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Native trees - Non-natives - Tree Facts - Links

Native and naturalised trees of Britain and Ireland:

Horse Chestnut
Horse chestnut
Monkey Puzzle
Monkey puzzle
Silver Birch
Betula pendula
Hornbeam
Hornbeam
Sweet Chestnut
Sweet chestnut
Cedar of Lebanon
Cedar of Lebanon
Copper Beech
Copper beech
European Larch
European larch
Japanese Larch
Japanese larch
Crab Apple
Crab apple
Norway Spruce
Norway spruce
Scots Pine
Scots pine
White Poplar
White Poplar
Black Poplar
Black Poplar
Wild Cherry
Wild cherry
Blackthorn
Blackthorn
Cherry Laurel
Cherry laurel
Douglas Fir
Douglas fir
Holm Oak
Holm oak
Sessile Oak
Sessile oak
English Oak
English oak
White Willow
White willow
Goat Willow
Goat willow
Crack Willow
Crack willow
Coast Redwood
Coast redwood
Giant Redwood
Giant redwood
English Yew
English yew
Wych Elm
Wych Elm
English Elm
English elm

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.

Some interesting non-native trees:

Silk Floss Tree
Ceiba speciosa
Silk Floss Tree
Ceiba chodatii
Cockspur Coral
Erythrina crista-galli, Cockspur Coral Tree

Facts about trees

  1. The oldest living trees are bristle-coned pines; some are still growing and more than 5000 years old.
  2. The giant redwood tree can grow to a weight of 2000 tonnes.
  3. The coast redwood is the tallest tree, reaching a height of 100 metres.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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:

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