can be between 7cm-8cm long.
The needles or leaves form in bunches of
between 2 and 5.
When mature, it’s bark is dark grey-silver
and has deep cracks or fissures in it which
gives it it’s scaly appearance.
Wild Cherry (Prunus avium)
Tree thinking
In Scottish folklore it was thought that the Wild Cherry had mysterious powers
and to come across one was considered both lucky and significant in your life.
The Wild Cherry tree can grow up to 30 metres in
height and live for around 60 years. It’s a popular
ornamental tree found in gardens. It has strong hard
wood which makes it perfect for making furniture
and, when burned, it has a sweet scent similar to it’s
flowers.
It’s leaves are oval, green and ‘toothed’,
with pointed ends, which turn a deep
orange-red in Autumn. They blossom with
white flowers in April and develop into
cherries. Birds eat the cherries and
disperse the seeds.
They are Hermaphrodite, which means
they have both male and female
reproductive parts in the same flower.