Windows on Wildlife

Welcome to The Arboretum

Native and naturalised trees of the British Isles

English Oak Quercus robur	Sessile Oak Quercus petraea	Copper Beech Fagus sylvatica	Beech Fagus sylvatica	Ash Fraxinus excelsior

English Elm Ulmus procera	Wych Elm Ulmus glabra	Goat Willow Salix caprea	White Willow Salix alba	Crack Willow Salix fragilis

Crab Apple Malus sylvestris	Blackthorn Prunus spinosa	Sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus	Hawthorn Crataegus monogyna	Elder Sambucus nigra

Lime Tilia vulgaris	Rowan Sorbus aucuparia	Horse Chestnut Aesculus hippocastanum	Sweet Chestnut Castana sativa	White Poplar Populus alba

Laburnam Laburnum anagroides	Wild Cherry Prunus avium	Dogwood Cornus sanguinea	Alder Alnus glutinosa	Hazel Corylus avellana

Douglas Fir Pseudotsuga menzesii	Scots Pine Pinus sylvestris	Giant Redwood Sequoiadendron giganteum	Coast Redwood Sequoia sempervirens	Norway Spruce Picea abies

Monkey Puzzle Araucaria araucana	English Yew Taxus baccata	Cedar of Lebanon Cedrus libani	Japanese Larch Larix kaempferi	European Larch Larix decidua

Broom Cytisus scoparius	Gorse Ulex europaeus	Cherry Laurel Prunus laurocerasus	Holly Ilex aquifolium	Holm Oak Quercus ilex

Each image links to a page containing larger pictures, indentification guides and details of habitat requirements for each of the tree species shown here. Pictures of flowers, seeds and leaves of most species are also shown.

Non-native trees

Silk Floss Tree

Ceiba speciosa

Silk Floss Tree

Ceiba chodatii

Facts about trees

The oldest living trees are bristle-coned pines; some are still growing and more than 5000 years old.
The giant redwood tree can grow to a weight of 2000 tonnes.
The coast redwood is the tallest tree, reaching a height of 100 metres.
Tree growth slows and stops in winter and speeds up in spring; this causes annual 'rings' to appear in the cut timber, from which the age can be determined.
Only three conifers are truly native to the British Isles: Scots pine, yew and juniper. They colonised the land, after the ice cap receded, five- to nine-thousand years ago.
Dutch Elm Disease, which has done so much damage since 1970, may have wiped out most of Britain's elm trees before: there is a sharp reduction in fossil pollen records for the period between 3000 and 4000 BC.
Ancient woodland is defined as that dating from before 1700 AD.

Food from trees

Ask what food you can get from trees, and most people say nuts - hazel, sweet chestnut and a few others. But many other trees contain edible parts - the roots, leaves or bark, for example.

Poisonous trees

Many evergreen trees and bushes, including rhododendron, privet and laurel, are poisonous. The berries are a particular danger if young children try to eat them. Beware also that all parts of the laburnum contain hazardous toxins; children are sometimes tempted to eat the seeds because they look very much like peas.

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