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.
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 in autumn and usually stops in winter, and then starts again 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.
Government Agencies active in woodland conservation include: