bloomsbury Pocket Guide to TREES & SHRUBS BOB GIBBONS PockET GUiDE To TREES AND SHRUBS This electronic edition published in 2014 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published in 2014 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 50 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3DP www.bloomsbury.com Copyright © 2014 in text and photographs Bob Gibbons, except p.76 and p.179 (top) © Shutterstock. The right of Bob Gibbons to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. ISBN (print): 978-1-4729-0981-7 ISBN (ePub): 978-1-4729-1557-3 ISBN (ePdf): 978-1-4729-1557-3 Bloomsbury Publishing, London, New Delhi, New York and Sydney A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for To find out more about our authors and their books please visit www. bloomsbury.com where you will find extracts, author interviews and details of forthcoming events, and to be the first to hear about latest releases and special offers, sign up for our newsletters here. Bloomsbury is a trade mark of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc PockET GUiDE To TREES AND SHRUBS Bob Gibbons Contents Introduction 6 Bird Cherry 58 Silver Fir 12 St Lucie Cherry 60 Douglas Fir or Oregon Fir 14 Wild Pear 62 Norway Spruce 16 Plymouth Pear 63 European Larch Crab Apple 64 or Common Larch 18 Rowan or Mountain Ash 66 Scots Pine 20 Whitebeam 68 Maritime Pine 22 Wild Service Tree 70 Cedar of Lebanon 24 Hawthorn or Quickthorn 72 Monkey Puzzle or Chilean Pine 26 Midland Hawthorn 74 Monterey Cypress Shrubby Cinquefoil 75 or Macrocarpa 28 Sea-buckthorn 76 Wellingtonia or Giant Redwood 30 Buckthorn Yew 32 or Purging Buckthorn 78 Common Juniper 34 Alder Buckthorn 80 Barberry 36 The Elms 82 London Plane 38 Common Mulberry 84 Box 40 Beech 85 Redcurrant 42 Sweet Chestnut 88 Laburnum 44 Pedunculate Oak, English Oak Locust Tree or False-acacia 46 or Common Oak 90 Gorse 48 Sessile Oak or Durmast Oak 93 Broom 50 Holm Oak or Evergreen Oak 96 Roses 52 Walnut 98 Blackthorn or Sloe 54 Bog-myrtle 100 Wild Cherry or Gean 56 Silver Birch 102 The female flowers of Hazel. 4 Downy Birch 104 Small-leaved Lime 150 Dwarf Birch 106 Lime 152 Green Alder 108 Mistletoe 154 Alder 110 Tamarisk 156 Hornbeam 112 Dogwood 158 Spindle 114 Cornelian Cherry Hazel 116 or European Cornel 160 White Poplar 118 Strawberry Tree 162 Black Poplar 120 Rhododendron 164 Aspen 122 Labrador-tea 166 Crack Willow 124 Tree Heather 168 White Willow 126 Duke of Argyll’s Teaplant 170 Goat Willow or Great Sallow 128 Privet 172 Osier 130 Ash 174 Downy Willow 132 Holly 176 Weeping Willow 134 Common Elder 178 Net-leaved Willow Red-berried Elder or Net-veined Willow 135 or Alpine Elder 180 Fuchsia 136 Guelder-rose 182 Stag’s Horn Sumach 137 Wayfaring-tree 184 Smoke-tree 138 Glossary 186 Horse-chestnut 140 Bibliography and Resources 188 Field Maple 142 Organisations and Societies 188 Sycamore 144 Suppliers 189 Norway Maple 146 Places to Visit 189 Large-leaved Lime 148 Index 190 Old Beech pollards, Epping Forest. 5 IntroductIon What are trees and shrubs? Most people are familiar with the general features of trees and shrubs, though it is not always easy to define exactly what is meant by a ‘tree’ or ‘shrub’. Both are characterised by having woody stems and branches; this is achieved by a process of secondary thickening, where the stems increase in girth each year by laying down woody cells within the tissues, produced by special layers. the diameter of the trunks and branches can continue to increase throughout the life of a tree. In general, trees are thought of as woody plants that have a main stem that is 5m (16ft) or more in height, with a branching crown above this, whereas shrubs have numerous branches arising lower down and are usually less than 5m (16ft) in height. there is, of course, a good deal of overlap between these two categories, particularly with respect to young trees, trees growing in challenging conditions (such as high in the mountains, or in the far north) where they remain small, or shrubs growing in especially favourable conditions, where they grow large. Some plants, such as common Juniper, Hawthorn or Hazel, are most commonly shrubs, but can certainly become small trees under the right conditions. In this book, we have included both trees and shrubs, so the distinction is less significant. We have included a few shrubs that are very small, often under 50cm (1½ft) in height, which might not normally be thought of as shrubs at all, such as dwarf Birch, Bog Myrtle or net-leaved Willow; however, these are fully formed shrubs, with woody stems, often closely related to much more typical shrubs or trees, and it makes sense to include them. the scope of this book this book covers the great majority of native trees and shrubs of Britain and north-west Europe, excluding only some of the more difficult species from large groups such as Willows Salix spp. In addition, it covers a number of the most common, conspicuous or distinctive non-native species that may be found planted or naturalised in the area. Some of these, such as the Giant redwood or the cedar of Lebanon, will only be found as planted specimens, as they have little ability to invade their surroundings; others, such as Sycamore or rhododendron, have become so much a part of our vegetation that they are often simply thought of as being native. 6 Hawthorn in flower in May. How to use tHe book Under each species, there is a general description of the tree or shrub, with an indication of its average maximum height. Occasional individuals will be taller than this, and of course many young or poorly grown examples will be smaller – it is just a guide to how large the tree normally becomes. Within this description, key features that help to identify the species are picked out, and – in some cases – specific reference to confusable species is made, with a note of the differences. Normally, details of the flowers, and the subsequent fruit if distinctive, are given. Many trees have separate male and female plants, e.g. Holly, or separate male and female flowers on the same tree, e.g. Hazel, where the familiar catkins are the male flowers, while the female flowers are small and inconspicuous. These differences are normally described. 7 The heading ‘Habitat and distribution’ gives a description of what types of places the tree is most likely to be found in, e.g. mountain woodlands, river floodplains, etc., and whether or not it is likely to be planted or naturalised. Some species are only found as natives outside Europe, but have been planted here; for these, the country of origin is normally noted. Other species are native in this area, but have also been widely planted – e.g. Wild Pear – and an indication is given, if it is known, as to which is the original native area. ‘Flowering time’ gives an indication of the most likely time of flowering. However, in a large region such as north Europe, flowering times vary considerably with latitude, and also with altitude wherever there are hills or mountains, so this is just a guide. They will generally be later at higher altitudes or further north. Also, trees will not flower at consistently the same time each year, and a general trend for earlier flowering has been observed in many species, presumably due to global warming. In some instances, the heading ‘Similar species’ gives a briefer description of any additional similar or closely related trees and shrubs that also occur in the region. For example, Common Laburnum is an easily recognisable native or garden plant in much of Europe; but there are also some other very similar Laburnum species that could be confused with it, and these are described in this section. There are a few groups of trees and shrubs, such as the roses Rosa spp., the elms Ulmus spp. and to a lesser extent the willows Hips and leaves of Dog-rose. 8