Trees at Martineau Gardens

Trees at Martineau Gardens

Maple leaves in autumn All trees with a diameter over 35cm were tagged in November 2004 as part of the 'Welcoming Visitors' project funded by Living Spaces. Trees in the formal gardens and the wildlife area were surveyed and their details recorded, including the condition and shape of the trunk, branches, roots and canopy. This also gave us the opportunity to identify any work required for health and safety, especially in the wildlife area where branches and a fallen tree were blocking the path. Unfortunately, a Dawn redwood had to be felled, due to honey fungus. A Cobra cable support was required for one of the Eucalyptus trees in the formal gardens to protect one of the trunks for leaning and potentially breaking.


Autumn fruits & seeds ticklist	Tree leaves ticklist	Find lots more at naturedetectives.org.uk

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The table below gives information about trees at the Martineau Gardens. How are native trees defined?

Native	Non-native
Alder (Alnus glutinosa) A deciduous tree of conical shape, the young green shoots and alternate leaves are sticky to touch. The fruits are borne in clusters and can remain on the tree all winter.	Alpine Snow Gum (Eucalyptus niphophila) Young snakeskin bark, bright grey, green and cream. Silvery-white or green scimitar shaped leaves on orange stalks. The second hardiest Eucalypt. Tolerates exposure and salt winds.
Alder Buckthorn (Frangula alnus / Rhamnus frangula) Called 'alder' because it grows in the same marshy places as the alder, and 'buckthorn' because it resembles purging buckthorn, to which it is closely related. However, it has no thorns. The wood was used, as recently as 1946, in the manufacture of gunpowder. The dried bark is known as a mild laxative.	Catalinia / Fernleaf Ironwood (Lyonothamnus Floribunbus) This rare tree with reddish brown peeling bark has compound leaves that are divided into 2-7 leaflets. Each leaflet is further divided into numerous oblique lobes that render a fernlike grace to the entire plant. This species occurs naturally only on Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and San Clemente islands off the southern California coast.
Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) This tree has stout, smooth shoots and prominent black buds. The distinctive flower buds form dense, nearly black clusters before they open and are easy to spot in early spring.	Mountain Gum (Eucalyptus dalrympleana) Young shoots are orange or scarlet. Cream, brown or grey patchwork bark. Lime tolerant.
Aspen (Populus tremula) Aspen is one of the oldest known trees in northern Europe, and evidence of it has been found in bogs in layers from the first Dryas period (12,000 - 17,000 years ago). The long, slender, flattened leaf stalks make the leaves tremble in the slightest breeze, making a rattling sound distinctive to the Aspen.	Snow Gum (Eucalyptus Pauciflora) Large juvenile green leaves. Mottled "giraffe skin" white to grey bark. Very hardy. Tolerates exposure & salt winds.
Beech (Fagus sylvatica) One of the most magnificent and important native trees, the leaves are silky and hairy when young, turning dark green and then bright yellow in autumn. The friut is a distinctive woody husk, up to 2.5cn long, and contains one or two edible nuts.	London Plane (Platanus x hispanica) This tree is a hybrid between the American Plane and the Oriental Plane. A large tree often planted as a street tree due to its ability to withstand high level of pollution by regularly shedding its bark, leaving light coloured patches on the trunk.
Common Oak (Quercus robur) The most common form of the oak, named pedunculate since it bears its acorns on long stalks or 'peduncles'. A native tree, also known as the English Oak, with a wide variety of uses, from flooring and furniture to fencing and boat building. The seed of the oak, the acorn, are a familiar feature of autumn.	Norway Maple (Acer platanoides drummondii) Native to Northern Europe, similar to the Sycamore but with different bark patterns and a more pointed leaf.
Field Maple (Acer campestre) Also known as Hedge Maple, his round-crowned, deciduous tree of spreading habit is sometimes shrubby. The opposite leaves are dark green above, paler and hairy beneath, and turn yellow in autumn. They are heart-shaped at the base and deeply cut into five lobes. Hanging in clusters, each fruit has two horizontal, spreading wings and ripens from green to reddish.	Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) Sycamore does not grow wild in Britain , but was introduced in the 18th century and planted in parks and woodlands. Native to central Europe, the Pyrenees and the Alps, the sycamore produces large quantities of seed and has now gained a footing in most areas, especially on humus rich soil.
Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) Widely used for hedging due to the prominent thorns on this tree. The shiny, bright red fruit or hips ripen in clusters at he end of branches from September to October. The fruit is an oval crimson berry (haw) containing a large seed. The haws are eaten by many birds, including Redwings, and the thick, thorny foliage provides birds with well protected nesting sites.	Western Hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) Native to North America, Hemlock is common in this country as it yields a high volume of quality timber on ground of moderate fertility.
Hazel (Corylus avellana) The large dark green leaves are oval or rounded with a toothed margin and the bark is coppery brown, shiny with strips curling away. The yellowish male catkins hang down and the small brown female flowers produce clusters of one to four green nuts in papery bracts which ripen brown. Many rodents, including Wood Mice, Hazel Dormice and Bank Voles, feast on the nuts, harvested commercially by man, particularly for use in confectionery.	Contorted / Corkscrew Willow (Salix matsudana 'Tortuosa') With its distinctive twisted and contorted branches this tree is an interesting species. As with all willows, they are quick growing, very hardy and thrive best in deep, moist and loamy soil. they bear catkins and the foliage appears early in the spring.
Holly (Ilex aquifolium) Holly is one of our very few wild evergreen broad-leaved trees. Under favourable conditions it may reach a height of 60 ft., but is usually a bush forming undergrowth. The bright red berries are favoured by most birds, especially thrushes, and remain on the trees until February. The wood is whitish, hard and heavy and is used for turning and inlay work.	Lawson Cypress (Chamaecyparis Lawsoniana) Also known as a False Cypress, the small red male flower clusters are often conspicuous at the shoot tips in spring. The tiny leaves are pointed, with white markings beneath and are densely arranged around the shoots.
Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) The numerous , yellow-green male catkins hang down, as do the yellowish female catkins. The latter produce clusters of small green, three-lobed fruits, which ripen brown. A Hornbeam without fruit can be identified by its fluted trunk. When used in hedges, this species can be recognized by its sharply double-toothed leaves which are folded along the veins.	Horse Chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) Native to the Balkans, these are large imposing trees with large white flowers. It produces conkers, which have been used for centuries by children as a game. The tree gets its name from the horseshoe shaped scar left on the twig where the leaf was connected. Alternatively, it was named because the fruit were given to horses to eat.
Juniper (Juniperus communis) This is the only juniper native to N. Europe. The fruit takes two years to ripen, and is found at any time of the year. Prostrate and creeping, or a bushy shrub, or sometimes a tree, this species is of a very variable habit. The flowers are very small; males are yellow and females green, growing in clusters on separate plants. Female plants bear fleshy, blue-black berry-like cones up to 6mm long, covered at first with a white bloom.	Japanese Cherry (Prunus Kanzan) This is the most common cultivated Prunus. The deep pink, double flowers are dramatic in spring. Kanzan is vase-shaped at first, branching later and usually has a spreading habit. These ornamental garden trees are of ancient origin in Japan, where they have been cultivated for over a thousand years.
Rowan / Mountain Ash (Sorbus aucuparia) As its alternative name of Mountain Ash suggests, it can survive up to 2,000 metres (6,560 ft). It grows higher than any other tree in Britain and prefers well-drained soils. The Latin name means 'a fowler', a reference to the fact that hunters used to smear bird lime from its fruit which was smeared onto branches to ensnare small birds. The dense dark brown wood is used by turners and carvers and makes an excellent firewood. Rowanberry jelly with venison is savoured by some, but to most its taste is rather harsh. The sweet-smelling flowers attract a variety of insects that collect their pollen and nectar.	Winter / Higan Cherry (Prunus subhirtella 'Autumnalis') Double-flowered (‘Autumnalis’) Higan Cherry is 25 to 35-foot-tall and wide tree, usually with a multiple trunk, slender, upright branches, and a rounded canopy. The canopy on older trees often grows wider than the tree grows tall. Before the leaves appear in spring, the trees are covered with many semi-double pink flowers; some flowers may also appear in autumn if the weather is sufficiently warm. The one to four-inch-long dark green leaves are later joined by the appearance of small, black berries. The leaves cast light shade below the spreading canopy, and turn attractive fall colours of yellow and bronze before dropping.
Silver Birch (Betula pendula) This tree, with its distinctive silvery bark, is believed to have sacred powers of purification. Growing on poor acid soils, it lives up to 200 years. It is a pioneer species and as such is the first to appear after land has been burnt or cleared. Although birches are Britain's third commonest trees they are not very important for timber.	Sweet Gum (Liquidambar styraciflua) Native to Mexico, this is for its gum used in adhesives, perfumes and incense. It has a Maple-like leaf and is grown here for its fantastic autumn colour. Whereas Maple leaves are opposite, the lobed leaves of the Sweet Gum are arranged alternately on the branch.
Whitebeam (Sorbus aria) A graceful and slender tree with season-long colour. The name is due to the fact that the under side of the leaves are covered with white hairs. It produces distinctive red berry-like fruits.	Cherry Laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) A common evergreen tree with large shiny leaves and candles of small white flowers in April. The flowers are followed by rounded fruit which ripen from green to red, then glossy black.
Wych Elm (Ulmus glabra) Tiny flowers with red anthers open on the bare shoots in late winter before the leaves emerge. The alternate, oval leaves have unequal halves, with sharp teeth that are larger towards the tip. They are dark green and very rough above, with a short stalk. The flowers are followed by winged green fruit. Dutch Elm is a hybrid between Wych Elm and Field Elm.	White Mulberry (Morus alba) Native to China, bearing white or pink fruit, this is the food of the silkworm. Tiny green flowers are borne in short clusters about 1cm long, with the male and female flowers on the same or separate plants. The clustered, edible, distinctly stalked fruit may be white, pink or red in colour.
Yew (Taxus baccata) Often associated with churchyards as congregations used to meet beneath its shade, before churches were built. Yew was used to make the Longbow in the Middle Ages. It can live longer than most native trees, some living for over 1,000 years. The Yew is steeped in folk lore with many stories about its magical powers.	Laburnum (Laburnum anagyroides) Light and graceful, casting dappled shade in which other plants can grow. The long sprays of flowers appear in May or June. These are followed by brown pods which remain until midwinter, when the shiny, green branches are a characteristic feature. The leaves, twigs and especially the seeds are poisonous.

Definition of British Native Trees

The generally accepted definition of "Native Tree" is based on those trees that colonised the British Isles after the last ice age and before they were cut off from the rest of Europe by the rising sea levels.

In our guide we include the island of Ireland as well as Britain. The ice covered almost the whole of the land of the British Isles and so the region was completely barren. The only species that may have survived being Arbutus Unedo (Strawberry Tree) a native of southern Ireland. As the ice retreated the land was colonised initially by species such as Birch and Scots Pine with the last arrivals being species such as Beech and Hornbeam. We can visualise the trees and other plants migrating northwards as the climate improved. Once the English Channel was formed this migration ceased leaving the 33 native trees.

This migration continued within the British Isles with the result that Scots Pine which probably was found all over the region can be said to now have a habitat in parts of Scotland only.