Self Isolating, Trees before Leaves

For this Self Isolating post I’m temporarily abandoning birds, and looking at identifying winter trees just before their leaves emerge.  These are all trees a few feet from each other in part of an urban cemetery filmed while the cemetery was still locked.

 Walnut

Walnut Bark

I started at a species which is the only specimen in the cemetery, and which is a rare tree in South Holderness: the Walnut.  It has unusual pale grey bark and relatively shallow scored vertical marks.  It must be a slow-growing tree as it has barely increased in height since 1969, and is not a particularly tall tree.  It is dwarfed by the adjacent species.

Horse Chestnut

 Sticky Buds

The next tree is much taller and has browner bark, and has some vertical ridges, and very flaky bark.  The small tribes have sticky buds beginning to open, and they reveal it is a Horse Chestnut tree.  Already the grass around the base of the tree was covered in tiny emerging leaves from higher up the tree, presumably all nibbled off by destructive Grey Squirrels.  

Lime

 Lime Tree Bark

The nearest mature tree to the north is another tall specimen, but this time is marked it by the thick bushy area near to the centre of the tree.  This is a typical feature of a Lime tree, which has been pruned.  These bushy areas prove a haven for Woodpigeons and Grey Squirrels.  The suckers which often emerge at the base of the tree are a haven for exhausted returning Woodcock in the Autumn.  Unfortunately, the park authorities have a policy of hacking these back every few years, so there are none present at the moment.

Cherry Blossom

 Cherry Bark

Moving west some white blossom is visible on quite a small tree: a flowering Cherry.  Cherries can become mature, but they aren’t usually as long-lived as the other trees shown in this post.  The bark on this tree can peel off.  It is different from the other species shown in that it is shiny, and has horizontal scarring marks.

Oak

 Oak Bark

To the south west is the only mature Oak in the cemetery.  It is over 100 years old, but is not yet a gnarled veteran.  It has brown staining typical of the species, but at the moment the ridges are still fairly undeveloped.  Some years there are acorns, but it is very rare that the crop is particularly abundant.

Whitebeam

 Fungi 

To the west of this tree is a Whitebeam.  This is a tree like the Cherry, which rarely attains majestic status, so this particular specimen is larger than average.  Holes have formed where former branches have been removed.  Unfortunately, this tree’s days are numbered, which is indicated by the fungi eating the heartwood which are visible near the base of the tree.

Yew

So far these trees have all been examples of broad-leaved or deciduous trees, so we are going to conclude with something different.  The stumps nearby are of a youngish Yew tree.  This is still alive as may be seen by the needles growing from the stumps.  Unfortunately, it has been the policy of the local council to hack down all ten young Yew trees to this pitiable state.  Presumably because these fast growing trees were starting to push out too far horizontally and were interfering with the grass-cutting machinery.  

The accompanying video is here