CO

MM

ON

ALD

ER A

lnus

glu

tinos

aA

lder

bel

ongs

to th

e sa

me

fam

ily a

s Bi

rch.

It ra

rely

gro

ws t

o m

ore

than

20m

or

lives

long

er th

an 1

50 y

ears.

It g

row

s qu

ickly

and

is sh

ort l

ived

, typ

ical

of

pion

eer s

peci

es. I

t fixe

s nitr

ogen

and

ge

nera

lly im

prov

es th

e so

il.

CO

MM

ON

ASH

Fra

xinus

exc

elsio

rO

ften

larg

e tre

es, m

atur

e sp

ecim

ens

may

be

40-4

5m ta

ll and

up

to 4

00

year

s old

. Ash

is la

te c

omin

g in

to le

af

and

one

of th

e fir

st to

shed

leav

es in

A

utum

n. R

elat

ed to

the

Oliv

e, J

asm

ine

and

the

Lilac

.

CO

MM

ON

BEE

CH

Fag

us sy

lvat

ica

Beec

h m

ay g

row

to fo

rm b

eaut

iful,

stat

ely

trees

(up

to 4

0m ta

ll). I

t is a

re

lativ

ely

fast

-gro

win

g sp

ecie

s tha

t is

to b

e fo

und

on w

ell-d

rain

ed so

ils.

Its

root

syst

em is

shal

low

and

the

tree

is,

ther

efor

e, su

scep

tible

to h

igh

win

ds a

nd

also

to d

roug

ht.

BIR

CH

Bet

ula

spp.

They

are

rela

tivel

y sh

ort-l

ived

tree

s w

hich

are

qui

ck to

col

onise

ope

n ar

eas.

They

are

a p

ione

er sp

ecie

s and

afte

r th

e la

st Ic

e A

ge th

ey w

ere

amon

gst t

he

first

spec

ies t

o co

loni

se th

e UK

. Drie

d

piec

es o

f the

pap

er b

ark

are

exce

llent

fo

r lig

htin

g fir

es.

EUR

OPE

AN

LA

RC

H La

rix d

ecid

uaTh

e fla

ttene

d, so

ft, n

eedl

e-lik

e le

aves

ar

e ar

rang

ed ra

dial

ly a

roun

d th

e tip

s of

you

ng sh

oots

, or i

n ro

sette

s (of

30

to

40 le

aves

) on

olde

r woo

d. In

sprin

g, th

e ne

w le

aves

are

a b

right

, fre

sh g

reen

bu

t in

autu

mn

they

turn

a y

ello

w,

gold

en c

olou

r.

BE

EC

H

BIR

CH

LA

RC

H

OA

K Q

uerc

us sp

p.O

aks a

re lo

ng-li

ved

trees

, man

y be

ing

500

or m

ore

year

s old

. Oak

woo

d is

good

to w

ork

with

, as i

t cle

aves

wel

l bu

t you

nger

woo

d ca

n st

ain

the

hand

s (d

ue to

tann

ins)

. The

re a

re tw

o m

ain

spec

ies,

Sess

ile O

ak a

nd P

edun

cula

te

Oak

whi

ch re

adily

hyb

ridise

.

SCO

TS

PIN

E Pi

nus s

ylve

stris

Prob

ably

the

mos

t wid

ely

dist

ribut

ed

coni

fer i

n th

e w

orld

. It i

s one

of t

he U

K’s

thre

e na

tive

coni

fers

– th

e ot

her t

wo

bein

g Ye

w a

nd J

unip

er. S

omet

imes

de

scrib

ed a

s an

‘hon

orar

y ha

rdw

ood’

, as

it g

row

s slo

wly

and

pro

duce

s a g

ood

qu

ality

, har

d tim

ber.

SWEE

T C

HES

TN

UT

Cas

tane

a sa

tiva

The

leav

es o

n a

mat

ure

tree

can

be

very

long

inde

ed –

they

are

pro

babl

y bi

gger

than

the

leav

es o

f any

oth

er

wild

tree

in th

e UK

. The

Sw

eet C

hest

nut

has b

een

plan

ted

in la

rge

quan

titie

s in

Sou

th E

ast E

ngla

nd fo

r cha

rcoa

l m

anuf

actu

re. O

ften

plan

ted

alon

gsid

e oa

k, a

s an

unde

rstor

y.

WIL

LOW

Sal

ix sp

p.V

ario

us w

illow

s wer

e pr

esen

t in

the

UK

afte

r the

last

Ice

Age

, but

it is

diffi

cult

to k

now

whi

ch d

ue to

thei

r ‘pe

ncha

nt’

for h

ybrid

isatio

n. W

illow

s are

gen

eral

ly

plan

ts o

f wet

ter a

reas

/soi

ls. Th

ey h

ave

long

bee

n as

soci

ated

with

the

mak

ing

of b

aske

ts, h

urdl

es, p

lant

supp

orts

, and

of

cou

rse c

ricke

t bat

s.

CO

MM

ON

YEW

Taxu

s bac

cata

The

Yew

is sl

ow-g

row

ing

and

can

be

of g

reat

long

evity

. Som

e Ye

ws a

re

thou

sand

s of y

ears

old.

It is

to b

e fo

und

na

tura

lly o

n m

any

soil t

ypes

, tho

ugh

it is

mor

e co

mm

on o

n ch

alk

in th

e So

uth

East

and

limes

tone

in th

e N

orth

.

SWEE

T

CH

EST

NU

T

OA

K

SCO

TS

PIN

E

Phot

ogra

phy

Chr

is L

iffen

. Des

ign

Baiz

don.

com

WIL

LO

W

YE

W

ASH

AL

DE

R

GU

IDE

to B

RITI

SHTR

EES