Tree Varieties

Alder

The Alder has been known locally, in the Sheffield area as the Owler, hence the place name Owler Bar. In North Yorkshire the tree is called an Eller, as in the place name Ellerbeck. Often found close to water, in ill - drained areas, the alder is capable of growing to a height of around 90 feet with a maximum girth of up to 11 feet having been recorded. As it is ideal for coppicing and the straight poles that are produced are useful in turnery, the alder rarely reaches such a size.
The wood is reddish brown in colour, durable under water and has a soft texture. It has a high water content, making it unsuitable as firewood but it provides excellent raw material for charcoal.
In the past, the wood has been used to make soles for clogs and the bark has been utilised in the tanning process.
The tree is recognisable from its black, scaly bark and dark branches. The dark green leaves are heart - shaped and about the size of an old penny coin. Flowers appear in March, before the leaves, separate clusters of different sexed catkins on the same tree, with pollination occurring through wind distribution.
As the season progresses, the female catkins evolve into soft green cones, which become woody before opening in December. The seeds within bear tiny air bladders, making them suitable for water dispersal.

Ash

The ash is a native British tree, which is also found throughout central Europe. The ash was known as the 'Tree of Life' in ancient Norse mythology. Ash prefers good quality soil, particularly that which overlies limestone or chalk. It requires a great deal of light, being intolerant of overhead shade and is highly susceptible to damage from grazing animals.
A mature tree of 120 years can attain a height of 100 feet, although Ash is freely coppiced before reaching maturity, the poles being highly prized for such uses as tool handles.
The wood is light brown in colour, although the 'heartwood' may be darker, and pliable and tough in texture. It makes excellent firewood and, in addition to tool handles, it is used for making oars and sports goods - anything requiring a timber that is capable of absorbing shock or strain without cracking.
The trunk of the ash is smooth and grey; becoming rougher as it grows older. The compound leaves are made up of a number of serrated, lance - shaped leaflets around a middle rib with a terminal leaflet. The green flowers appear in clumps in April with male, female or hermaphrodite flowers present on an individual tree. Pollination by wind results in the production of winged seeds known as 'keys', that are blown from the tree by the winter gales. The leaves appear in May, later than those of any other British native tree and fall early in October.

Beech

The beech is believed to be a native of southern England and is common throughout Europe. It prefers a well-drained site and will grow successfully on sand, chalk or limestone. Heights of around 100 feet can be achieved in as many years and girths can reach 30 feet. An old beech will seldom throw up coppice shoots but if a young tree is pollarded it will shoot again, producing crooked poles.
Beech wood is pale brown, hard and strong. It is not suitable for outdoor use but responds well to bending under steam treatment and can be used in furniture making. Its colour and even texture make it ideal for making wooden bowls, spoons and bread - boards and it can be used for firewood or in charcoal making.
Beech bark is a bluish - grey colour and remains smooth irrespective of the age of the tree. The oval leaves appear in April and are dark green in colour until October, when they take on a russet - brown tint, prior to falling. Flowers appear only on trees over 40 years old in May. Wind pollinates the male and female flowers which appear in separate catkins on the same tree.
Female flowers tend to produce two seeds, enveloped in a green husk, coated with stiff brown hairs. As the fruit ripens in October, the husk breaks into four lobes, releasing two brown triangular nuts which are distributed by the birds and animals that feed on them.
A common variation is the copper beech, often planted in gardens, which takes its colour from the extra purple pigment in the leaves.

Birch

The birch occurs all over Britain, growing in all but the very poorest soil and is widely distributed across Europe and into northern Asia. The tree prefers full sun, growing to a height of around 60 feet after 50 years after which time growth ceases. Maximum girth is around 6 feet. The Birch has the reputation of being a short - lived tree although it will easily live to be 80 years old if conditions are suitable. The dwarf birch, a shrub found in Scotland and growing to only a few feet high, is believed to be a relic of the alpine flora of the last Ice Age.
Birch wood is a pale brown in colour and unsuitable for outdoor use. It is suitable for firewood or for making charcoal as well as for creating objects such as bowls, bobbins and toys by turning.
The birch is a delicate - looking tree with a slender, paper - white trunk and a network of dark branches. The grayish green leaves have serrated edges and grow to about an inch long, turning yellow prior to falling in October. The flowers appear in April, just as the leaves are opening. They are grouped in catkins, with both male and female being present on the same tree. After fertilisation, the female catkins enlarge and, in September, break up to release three small winged nutlets. Pollination is achieved through use of the wind, as is seed dispersal.

Hawthorn

The hawthorn is a member of the rosaceae, or rose, family and can also be known as the may tree. It is usually seen as a shrub, common as a hedging plant, but can grow into a small tree with a height of around 20 feet in its wild state.
The dark red fruits, known as haws, can be harvested to make haw jelly when ripe in November. The Haws contain the tree's seeds and are an important source of food for voles, woodmice and many birds.
The bark is brown and rough to the touch. The leaves appear in April, firstly as a bright emerald colour but turning darker to a dull brown before falling in October. The pink or white clusters of flowers, known as May blossom, appear after the leaves and are heavily scented. Pollination is by insect and the birds that feed on the fruits distribute the seeds.

Hazel

The hazel is a native of southern Britain and can also be found throughout Europe, with related varieties existing in North America and a tree hazel occurring in Asia Minor and the Balkans. It prefers a fairly good soil with good drainage, on a warm site and thrives on chalk and loam.
As it is habitually a shrubby plant, hazel rarely appears as a true tree. It is usually seen as a mass of slender poles rising from a common base, or 'stool'. These poles are coppiced at roughly seven-year intervals to provide the hurdle maker with the raw material for his craft.
The bark is pale brown and the poles bear buds that open in April to produce a broad leaf with serrated edges, ending in a point, which turn yellow before falling in November. The flowers open early in January and the pollen is spread by the wind, although both male and female flowers appear on the same tree. The male catkins are long and of a yellow-brown colour, whereas the female catkins resemble a leaf bud - bright red stigmas projecting from the cluster of tiny flowers within.
Once the flowers are fertilised, clusters of oval-shaped nuts known as cobnuts begin to form. These nuts turn gradually from green to brown in October, when they are harvested and eaten by man and other animals.

Hornbeam

The hornbeam is a native of south east England and can be found throughout central Europe, with related species occurring in North America and Japan. Hornbeam prefers a well drained sandy or gravel soil and rarely grows to a height of more than 40 feet after 60 years of growth, although it is capable of achieving a height of up to 75 feet and a girth of around 11 feet.
Hornbeam can be easily coppiced or pollarded. In the past hornbeam was used in the production charcoal as well as being a source of excellent firewood. This is evident from the number of pollarded hornbeams in Epping Forest, relics of the times when common 'fuelwood' rights existed there. The creamy white Hornbeam timber is by far the hardest of the British timbers.
The trunk is oval in cross-section and the bark is smooth but ribbed, making it fairly unsuitable for many uses, although it has been used to make items such as screws, cogs, mallets and pullet blocks before these items were produced using metals or synthetic materials.
The oval, serrated, leaves appear in April and turn a bright yellow in colour before falling in October. hornbeam is sometimes confused with beech or elm, due to the shape of its leaves, although its closest botanical relation is the hazel.
The male and female catkin flowers appear on the same tree in May. The male catkins are 1 to 2 inches long and made up of a number of broad scales, each bearing around 6 stamens. The smaller female catkins have greenish bracts, containing two flowers which develop into a 'wing' form once the bract has fallen away. Once fertilised, the catkins become longer and clusters of green 'wings' are formed, each containing one seed. Pollination and seed distribution are both achieved through the use of the wind and seed may be airborne in most seasons.

Lime

The common lime is a hybrid between the large leafed lime and the small leafed lime and is often infertile in Britain. Although the lime is native to Britain, it is rarely found in the wild, whereas it is known to form forests in Eastern Europe.
The lime prefers a light location with rich soil and can grow to a height of up to 130 feet and achieve a girth of 14 feet. The bark is smooth and grey and the wood is soft and yellow with an even grain, making it suitable for woodcarving. The leaves are heart-shaped, serrated and midway in size between the two parent species.
The flowers appear as clusters in July, spreading from long stalks which bear a peculiar paper-like bract. The flowers are a yellow-green in colour and exude a pleasant scent and nectar, which attracts insects. The capsule fruits contain a single seed and ripen in September.

Oak

The oak is a native British tree that supports more wildlife than any other tree in the country. The oak is widespread throughout Europe and related species can be found as far apart as Asia, the Far East, North Africa and North America. Oak will survive under adverse conditions such as poor soil and intense cold but it prefers a well-drained loam and a light position.
The maximum age achieved by an oak is unknown but estimates of around 1000 years are not unrealistic. Oaks tend to stop expanding their girth after reaching a certain age and so the process of measuring age by the number of growth rings becomes impossible, as the growth rings become practically undetectable.
Oak can vary greatly in size and form but there are two principal varieties of oak in Britain. Firstly, the sessile (or durmast) oak with a tapering leaf base and acorns which taper to a point and, secondly, the pedunculate (or english) oak with two lobes at the base of the leaf blade and acorns which are blunt or swollen at the apex. The true sessile oak, a native of Wales, is inclined to grow in a more erect fashion than the crooked growth characteristic of the pedunculate oak.
Oak was the normal 'standard' tree in an area of 'coppice-with-standards' in the south of England, whilst it was felled to make charcoal for the smelting process in ironstone districts. It was essential for the construction of warships, especially in the years between the Spanish Armada and the Battle of Trafalgar. The versatility of the timber ensured that oak was used in the construction of houses and railway wagons, as well as all manner of products from fence posts to furniture.
The bark on a young oak is dark grey and smooth, whereas older trunks appear rugged and a lighter grey in colour. The distinctive leaves appear in early May and are a mid-green in colour, turning to a dull brown by October, prior to falling. Both male and female catkins appear on the same tree after the arrival of the leaves. The male catkins are grouped in clusters on pendulous stalks whilst the female catkins are less spectacular and clustered on shorter stalks.
Pollination takes place by wind and one ovule in each flower develops, its surrounding cupule enlarging to form the acorn cup. The seed, the familiar acorn, is green at first but ripens to brown before it falls from the cup in October. Oaks are erratic in their production of seed and this seed, the acorn, is distributed in a very haphazard manner by a number of different animals.
In the past, when pannage was common amongst woodland areas, pigs would grub for acorns and bury some in the process. Squirrels, too, would choose acorns to hide in their stores and sometimes not return to reclaim them, allowing the acorn to germinate. Wood pigeons and pheasants are also fond of this particular food.

Rowan

The rowan is a small tree that is a native to North and Northwest Britain although it has become naturalised on the sandy heaths in Southern England. The rowan grows at higher points than any other broadleaved tree in Britain and prefers a dry location with a sandy or acid soil.
Like the hawthorn and whitebeam, the rowan is a member of the rosaceae, or rose, family. It has a dark, bluish-grey trunk and a compound leaf composed of individual serrated leaflets. Creamy-white flowers appear in June and are followed by orange/scarlet berries in September that can be used to make an edible jelly. Pollination is by insect and birds that feed on the fruits carry out seed distribution.

Sweet Chestnut

The sweet chestnut is a native of Italy and southern Europe and was probably introduced to Britain by the Romans who valued the edible seeds. Related species can be found on the eastern seaboard of North America and in Japan.
Chestnut requires a well drained, warm location and dislikes chalk or acid soil. The tree is capable of reaching a height of 110 feet with a girth of up to 20 feet and can live to a great age, although the older trees are susceptible to cracking.
The light brown timber resembles oak and, in the past, has been used in constructional work as well as for fencing and as a raw material to make charcoal. When the main purpose has been to produce fencing material, the chestnut has been coppiced on a fourteen-year cycle of rotation.
The branches are brown in colour and the bark of the trunk shows ridges and furrows, twisting into a spiral pattern. The rich green spearhead-shaped leaves, with saw-tooth indentations, appear in late April, turning a bright brown before falling in October. Male and female catkins appear on the same tree early in August. The pale yellow male catkin is the more impressive, being about 8 inches long, whereas the female catkin consists of three simple flowers, encased in a hairy cupule near the base of the male catkin.
Pollination is achieved partly by wind and partly by insect. Once fertilisation has occurred, each flower develops a triangular nutlet, which gradually turns bright brown in colour and is finally released by the cupule to fall to the ground in late October. Animals and birds effect seed distribution.

Sycamore

The sycamore is a member of the maple family and was introduced into Britain from Central Europe in the late Middle Ages.
Sycamore prefers a well-drained position and will tolerate most soils, thriving in chalkland areas. A mature sycamore can reach a height of 75 feet in 80 years and girths of up to 18 feet have been recorded.
The timber is hard, strong and white or a creamy-yellow in appearance. Sycamore timber has had a number of uses including being used as the flooring in dance halls as well as for furniture, bowls and kitchen utensils.
The trunk and older branches have a smooth, blue-grey bark whereas the younger branches tend to be grey or brown in appearance. The norway maple, a close relation and a more recent arrival to Britain, can be distinguished by its fissured bark and more prominently pointed leaves.
The long, five-lobed leaves are a dull green when they appear in April and turn yellow before falling in October. The golden-green flowers are pendulous racemes that appear in May and are plentiful in nectar, in order to attract the insects necessary for pollination to occur. Seeds are formed in pairs, each seed being joined to a membranous wing, giving the familiar 'helicopter' effect. The seeds ripen during August but many are not borne away by the wind until October.

Whitebeam

The whitebeam, like the hawthorn, is a member of the rosaceae, or rose, family. It is most common on the chalk Downs of Southern England, where it takes the place of the Rowan. 'Beam' is an old word meaning tree and 'White' may refer either to the extremely white timber or the white flowers.
The whitebeam is quick growing and has a smooth grey bark. The leaves are green on the upper surface and white on the lower surface. The tree bears attractive white flowers in May which are succeeded by a mass of scarlet berries in October. Pollination is by insect and birds that feed on the fruits carry out seed distribution.