Supplemental Chapter 2:

Other Interesting Tree Species

Acacias

Acacia is a genus with about 800 species distributed through the tropics, especially in Australia and Africa. Vast areas of Acacia mollissima, black wattle, have been established in Southern and Eastern Africa for the tannin contained in their bark. The wood, a by- product, is used for pulp and paper, mine props, and parquet flooring.

Another species, A. dealbata, also from Australia, known as mimosa or silver wattle, is planted in the milder parts of Britain and Ireland for its beautiful yellow flowers.

Alder (Alnus spp.)

Often grows along water courses. The nitrogen-fixing properties of alder make it a soil-improving species, and the natives in the mountains of Taiwan traditionally planted A. formosana on exhausted land in order to restore its fertility. The European (common or black) alder sheds its leaves in autumn when they are still green and rich in nitrogen, and this nitrogen then enriches the soil in the form of leaf mould and other forest litter*.

European alder is indigenous to Britain, and to a very wide area from Ireland in the west to Siberia in the east, and from Scandinavia in the north to North Africa in the south. It is the only indigenous nitrogen-fixing tree in Britain. It grows fast, produces a good timber, but is underused. It could be used in the flood plains, instead of the new urban developments which are so often foolishly placed there.

The blood-red paint formerly used by the Sami (Saami, Same, Lapp) people to paint images on their noaidi drums was made by chewing alder bark. In Washington DC the American alder is used as a street tree.

American chestnut (Castanea dentata)

This species was formerly widespread in eastern North America, from Ontario to Georgia, until it was virtually wiped out in the early 20^th century by a fungus inadvertently introduced from Asia. Its wood was once the chief source of tannin in America, the chestnuts themselves were commercially important as food, and the leaves were used in home medicines. The chestnut trees were the last major source of income in the Shenandoah area of the central Appalachian mountains in Virginia, so the blight drove most of the remaining people out, and partly as a result of that it was possible for Congress in 1926 to authorize the creation of Shenandoah National Park, which was then created in 1935, and which today is much visited especially because of its brilliant autumn colours. Cf. Chestnut (Castanea sativa) in Chapter III.

Ash (Fraxinus spp.)

The ash tree was sacred to the old Scandinavians (see Yggdrasill). Its strong resilient wood was used throughout North Europe to make bows, and today it is used for oars, skis, doors and furniture. The leaves are rich in nutrients and are used as sheep fodder. Especially in the Lake District of NW England, trees can still be seen which were pollarded for that purpose. Formerly the seeds were eaten, and the sap of the manna ash (F. ornus) from the Black Sea region yields manna sugar.

In 16^th century England it was believed that if you made the sign of the cross with a cross made of ash wood, you could turn aside a tempest.

Aspen (Populus spp.)

The closely related European (P. tremula) and North American (P. tremuloides) aspen species have an enormous natural distribution. The European one, for example, covers most of Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Siberia; the North American one ranges from Alaska in the NW to Virginia in the SE.

Aspen and other poplars spread by root suckers, which means that the tree in effect ‘clones’ itself. In Utah there is such an aspen clone consisting of 47,000 trees, covering 42 hectares. They are all the same organism, as they have the same DNA and are joined by their roots. Theoretically such a multi-stemmed organism is immortal, because when some of the constituent trees die, other take their place. Some such stands of aspen in the US may be more than 10,000 years old, having been established from seed after the continental ice sheet receded.

An old Swedish legend has it that the reason the leaves of the aspen tree are always trembling (hence the Latin name of the species) is that the cross on which Jesus was crucified was made from aspen wood. The aspen does grow in both Sweden and Palestine, and the cross was probably made from a light wood like aspen since one man could carry it — and yet, the legend is presumably no more than that: a beautiful legend.

Banyan tree (Ficus benghalensis)

This Indian tree spreads by dropping prop roots from its branches, and these roots develop into secondary trunks. One single such composite tree is 600 m in circumference, i.e. it covers an area of 28,600 m² 2.9 hectares, and can shelter 20,000 people. The species is held sacred by the Hindus, who believe that Brahma was transformed into a banyan tree.

Cf. Aspen, Buddha, Wonderboom and Yew.

Baobab (Adansonia digitata)

An African tree with a very wide trunk, attaining a diameter of over 11 m, but with a very rapid taper and a relatively small crown. The root-like appearance of the crown has given rise to the legend that ‘God planted the baobab upside-down’. It occurs from the northern Transvaal in South Africa to the Sahara desert. A protected tree in South Africa, where some Africans believe that the white flowers are inhabited by spirits, and that he who plucks one will be eaten by a lion; but that, on the other hand, drinking water in which baobab bark has been soaked will give strength. In the Sahel people climb the baobabs and cut their branches for the leaf fodder, and the leaves are also used for sauces, and the fruits for making jam. The fruits are rich in tartaric acid, potassium bitartate and vitamin C. In Afrikaans the tree is called the ‘cream of tartar tree’ (kremetartboom).

It reaches an age of more than 3000 years and looks even older. It is a tree which ‘follows man’: if there are old baobabs in an area, then it is an area of old cultivation. Pictures of baobab trees are often used in Africa as a symbol of stability — like the oak in Europe and North America — in the logos of insurance companies and banks, or on bank notes, e.g. the South African 50-rand note.

Beech (Fagus spp.)

Beech forests are wonderful for outdoor recreation; full of anemones and other flowers in spring, beautiful light green spring foliage, tall and majestic trees, and often with little undergrowth; the latter fact facilitates walking and visibility, and visibility increases security, which unfortunately is a not unimportant factor in forests. There are famous beech forests near London (Burnham Beeches), Brussels (Forêt de Soignes), and Copenhagen (Dyrehaven*). The variety purpurea, i.e. the copper beech, provides magnificent colour contrast in our parks and gardens. In earlier days the beech mast (nuts) were used as food for man and beast.

See also Bokstav and Southern beeches.

Birch (Betula spp.)

The English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge called the birch ‘The Lady of the Woods’. It is a pioneer species which colonises bare land after fires and storm damage, improves the soil, and acts as a nurse tree, encouraging other species to grow up in its shade.

The wood is excellent for paper: although the fibre is shorter than that of conifers, so that the resultant pulp is not as strong, it is a very good filler which gives the paper a smooth surface, good printability, and good opacity. In spite of all these good characteristics, it is thought of as a weed tree in Britain, and so it was in Sweden in the early 1950s, where the foresters killed it by spraying hormone poisons from the air. My first job was with a Swedish forestry company which had discovered the valuable paper-making properties of birch, and pioneered its use. The history of forestry is replete with such examples of ‘weed trees’ which are being eradicated one day and in great demand the next day.

Dried and ground birch cambium mixed with flour was formerly used in bread during famines in Sweden and Finland. Dried birch leaves are used for tea. The sap contains sugar and can be used for making wine. The Native Americans used to make their canoes from birch bark, the Russians used it for making cradles, and everybody, including the ‘Iceman*’, used it for making containers. The bark was formerly used for extracting tannin for the processing of leather. It has also been used for roofing.

Excavations of Viking settlements in Russia have unearthed letters written on birch bark, a practice which continued into medieval Russia. It has been estimated that about 20,000 birch-bark letters are waiting under the ground to be discovered in Novgorod (Russia) alone.

Cf. Poisoning of trees and Vindolanda writing tablets.

Borassus aethiopium

Palm tree occurring in Africa north of the equatorial forest and south of the Sahara. The local people split its stem lengthwise into segments, each of which provides a wonderfully strong and termite-resistant pole. It was one of the materials used in 1907 in the construction of the biggest mud brick building in the world, the Great Mosque of Djenné in Mali. It also produces edible fruit, and fibre from the leaves. From a botanical point of view palm trees are not broadleaved trees, or trees at all, but are more closely related to the grasses.

Box (Buxus sempervirens)

One of the few places in Britain where this small (up to 5 m) evergreen tree grows wild is Box Hill in Surrey, where, incidentally, John Keats wrote much of his Book IV of poems in the autumn of 1817. The box produces the hardest and heaviest wood of any tree in Britain.

Canary pine (Pinus canariensis)

Indigenous to the western Canary Islands, including Gran Canaria. Sometimes grown in commercial plantations in Commonwealth countries with a Mediterranean climate (wet winters and dry summers), e.g. South Africa (especially Western Cape) and Australia. It grows relatively slowly, but provides an excellent hard timber and an equally excellent straight pole. Its thick bark gives it a high degree of fire resistance. It is one of the few pines that can regenerate by coppice*, which is also a good survival feature in areas with severe fires.

For other entries related to the Canary Islands, see Dragon tree and Virgin of the Pine.

Carob or locust tree (Ceratonia siliqua)

A leguminous tree native to the eastern Mediterranean region, but cultivated in many warm and dry countries, mainly as a fodder* tree. It is sometimes known as (Old World) locust or St. John’s bread, in the belief that the ‘locusts’ on which John the Baptist fed in the desert were carob pods. The seeds are used in ice cream, and can be used as a substitute for chocolate and coffee. Locust bean gum is used as a gelling agent in the food industry, serving the same purpose as gelatine.

The word ‘carat’ (US: ‘karat’), i.e. the unit of weight (0.2 g) for precious stones, is derived from the Greek keration, which was the fruit of the carob tree.

Casuarina

A genus of trees mainly from Australia, popularly known as beefwood, she-oak (in Australia), or ironwood (the wood is very hard). The species most often planted is C. equisetifolia, coastal beefwood. It can grow almost to the salt water’s edge. The Portuguese navigators, who called it filao, used to plant it near good natural harbours so that these could be seen from far by seafarers, and today it is found all over the tropics.

Catechu

Also known as ‘Cutch’ or ‘Cashoo’. The extract known as ‘black catechu’ is derived from the wood of the Indian species Acacia catechu and A. suma. It has a sweetish taste and is used in medicine as an astringent; also in throat lozenges, often together another tropical tree product, gum Arabic.

Caucasian fir (Abies nordmanniana)

The preferred species for Christmas trees (q.v.) in Europe. Norway spruce (Picea abies) used to be the traditional choice for Christmas trees, but that species does not retain its needles long in modern centrally-heated homes; in Scandinavia, for example, the Christmas tree is not supposed to be discarded until Hilarymas Day on the 13^th of January, i.e. twenty days after Christmas. The Caucasian fir looks similar and is now widely grown for this huge market.

Cherry trees

The beautiful but short-lived cherry blossom has long been a central theme in Japanese poetry. The origin of the flowering cherry trees around the Tidal Basin in Washington DC is the 3,000 trees sent in 1912 as a gift from the city of Tokyo to the American people. The first of these trees was planted by Mrs W. H. Taft, wife of the then President of the United States. The second tree was planted by Viscountess Iwa Chinda, wife of the Japanese Ambassador. These two trees are still alive. Every year at cherry blossom time, which there is usually in early April, this is the site of the Cherry Blossom Festival, drawing visitors from far and wide.

Cedar (Cedrus spp.)

Many tree species are called ‘cedar’, e.g. members of the genus Cedrela in Latin America and various conifers in Australasia and North America, but only four species are true cedars: cedar of Lebanon*, Cyprus cedar, Atlas cedar from the Atlas mountains in Morocco, and deodar cedar from the Himalayas. Some botanists consider them all to be one or two species, but so far the ‘splitters’ have won over the ‘lumpers’ (see Botanical names) and they do have four different Latin names. ‘Deodar’ (Cedrus deodara) is derived from the Sanskrit deva, god, and daru, wood; i.e., ‘the timber of the gods’.

There are many references in the Bible to the cedars of Lebanon. For example the following one from the first book of Kings, 7:2, about how Solomon built his temple (the original linear measure cubit is here given in metres): ‘He built the palace of the forest of Lebanon, 46 m long, 23 m wide, and 13.5 m high, with four rows of cedar columns supporting trimmed cedar beams. It was roofed with cedar above the beams that rested on the columns.’

In Britain the presence of old cedars of Lebanon (C. libani) is often an indicator that the site was once part of a manor-house garden, because a couple of hundred years ago they were very fashionable among the landed gentry. The flattish crowns of the old trees are characteristic and add much interest to the treescape*.

Cedars were still prominent in Lebanon in the Middle Ages, but today you see more examples in the London area than in Lebanon.

Coca (Erythroxylum coca)

A tropical shrub up to 2.5 m tall originally from South America, but now cultivated also in Africa and Asia. It has ceremonial and religious significance to the Indians in South America, who chew the leaves, often adding lime and plant ash which release the alkaloids (cf. Betel), producing a mild narcotic effect, including mitigation of hunger and fatigue. The role of coca leaves in northern South America is somewhat similar to that of cola* nuts in West Africa.

The dangerous and habit-forming drug cocaine is manufactured from coca leaves. The demand for this product in the West has led to much suffering, also in the producer countries where farmers are now criminalised farmers for continuing to grow crops that they have been growing for millennia. As the production of the coca leaves takes place in isolated rural areas in developing countries, where government authority is by definition weak, whereas the consumption is mainly concentrated in cities of developed countries, the easiest place to control this nefarious traffic is in the developed countries.

Coffee plant (genus Coffea, family Rubiaceae)

A small evergreen forest tree of African origin. Can reach a height of 12 meters. It is generally happiest with some shade, and traditionally it has therefore been planted under other trees. Without shade trees, the plants require more fertilizers and insecticides must be used.

Cola tree

The cola (kola) tree from West Africa, Cola acuminata, can reach a height of 25 meters. It produces a caffeine-rich nut which is much used in West Africa as a stimulant — as we use coffee and tea — and for ceremonial purposes: so many nuts to the chief for settling a dispute, so many for a bride etc.. When chewed, they have a bitter, astringent taste. They grow wild, for example in the forests of Guinea. The tree is also much cultivated in tropical America, where the nuts are used for medicine and in soft drinks. Both cocaine (the product of a South American bush) and cola nut extract were originally used in Coca-Cola, hence the name of that drink, but cocaine was removed from the formula in 1905, and today European and North American soft drink manufacturers have replaced cola nut extract with synthetic ingredients. Cf. Ziama.

Conifer, coniferous

A botanical classification synonymous with ‘softwood’. Cf. Hardwoods.

Cork oak (Quercus suber)

An evergreen tree occurring naturally in the Mediterranean area, and also cultivated in India and western USA. In Portugal, an important producer, cork oaks may not be felled without legal permission; the outer bark (the cork) may not be stripped off for the first time until the tree has reached a certain diameter, which it normally does at an age of about 25 to 30 years, and then it may not be harvested more often than every 9 years. Only 15% by weight of the world’s cork production is used for wine corks, but this represents about two thirds of the revenue. Cork also makes an excellent flooring and insulating material.

The UK Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has urged its million members not to buy wine bottles with plastic tops instead of corks, because that could threaten the economic survival of the cork industry and lead to the conversion of the Iberian cork forests to grazing lands or farmlands; 42 species of bird depend on those oak forests, including the endangered Spanish imperial eagle. Cf. Dehesa.

Corkwood (Commiphora spp.)

In Namibia there is a tree of the corkwood genus which hosts an insect from the larvae of which the local San (Bushmen) extract a toxin for their arrow tips. In South Africa members of the same genus are called kanniedood in Afrikaans, a contraction meaning ‘cannot dead’, because the trees are difficult to kill, and hence they are often used in live fences. In Arabia and north-east Africa other members of the genus yield the aromatic resins myrrh and balm of Gilead, the latter being also called balm of Mecca.

Cypress (Cupressus genus)

Many coniferous tree species are called ‘cypress’, but only some 20 species belong to the genus Cupressus, and of those some 15 are from California, Arizona or Mexico. One grows in the Sahara, and is almost extinct. However, the best known one is the ‘Italian cypress’, Cupressus sempervirens, which is native to South Europe and the Middle East as far as Iran. It is the cypress that van Gogh painted, which is planted on graveyards in the Mediterranean region, and about which Byron wrote: ‘Dark tree, still sad when others’ grief is fled, / The only constant mourner o’er the dead.’

Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides)

Like Ginkgo*, this is another Chinese ‘fossil tree’ in that it is a very ancient species found in fossils and then discovered as a living tree in 1941 in central China. Now widely planted in gardens in Europe, North America, South Africa and elsewhere. In the Cretaceous period it was very widespread, occurring as far north as Spitsbergen.

Dogwood

This beautiful flowering shrub and small tree is often associated with Washington where it puts on such a splendid show every spring, but it occurs also in Europe and Asia. There is a legend that the cross on which Christ was crucified was made from dogwood timber, and that the tree was so horrified by this that it begged never to have to serve such a purpose again. That is why its trunk and branches are twisted, to make such a use impossible, but the flower was given four petals to recall the four sections of the cross, with a red stain on each to recall the blood.

See also Aspen, Small trees and Urban forests.

Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga taxifolia)

A very important timber tree in north-west USA, especially in the humid coastal zone. The species is called after the Scottish botanist David Douglas (1799-1834) who introduced it to Britain in the 1820s. The tallest Douglas fir in Britain, at Dunkeld in Perthshire, Scotland, was 65 m in 2009, when it was about 145 years old. The wood withstands salt water, and is therefore used in building jetties and piers. It also makes a good transmission pole, and of course sawnwood. The bark is used in floral decorations and as a ground cover in equestrian areas.

The Nez Percé Native Americans in Lapwai, Idaho, use Douglas fir branches in their ceremonies, in groups of 3 (for the sun, the moon and the earth) or 7 (for the days of the week) or, rarely, 12 (for the twelve months). It is interesting that the similar-looking spruce branches are used ceremonially in North Europe, e.g. at Christmas and on graves.

Dragon tree (Dracaena draco)

An ornamental tree from the Canary Islands. The German naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt wrote in a postscript to a letter of June 1799 from Tenerife: ‘In the district of Orotava there is a dragon tree measuring forty-five feet in circumference’. The trunk of the dragon tree contains a red gum which was formerly used in medicines and for the mummification of the Guanches, the original inhabitants of the Canary Islands.

The Dragon’s Blood Tree (Dracaena cinnabari) of Socotra is a related species. It produces the dragon’s blood red resin or ‘Socotra Resin’ which was once used as a medicine in Europe because of its astringent properties, and which today is used as a varnish for violins, and in photoengraving.

Ebony

Wood from several species of the genus Diospyros, which is widely distributed throughout the tropics. The best ebony is heavy, hard and almost black. It has been highly valued for centuries, especially in Asia, and the Greek historian Herodotus (about 484 to 425 BC) reported that every three years the Ethiopians sent a tribute of 200 logs of ebony to Iran. Clarinets are generally made from ebony, often from Tanzania and Mozambique, which are not the usual sources of this wood; it is left to dry for years before it is used. Today ground and reconstituted ebony wood is also used for making clarinets. Sometimes piano keys are made of ebony.

Elder (Sambucus nigra)

Small tree occurring in Europe, North America and north Asia. The European variety, the Latin name of which is given above, reaches a height of 10 m and a diameter of 30 cm. It is the only tree which rabbits find distasteful, and in fact it thrives on rabbit warrens, and in general on sites rich in nitrogen from the droppings of badgers, starlings and other animals.

The leaves are poisonous, but the berries are used to make wine, pies, juice, jelly and the Italian liqueur Sambuca. Elderberry juice is common in the UK. The name ‘elder’ comes from an old Germanic word denoting ‘hollow’. In England there is an old legend that Judas hanged himself from the branch of an elder, and that the tree therefore brings bad luck.

Elm

The English elm, Ulmus procera, was probably brought to England from the Continent during early historic time. It was valued as a boundary tree because of its suckering habit, and as a fodder tree because its leaves were palatable to cattle. Unfortunately both the English elm and its close relation the American elm (U. americana) have been just about wiped out by the elm disease — see below.

Eucalypts

The more than 600 members of the genus Eucalyptus are from Australia and the islands to the north thereof, but many of them have been used as plantation tree in tropical, subtropical and warm-temperate countries such as Brazil, South Africa, Congo-Brazzaville, Spain and Portugal. The mountain ‘ash’ from Victoria and Tasmania (E. regnans) is the tallest hardwood tree in the world, and exceeded in height only by the coniferous Sequoia.

Eucalypts are voracious users of soil water, which can be an advantage, e.g. when they are used for the drainage of swamps, as Mussolini did in the Pontine marshes; or, more often, it can be a disadvantage, e.g. when they grow close to an agricultural crop. They are disliked by environmentalists, especially in Spain and Portugal, because they can be invasive, but they are wonderful plantation trees, and when planted for high-quality furniture timber they can reduce the logging pressure on more fragile tropical species.

Plantations are vilified, and eucalypts are vilified, but even eucalypt plantations can be beautiful. The great South African poet Roy Campbell, in his poem ‘The Gum Trees’, likened their rows of white stems to ‘an orchestra of silver flutes’.

Fig (Ficus carica)

The tree which produces the edible fig, Ficus carica, originated in the Mediterranean area, and is mentioned already in the Old Testament. It is very hardy to frost but needs a hot summer in order to produce edible fruit. In Grenoble, for example, where the winters are much colder than in England, it produces excellent fruit, but in England it does not because the summers there are not as hot. In America it is grown as far north as Michigan, where the winters are very cold, although central California is the centre of its cultivation.

It is also very hardy to drought. Figs were an important food in ancient Greece, especially for the slaves. It has laxative properties. See also Jesus Christ.

Fir

In the wider sense of the word, a fir is a coniferous tree, but in the more correct strict sense of the word it means a member of the genus Abies.

Gao

Vernacular name in the Sahel region of sub-Saharan Africa for the interesting tree Faidherbia albida, formerly called Acacia albida. Widely distributed in the dry parts of Africa. The curious thing about this tree is that it loses its leaves in the rainy season, and regains them in the dry season. In this respect it is the opposite of the trees around it, and apparently contrary to all logic. This paradox is convenient to man and beast, however. To man, because he — or, more likely, she, because in Africa women do most of the work — can cultivate crops under the crown of the tree during the time of the year when the rainfall is high enough to allow cultivation, without the crops being shaded out. And to beast, because it provides shade during the season when the clouds do not. Because of this, farmers in the Sahel do not fell the tree. To reinforce this useful taboo they also believe that the tree is inhabited by spirits. The tree is called after the ancient trading centre Gao in eastern Mali.

Guar

A small leguminous Indian tree, Cyamopsis tetragonoloba, grown as a forage crop, the seed of which produce a sizing material (filler) for paper and textiles, and are also used in ice cream.

Ginkgo (G. biloba, maidenhair tree)

This coniferous species with characteristically fan-shaped leaves resembling those of the maidenhair fern but much bigger, is a ‘living fossil’ in that it is the sole survivor of the order Ginkgoales which was widespread, also in Europe, about 225 to 280 million years ago (see also Dawn redwood and Wollemi pine). It is a sacred tree in China, Japan and Korea, where it was preserved on temple grounds by Buddhist priests, although it is said to exist also in the wild in the Chinese province of Chekiang (Che-Chiang, Zhe-Jiang). Its tolerance of smoke and dust makes it a good tree for city streets and parks. It is so tough that one ginkgo which grew only 800 m from ground zero in Hiroshima survived. The tree has a life span of about 300 years. Cf. Goethe.

In China the nuts are roasted and eaten, and the name ‘ginkgo’ is derived from the Chinese and Japanese words for ‘silver nut’. In the West, pills containing Ginkgo extract are sold in the pharmacies and said to help keep the blood vessels dilated, promote mental alertness, and cure tinnitus and asthma.

In Weimar, Germany, there is a Ginkgo Museum. See also Goethe.

Hazel (Corylus avellana)

The common hazel, also known as ‘filbert’, is hardly a tree, because although it can reach a height of 10 meters, it is rarely single-stemmed. It produces the edible hazel nuts, pliable laths, colourful autumn foliage, fuelwood, small timber, and an oil used for cooking and perfumes. It was an important tree to prehistoric man in Europe, mainly for the nuts and the laths — see Prehistoric forestry in Britain and Age of wood. Fences made from coppiced hazel dating back to 2800 BC have been excavated at Walton Heath, Somerset, England. For thousands of years hazel was coppiced in Europe (see Westonbirt), often under oak. This is a good species combination from the economic point of view, the hazel giving quick returns to compensate for the long wait for the oak’s yields.

Hemlock

The hemlocks are coniferous species of the genus Tsuga in North America and Asia. The reason why they have been given the same name as the poison which Socrates drank is that their leaves, when crushed, have the same smell as the poisonous plant.

Holly (Ilex spp.)

A large family with about 400 species distributed all over the world. The English holly (Ilex aquifolium) is an evergreen which grows into a small tree with a height of up to 20 meters. The red berries in autumn and winter are not only very decorative, but also serve as bird food and may be one reason why English suburbs are so surprisingly rich in bird song in winter. In fact it would be a good tree to plant more in the urban areas instead of the deciduous trees usually planted there which grow too big for most people’s liking and which are then mutilated to reduce their height; and which also shed more leaves than the evergreen hollies do, creating a nuisance and an expense. (Cf. Maté.)

In classical times the Greeks believed that a holly planted near a house warded off evil spirits and diverted lightning. To the druids it was a holy tree. By medieval Christian monks it was called ‘holytree’. It was considered unlucky to bring it into a house until Christmas.

Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus)

One of the relatively few tree species which is native to England. Medium-sized, attractive, with brilliant yellow autumn colours. Similar to both beech and birch. The Hampton Court Maze was constructed from hornbeam in 1689-95. The species still dominates Epping Forest. The very hard wood is used for hammers in pianos. Hornbeam should be more used as a park and street tree. See Small trees.

Horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum)

A very beautiful tree frequently grown as an ornamental in Europe and North America. Resistant to city pollution, although the chestnut-like conkers can be a nuisance if they fall on streets and pavements. Originally from the mountains of the Balkans. Introduced into Britain in 1616 from Albania or Greece. The name is due to the fact that the Turks used the conkers* as horse medicine.

In the early 21^st century a new insect pest began affecting the horse chestnuts in Europe: a small ‘leaf-mining’ moth which was first identified in Macedonia in the 1980s, and which in the UK was first found in Wimbledon in July 2002. It lays its eggs in the leaves, which soon develop unsightly brown blotches, although it does not seem to affect the trees’ growth. Unfortunately no parasites have yet appeared which could control the insect, and all that can be done is to burn the leaves to prevent the moths spreading. Interestingly, the pink-flowering hybrid is not affected by this pest.

Also, in 2002 a new lethal bacterium appeared on the horse chestnut scene in Britain, which causes bleeding lesions and often death.

Ipil-ipil (Leucadendron leucocephala)

Ipil-ipil, the Philippine name by which this species is generally known, is originally from southern Mexico but has been widely planted throughout the tropics. It is a nitrogen-fixing, soil-improving, leguminous tree, and it is remarkably fast-growing, yielding a useful fuelwood and timber. Its feathery leaves provide a good forage for cattle, and browsed leaves are soon replaced – a stand near Brisbane was almost continuously browsed for about 20 years without having to be replanted.

Judas tree (Cercis siliquastrum)

Tree from southern Europe and the Middle East. The purplish red flowers appear before the leaves, which contributes to the strikingly beautiful appearance of the tree in early spring. The name refers to Judas Iscariot, who according to legend hanged himself from such a tree, the white flowers then turning red from shame or because of the blood which he, figuratively, had on his hands.

Valued also for its sweet-tasting flowers, the Judas tree was brought from the Middle East to Europe at a time when sugar was rare, and the petals were used to sweeten salads. The tree is a member of the pea family, Leguminosae, and all such members have nitrogen-fixing root nodules, so it is a soil-improving species.

Juniper

Common juniper, Juniperus communis, is one of only three indigenous conifers in Britain, the others being Scots pine and yew. ‘The cypress of the north’, it grows into a small trees with a height of up about 6 metres. The numbers in Britain are dwindling, because most junipers in Britain are 100 to 200 years old and too old to reproduce themselves. Formerly the berries were much used as the principal flavouring of gin*, and the wood was highly valued as firewood.

The common juniper is the only species of tree which is native on both sides of the Atlantic and which in North America is native from coast to coast. In the Old World it is native all over Europe, in North Africa and in northern and western Asia. The Shah of Persia proudly showed one of Linnaeus’s pupils a juniper, and was offended when the Swede laughingly told him that they were common in his country.

‘Junk species’

Fast-grown, light-weight pioneer species are often called ‘junk species’, especially in the tropics, to distinguish them from the slow-grown, heavy, dark, valuable furniture woods. Today, however, advances in wood technology mean that it is possible to treat these cheaper woods so that they match the colour and weight of more precious species, as well as making the wood resistant to fire, insects, fungi and bacteria.

Kadam (Anthocephalus codamlea)

A north Indian tree, closely associated with Lord Krishna and the goddess Durga. The goddess is said to have lived in a kadam forest, and her spirit is said to reside in the flowers of the tree. In the legends Krishna is also said to have danced with his consort Radha among kadam trees, a scene which is often depicted in painting and sculpture. As a result, kadam trees are frequently found near ancient temples.

The kadam tree, which reaches a height of 45 metres, has many medicinal uses, and it also yields the attar oil which is used in Indian perfumes.

Kapok tree, or ‘ceiba’, or ‘silk-cotton tree’ (Ceiba pentandra)

The kapok tree (fromager in French) is originally from Central and South America, but it has spread to Africa where it is very widely distributed from Senegal in the west to Sudan in the east, especially in the drier areas; and to SE Asia. In Central America it was sacred to the Mayans (see Mayan religion). In Africa the seed are used in medicine, the fibrous floss from the seedpod is used in pillows and to help plug up holes in canoes, the seed oil is taken against rheumatism as well as used to light fires, the leaves are used in soup and as goat fodder, the ash is good for mulch, the bark and stem are used to make a mouth-wash, the roots are used for treating leprosy — and these are just some of the uses in Africa.

But the wood of this tree is better appreciated in East Asia where it is used for the manufacture of plywood, than in Africa where it is considered junk. The silk cotton fibre obtained from the pods is generally known as ‘Java cotton’. The tree is cultivated in Asia, especially in Indonesia, not only for its fibre, but also for its seed oil which is used for soap manufacture; as in Africa, the residue is used for fertilizer or cattle feed. The tree is related to the baobab* (Adansonia digitata), which it resembles.

Korean pine

In the Russian Far East the Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) is important for the survival of the Siberian tigers, because this pine produces cones which are eaten by the wild boars, and they in turn are eaten by the tigers.

Laburnum

English name for members of the genus Laburnum. It contains small trees with drooping clusters or ‘chains’ of bright yellow flowers, hence the very apt Swedish name ‘gold rain’ (‘gullregn’). The genus is related to the liquorice plant, but all parts of laburnum, especially the seeds, are poisonous to man and cattle, although not to hares and rabbits. The wood was once much prized, especially in Scotland.

Lacquer, lacquer tree

The lacquer used on oriental lacquer work is obtained from the milky juice of various East Asian tree species, collectively known as lacquer tree, Japanese lacquer tree, varnish tree or wood oil tree; but more especially from the juice of Rhus verniciflua, which is related to the North American poison ivy and poison sumac. Rhus verniciflua is a native of China, but has been cultivated in Japan for centuries.

Larch (Larix spp.)

Most conifers are evergreen, but larch is a deciduous conifer. It survives drought and pollution better than other conifers, partly because it sheds its needles in winter. Other conifers also shed their needles, but not every year; perhaps every 6-9 years or so. It is unfortunately attacked by the tree disease Sudden Oak Death, and because of that many stands have had to be felled in west England.

Laurel

The laurel family, Lauraceae, contains some 1000 trees and shrubs, most of them evergreen. Much used in gardens in Britain, especially as a decorative patio or front garden species. The most famous member — but, in Britain, not the most common — is Laurus nobilis, the bay leaf* tree. This small tree, also called ‘true laurel’ and ‘poet’s laurel’, reaches a height of 17 m. The Californian laurel reaches 20 m. These species could be more often used as street trees in England and Wales. Cf. Small trees.

Leyland cypress, leylandii, Cupressocyparis leylandii

The group name leylandii comprises a series of hybrids between two North American cypresses. It is called after the English landowner C. J. Leyland who raised the first six trees at the beginning of the 20^th century. All members of the group are raised from cuttings. It grows very fast, reaches a height of 35 m, and is classified by the dendrologist Alan Mitchell as ‘A first-class tree, with excellent shape, health and foliage, … for choosing for prominent positions or where only one or a few can be planted.’

The trouble is that people do not always plant this excellent tree in appropriate locations. Today it is getting out of hand in the suburbs of Britain, where it is often used as a hedge plant, and thus has acquired an undeserved bad reputation because of its rapid growth and great height.

Linden (lime) tree (Tilia spp.; ‘basswood’ in America)

There are many species of this deciduous tree of the Northern hemisphere. To the Norse people the ‘forest’ or ‘small-leafed’ linden (T. cordata) was an almost sacred tree. It would be planted near the farm houses, and there was a belief that if the family which owned the farm died out, then the linden-tree would also die. It is also native to England and Wales where until Saxon times it was dominant in most forests. Today, after a thousand years of neglect, it has become a favourite native substitute for elms killed by the Elm Disease (q.v.).

The common linden (T. europaea) can become hugely tall (46 m), and can reach a diameter at breast height of more than 2 m. It is sometimes used as a street tree, and the name of the famous Berlin avenue Unter den Linden means ‘Under the Linden trees’, after the trees which originally lined its central promenade. However, it is a bad street tree, having invasive roots, growing too big, being vulnerable to greenfly, and producing a fine rain of sugary exudation from its leaves on warm summer days – don’t park your car under linden trees in summer. Alan Mitchell, in his book The Trees of Britain and Northern Europe, gives it an ‘X’ rating, meaning ‘A tree with little or nothing to recommend it’.

In parts of Poland and Russia there are still pure linden forests. The wood is quite good, being soft yet firm. The marvellous wood carvings by the Dutch-born English artist Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721) were executed in this wood. Honey made from linden blossoms is better than most. The linden tree is the national emblem of Slovakia. Cf. Linden tea, Linnaeus and Stoss, Veit.

Lombardy poplar (Populus nigra var. Italica)

A poplar with a column-shaped (fastigiate) crown, much used for windbreaks in Europe and elsewhere. When a character in a play by the French playwright Jean Anouilh says that he does not care for the Lombardy poplars because they remind him of mass production, he has a point, because the tree is propagated by cuttings so they all have exactly the same genetic make-up. Only male trees are known. The tree is deciduous, but there is a semi-evergreen form known in South Africa as ‘Chilean poplar’ — a variety of the variety as it were.

London plane (Platanus acerifolia)

A hybrid between of eastern United States and the Oriental plane-tree of south-eastern Europe and Asia Minor. Hardy to air pollution, and therefore much used as a city tree. Perhaps this is due to that fact that it is continuously shedding flakes of its outer bark — certainly that habit rids the tree of much soot and other particles. The name of the genus, ‘Platanus’, is derived from the Greek word for ‘broad’, which describes the leaves. The tallest London plane in Britain is an impressive 50 m tall, on the Thames embankment near Richmond Bridge in SW London. Cf. London plane.

Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla)

A beautiful reddish brown furniture wood from the tropical moist forests of Central and South America. Particularly popular in Britain, especially in the Victorian era. It is not as slow-growing as most of the valuable tropical furniture timbers are, and it is a bit of a pioneer species, growing well in openings in the forest. However, in plantations it generally succumbs to insect pests.

In 1995 an environmental organisation in Britain claimed that mahogany from Brazil was sometimes cut on Indian land without the permission of the Indians, and therefore asked the public not to buy mahogany — at all. This harmed the exports of mahogany from countries like Belize, where no such problems exist. Cf. Belize.

Mangroves

Mangrove forests cover vast areas along the coastlines in the tropics. They grow on stilt roots in brackish water, have aerial roots for breathing, salt-excreting leaves, and are viviparous in that the seed germinate and begin to grow while they are still on the parent tree. Many produce excellent fuelwood and building poles, and have edible fruit and bark that yields tannin. They are important breeding grounds for fish and shrimps, protect against coastal erosion and tsunamis, and may even bring about coastal accretion, as in Bangladesh where they help trap the silt brought down by the Ganges river.

The Indian state of Orissa used to have a 25,000-ha belt of mangroves along the coast, but over a period of 50 years it was largely destroyed by refugee colonists in search of land for survival, and when a cyclone struck in October 1999, the damage was far greater than it would have been if the mangroves had been intact: 10,000 people died, thousands of dwellings were washed away, some 90 million trees were destroyed or severely damaged, and livestock perished.

Cf. Tsunami.

Manketti tree

The nuts of the manketti tree are an important part of the diet of the hunting-gathering San (Bushmen) of west Botswana and east Namibia. They also use or used twigs of this species as fire sticks, twirling them between their hands against another piece of wood to create friction heat and fire.

Manuka trees, New Zealand

The manuka tree, Leptospermum scoparium, yields an oil which is used to treat various skin conditions, a popular honey reputed to have anti-bacterial properties, and leaves which can be used for making tea.

Maple (Acer spp.)

There are about 200 species of maple. The most common one in Britain is called Norway maple (Acer platanoides) although its area of natural distribution only just includes Norway. It has been common on the Continent since the ice age, but was not introduced into Britain until about 1680. It is a decorative trees, with lovely autumn colours. Its wood is used in many string instruments. The maple leaf is a Canadian national symbol, used for example in the Canadian flag.

Maritime pine

Pinus pinaster is called ‘maritime pine’ in England, from its French vernacular name, because it tends to grow mostly in coastal regions. In South Africa it is called ‘cluster pine’ because it is a prolific seed bearer and has great clusters of cones. It is originally from the Mediterranean area, but is widely grown all over the world in countries with a Mediterranean climate, i.e. with wet winters and dry summers. In the Western Cape Province of South Africa it is in fact invasive, tending to suppress the rich indigenous vegetation in the mountains. It is relatively common in gardens along the south coast of England. Some of the most famous forests of maritime pine are those near the little town of Leiria in central Portugal, and in Les Landes*, SW France.

Marula tree

Marula is tree of the warm low-lying NE parts of South Africa and adjacent territories. The fleshy fruits look somewhat like mango, but smaller. They ripen to yellow, usually after they have fallen to the ground, and animals sometimes get drunk from eating them after they have fermented. They are very rich in vitamin C. Good wine (marula ‘beer’) and liqueur (Amarula cream) is made from the fruits.

Mesquite (Prosopis juliflora)

This tree from Central America and northern South America has been widely planted throughout the dry tropics, the subtropics and the warm-temperate areas for the excellent fuelwood, charcoal and fodder which it produces. However, where a strong market for these products does not keep the mesquite in check, it can be invasive, as in parts of the US West.

Monkey-puzzle

The araucarias are sometimes called ‘monkey-puzzles’ because their prickly leaves make them very difficult to climb. Somebody said about a Chile ‘pine’ (its genus is Araucaria, not Pinus, so it is not really a pine) in England that ‘this would be a puzzle for a monkey to climb’, and the name stuck. In England the name ‘monkey-puzzle’ generally refers to the Chile pine, whereas in South Africa the name generally refers to the Paraná pine. See also Dinosaurs.

The monkey-puzzle tree was introduced to Britain in 1895 by the Scottish naturalist Archibald Menzies who had pocketed some seed from the Governor of Chile’s dining table.

Monterey pine (Pinus radiata; radiata pine)

Monterey pine, from the Monterey peninsula in California, is the most widely planted pine in the world, being especially used in the plantations of Chile, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Spain. In its original home it is small, gnarled and a most unimpressive timber tree, probably because the rainfall has decreased there over the millennia. The wood is used for sawtimber, pulpwood, veneer and poles. The tree can survive the winter frost as far north as south England and Ireland. In Cornwall and Devon it is known as ‘insignis pine’, after its old Latin name. A beautiful tree, and very useful. Cf. Biodiversity.

Moringa tree (Moringa oleifera)

The moringa tree, also known as the drum stick tree and the horseradish tree, is native to India but grows widely throughout the tropics. Products derived from it are used for water treatment, soap making, cooking oil, oil for lamps, medicine, fodder, and other purposes. It has been researched by Leicester University, and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) has financed an experimental plantation in Malawi.

Mulberry tree (family Moraceae)

The common or black mulberry (Morus nigra), so called because its fruit is black when ripe, was formerly much grown in Italy for raising silk-worms, which feed on the leaves, but today it has mostly been replaced by Morus alba for this purpose. It is also grown for its fruit, which looks like blackberries or black raspberries. The juice of the ripe fruit produces black stains which can be a nuisance in gardens, but this can be dealt with by cutting off a small branch when the fruits are still green, after which the trees goes into shock and drops all its fruits, which can then be disposed of while they are thus still green and innocuous.

According to an old legend the fruit of the common mulberry tree used to be white, but because the tragic events of the old Babylonian legend about the star-crossed lovers Pyramus and Thisbe, re-told by the Roman poet Ovid, took place under a mulberry tree, that tree has ever since borne black fruit, as if in mourning.

In the Bank of England building in London there is a garden court with mulberry trees, the significance of the species in this case being that the first bank notes in the world were printed in China on paper made from the bark of ‘paper mulberry’ (Broussonetia papyrifera) whose inner bark yields a fibre used in the Orient for papermaking – see also Tapa.

Myrtle

Common name for more than a hundred species of evergreen small trees and shrubs of the genus Myrtus. The aromatic common myrtle (M. communis) is native to the Mediterranean region and western Asia and is cultivated in southern England and the warmer regions of North America.

Mentioned in the Old Testament: ‘And they answered the angel of the Lord that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth is still, and is at rest.’ (Zechariah 1:11.)

Neem (Azadirachta indica)

A wonderfully drought-hardy and attractive multi-purpose tree from India, which during the 20^th century was extensively planted in the Sahel, i.e. in the broad semi-arid belt along the southern edge of the Sahara, especially in towns and villages, turning the latter into green islands in an otherwise barren landscape. Where it is not cut for fuelwood, it can in fact be invasive. Although neem has been planted mainly for fuelwood, shade and building poles, the seed can be pressed to yield a useful oil, and the leaves contain a non-persistent insecticide. In India it has been used as such for thousands of years; when a US firm patented a method of extracting the active insecticidal ingredient from the plant it was accused of ‘genetic colonialism’, and the incident triggered off demonstrations by farmers.

Neem also has medicinal uses. The immense resource of neem in the Sahel is almost never used for these non-wood purposes, and that neglect represents an enormous business opportunity.

Nitrogen-fixing tree species

Some tree species have bacterial root nodules which are able to fix the nitrogen from the air and thus incorporate it in the soil, where it becomes a valuable plant nutrient. Such species are precious as soil improvers. Many species of the enormous Leguminosae family are in this category, e.g. acacia*, casuarina*, alder*, pigeon pea*, and ipil-ipil*.

Norfolk (Island) pine (Araucaria heterophylla)

Norfolk pine or Norfolk Island pine is not a pine at all, but it is from Norfolk Island north of New Zealand and east of Australia. In Britain only the Scilly Isles have a mild enough climate for it. It belongs to the same genus as the monkey-puzzle* tree or Chile pine (A. araucana) which is quite common in Britain.

Norfolk pine is widely grown as an ornamental in South Europe and South Africa. It has a characteristically layered crown, but its most curious characteristic is that the stem often develops a kink: it starts off growing in a vertical direction, like all other tree stems do, and then it suddenly veers off in some non-vertical direction and continues in that direction for the rest of its life. The resulting wood stress at the bend must be enormous, and thus the likelihood of breakage is increased. Most biological features have a survival value, but one can hardly imagine that the same is true of this curious feature; if it is useful, why are other tree stems not ‘kinky’? Could the survival value of the kink be due to the fact that this species was for millennia exposed to high winds on Norfolk Island? Of the Norfolk pines planted in Southern Africa perhaps about a third veer off from the vertical, but the strain planted in Spain is much straighter.

Norway spruce (Picea abies)

The oldest tree in the world is said to be a Norway spruce in Sweden: see Oldest trees. Together with Scots pine, this is economically the most important forest tree in Europe, perhaps in the world. It has a shallow root system, which makes it prone to windfall. In the great northern forests it tends to occupy the wetter sites, while Scots pine occupies the drier sites. Each year since 1947 Norway has given Britain a huge Norway spruce Christmas tree in gratitude for Britain’s’ support for Norway during World War II. The tree is placed in Trafalgar Square, London, during the month of December.

Today the Norway spruce is found from the Pyrenees in the west to the Pacific coast of Russia in the east. It likes cold winters. In years when the winter is not cold, like in 2000, it has problems with insect pests. Because of global warming it may in the long run have to be replaced by pine and other species in its southern area of distribution

Oak (Quercus spp.)

The oak was sacred to the Druids and to the peoples of Europe in general. See Celtic religion, Guernica. The acorns were important as pig food in forest grazing, and the wood for ship building. Tannin was extracted from the bark and the wood. During the bronze age in Denmark the dead were sometimes buried in oak coffins, and water seeping in picked up the tannin in the wood and helped preserve the contents. It is thus that even the clothes of the ‘girl from Egtved’ and of a man buried at Borum, both in Denmark, were preserved.

As a symbol of strength, oak trees are sometimes wishfully depicted on banknotes, in bank logos etc.. Brandy, wine and other alcoholic beverages are often matured in oak vats or barrels (see Wine barrels and vats). In north France extremely high-priced oak wood is produced in some state forests. Huge quantities of impeccable American white oak (derived from species of the subgenus Leucobalanus) was used for doors, panels, desks, chairs and various fittings in the ‘new’ British Library at St Pancras, London.

One old English adage has it that an oak tree grows for the first three hundred years, then it rests for three hundred years, and then it declines for three hundred years. Oaks are ecologists’ delight because they are host to more insects and fungi than probably any other tree in the temperate areas. England is full of famous old hollow oak trees, such as the ‘Major Oak’ in Sherwood Forest, said to have been the hiding place of Robin Hood*.

During World War II roasted acorns were used as coffee substitute in South Africa.

Ogatama-noki (Michelia compressa)

Japanese tree species. Considered a lucky tree in Japan. Planted in, for example, the Shinto shrine in the new Osaka airport. Some 15 tree species in Japan are used in religious contexts.

Olive tree (Olea europaea)

Smallish, often gnarled (the great South African poet Roy Campbell likened them to ‘hoary wrestlers bent with toil’), evergreen tree grown in counties with a Mediterranean climate, both for its edible fruit and — mainly — for the oil derived from that fruit. It is very drought-hardy. The wood is resistant to decay, the roots make good fuelwood. At the time when ladies wore whale-bone stays in their bodices, the women of Valencia sometimes wore such stays made from olive wood. In the Old Testament there is a story in which the trees ask the olive tree to be their king, and the olive says: ‘And give up my oil by which I am honoured by gods and men? No thank you.’ (Judges 9:8-9)

In the village of Anglisides on the Limassol-Larnaca road in Cyprus there is an olive tree which is estimated to be 800 years old and which has an incredible diameter of 15 metres.

Oriental plane (Platanus orientalis)

The Oriental plane played an important part in the life in Ancient Greece, from Homer to Plato. On the island of Cos there is an old specimen known as the ‘Hippocratic Plane Tree’, although that tree itself can hardly have been the associated with the great physician Hippocrates who died in about 377 BC. Cf. Grove of academe and London plane.

Osage orange (Maclura pomifera)

Hardy US thorn tree, or the durable wood of that tree. The wood was also referred to as bois d’arc, and it was used for making bows by the plains Indians. ‘Osage orange’ was also the name of a Native American tribe.

Osier

Willows with long pliable shoots used for basket weaving.

Paper birch (Betula papyrifera)

North American tree species the bark of which was used by the Native Americans for roofing and canoes. See Birch.

Paper mulberry (Broussonettia papyrifera)

A tree species of the same family as the common mulberry, i.e. the family Moraceae, with an inner bark that has traditionally been used for making paper in Asia and Polynesia, and for tapa* cloth in Polynesia. Cf. Mulberry tree.

Parasitic trees

Parasitic and semi-parasitic trees and other plants have, paradoxically, often been revered rather than reviled. See for example under Celtic religion, Mistletoe, and Sandalwood. The Ghanaian high forest species odii is another one, and even the places where it grows are considered magical and offerings are placed there. In human societies too, parasitic social classes are often revered. The other side of the same picture is that useful trees like pines and eucalypts are not highly esteemed, nor are really useful people like bin men.

Paulownia (P. tomentosa)

A fast-growing tree producing a light-weight wood, regarded somewhat as ‘junk-wood’ in the West, where we tend to think that ‘the heavier the better’ applies to wood, but it is highly priced in Japan. Cf. ‘Junk species’ and Kapok tree.

Pepper tree (Schinus molle)

A small beautiful tree of the cashew family from the Andes of Peru. Not at all related to the plant which produces the black pepper which we use as a spice, although the fruits of the pepper tree do look like peppercorns; they are marketed in France under the misleading name poivre rose (pink pepper), they have a hot taste, and are used in medicines and beverages. The tree is extremely hardy to drought, resistant to termites, and can also take some frost. It is grown as an ornamental in southern Portugal, and for windbreaks and ornament in the semi-desert interior of South Africa known as the Karoo. Its handsome red flowers are a good source of honey.

Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana)

Name of a tree of the ebony family and of the fruit that this tree yields. The name ‘persimmon’ is of Algonquian Indian origin, meaning ‘a dry fruit’. The Native Americans made bread from it, or stored the dried fruits like prunes. Today people eat it fresh, or make puddings, cakes and beverages from it. The wood is used for golf-club heads, shuttles for weaving, and for veneer.

The fruit looks like a big orange-coloured tomato. There are species in eastern US, Mexico, and the Philippines, but the persimmon fruit most often sold commercially is the Japanese species.

Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan)

A small nitrogen-fixing tree traditionally sown on exhausted agricultural land in both East and West Africa to restore its fertility. At the same time it produces nutritious pods which can be eaten by man, leaves which can be eaten by livestock, and small-diameter fuelwood. In such a farming system one can no longer talk of land lying fallow, since every part of the cycle is productive.

Pine

Any member of the genus Pinus. Some members of other species may be called ‘pine’, like Norfolk* Island Pine, but they are not pines in the true sense of the word, any more than the Australian species ‘Silky Oak’ (Grevillea robusta) is an oak. There are some 90 species of pine, almost entirely confined to the Northern hemisphere. They are probably the economically most important tree genus in the world, occurring naturally in Europe, Russia, North and Central America, and in Asia down to the equator and beyond. In the subtropical and warm-temperate countries enormous areas have been planted with pines from California, Mexico, SE United States, and SE Asia.

Pines have been celebrated in Chinese and Japanese prints, in Cézanne’s paintings, in poems like Roy Campbell’s beautiful ‘Choosing a mast’, and even in the music suite ‘The pines of Rome’ by the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi. The Native Americans brewed a scurvy-preventing drink from its needles, and we sometimes use the oil to alleviate colds – see Pine leaf oil.

Poison sumac (Toxicodendron vernix)

A small tree from eastern North America – from Quebec and Maine in the north to Florida in the south, and as far west as Minnesota and Texas. Its clear sap turns black on exposure, and can cause a rash. A black varnish can be made from the sap. The Latin name means ‘The poisonous tree from which a varnish can be made’. For other poisonous trees, See Laburnum and Yew. See also Lacquer.

Poplars (Populus spp.)

Poplars are closely related to willows (see Energy plantations). The approximately 30 different species of poplar are distributed over the whole temperate zone of the Northern hemisphere, from the Arctic to the Subtropics. Many temperate tree species grow well at high altitude in the tropics, but not the poplars, because for them the day-length is very important. For example, poplars grow well in northern Uttar Pradesh (India), even in the plains, but not in the southern part of the state.

Poplars like wet soils, and are characteristic along watercourses in Central Asia. The wandering Turkish tribesmen, when they settled, would often plant one or more poplars near their homestead, like linden-tree and birch are often the homestead trees in Sweden. The wood is an excellent raw material for matches, and also yields a very pure white cellulose e.g. for photographic paper. See Aspen and Chernobyl. The wood is also an excellent raw material for wood wool, which in turn is an excellent packaging material for fruit and other foods, without the suspected oestrogen-mimicking properties of plastic. Finally, poplar wood is good for veneers and plywood, and is replacing some light-weight tropical woods like okoume for that purpose, especially because consumers worry about tropical deforestation, although okoume is a pioneer species which grows more prolifically the more you cut it.

Poplars have been cloned for centuries. With other species more trees are planted per hectare than are needed for the final crop so as to allow for the weeding-out of poor genotypes, but in an artificially regenerated poplar stand all the trees have the same genetic make-up, so poplars can be planted far apart, allowing rapid diameter growth.

 

Quebracho (Schinopsis lorentzii)

Sometimes called red quebracho. Tree from northern Argentina and parts of Paraguay, Brazil and Bolivia, of the cashew nut family. The name is derived from the Spanish words ‘brittle’ and ‘axe’, meaning the ‘axe-breaker’, because of the very hard wood of this tree. The heartwood is very rich in tannin, and it used to be the main source of that material until it was overtaken as such by the bark of some Australian acacias.

Quince tree

Tree of the genus Cydonia, yielding a hard apple-shaped fruit, also known as Cydonian apple. Originally from the Middle East, but now widely grown in Europe, up to Britain, and in NE United States. Was more in favour formerly. The fruit has a sharp taste and a high pectin content. It is used to make quince jelly, which can be eaten like a jam or as an accompaniment to meat dishes. The English word ‘marmalade’ comes from the Portuguese word marmelada meaning ‘quince jam’ (marmelo means ‘quince’).

Quiver tree or, in Afrikaans, kokerboom (Aloe dichotoma)

This small tree is found in the arid Northern Cape Province of South Africa. It has its name ‘quiver tree’ from the fact that the San (Bushmen) used to make quivers from its bark. It stores water in the trunk, can survive drought for years, and can reach an age of 400 years. The biggest quiver tree forest in the world is outside the small town of Loeriesfontein near the western escarpment of the South African high plateau.

Rowan tree (Sorbus aucuparia)

Rowan tree, or ‘mountain ash’ in Wales, is a small to medium-sized tree with attractive bright red berries in autumn and winter. It is very hardy to cold, and does better the further north one goes in Britain, and better still in Scandinavia. The Latin specific name aucuparia, from avis (bird) and capire (catch), is derived from the fact that shoots of this tree were formerly used to make birdlime, a glue which was put on the twigs and branches of trees to catch small birds. The rowans are good trees for urban areas and gardens where people tend to plant trees which grow big when in fact they want small trees, with the result that they later mutilate the big trees to reduce their size.

In Wales it used to be believed that the colour red protected against evil spirits, and the red-berried rowan tree was therefore planted in gardens for that purpose. In Sweden and in Russia there is a saying that in the years when the rowan berries are plentiful the winter will be very cold. See also Wild service tree.

Sal (Shorea robusta)

A north Indian tree yielding a good teak-like wood, and a resin called ‘dammar’. The large leaves are collected by women who market them through traders in the towns of Bengal, where they are used as throw-away, biodegradable plates and cups. Cf. Buddha.

Sandalwood

Member of the order Santales. Most members are partially or entirely parasitic, i.e. they obtain their food from other plants. The true sandalwood, Santalum album, and some of its near relatives play an important role in the practices of various religions in South and East Asia. The wood is used as ceremonial burning material during the religious (especially funeral) rites of Hindus, Buddhists, Parsis (Parsees) and Moslems. The mistletoe, also a member of the order, had religious significance for the Druids, and has since Anglo-Saxon times been associated with Christmas. The use of sandalwood goes back to 1700 BC in Egypt, and probably to even earlier times in Asia. Sandal oil is distilled from the wood. It has been used for centuries as a body ointment in the East, and is imported by the West for perfumes and soaps.

The rise of Kamehameha in the 19th century to become king of Hawaii and found a dynasty there was partly due to his skilful use of a government monopoly on the export of local sandalwood to the Orient.

See also Parasitic trees.

Sassafras (Sassafras albidum)

North American tree of the Laurel family, found from Ontario in the north to Florida and Texas in the south. The roots provide oil of sassafras, used to perfume soap, and they were formerly used in root beer and for tea. The tree is sometimes called ‘ague tree’, ‘ague’ being the old word for malaria. The early colonists thought that the bark was a panacea, and vast quantities were exported to Europe.

Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris)

Hugely important in north Europe and Russia, both economically and as an amenity tree. Light-demanding*, which means that the attractive selection felling system cannot be used for this species, because there would not be enough regeneration in the shade of the other trees. Even nature regenerates pines with clearfelling, carried out by fire and gales. However, this species can be regenerated by carrying out a very heavy thinning in the mature stand, leaving the best trees to form an open parklike very attractive stand with enough light on the ground for the regeneration to spring up.

Seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides)

A small tree, native to most of Eurasia, from China in the east to Britain in the west, and from Denmark in the north to India in the south. Tolerant of drought and of infertile and saline soils. Very important in China, where it is called Sha-ji, and where it is widely planted for soil conservation and rehabilitation, for fuelwood, for its berries which are very rich in vitamin C, and for its oil which has the same property as well as many other. In fact, the oil was used as a vitamin supplement for the Russian astronauts.

Sequoia

The genera Sequoia and Sequoiadendron of enormous North American trees are called after the Cherokee Indian Sequoyah (1760/70-1843) from North Carolina who created an 86-letter alphabet for writing the Cherokee language.

The sequoias are popularly known as ‘redwoods’. The biggest tree in the world is of the species giant redwood and the tallest is a coast redwood. The latter species is threatened by the fact that, for some reason, there are fewer fogs than previously along the coast of northern California.

Cf. Tallest tree and Biggest trees.

Shea butter or butternut tree (Butyrospermum paradoxumi)

‘Economic tree’ from the savanna of West and East Africa (see ‘Farmed parklands’). Shea butter is derived from the nut of the tree. It is important in the local diet, and is also used as a medicine, a cosmetic, in soap, and in cooking.

In West Africa the tree is protected by the farmers because of its valuable nuts. In East Africa, however, it is the women who have a traditional interest in the use and sale of the nuts, but as the men are the decision-makers they often sell the trees for charcoal, against the wishes of their wives. Snakes love to eat the fruits which contain the shea nuts, so it is a race between the women and the snakes who will get to them first. But even the ones which the snakes get, may indirectly contribute to human nutrition, because pigs eat the snakes and the people eat the pigs.

Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis)

Conifer from the Pacific coast of North America, from Alaska to Northern California, called after the island and town of Sitka (founded by the Russians in 1799) in Alaska. One of the most important trees used in the forestry plantations of Britain, especially in the west of the country with its mild and wet climate. It is by far the biggest of the spruces, reaching a height of 80 metres.

Southern beeches (Nothofagus spp.)

Whereas the beeches* (Fagus spp.) are limited to the Northern hemisphere, the southern beeches (Nothofagus spp.) are limited to the Southern hemisphere, where they occur in Chile, New Zealand and Australia. They can be quite fast-growing, and today they are planted in the Northern hemisphere both as ornamentals and , e.g. in Wales, in commercial plantations. One of the few trees which is both non-deciduous and reddish, and which can be planted in NW Europe, is red beech from New Zealand.

Stone pine or umbrella pine (Pinus pinea)

The characteristic Italian (although occurring throughout the Mediterranean area) pine with umbrella-shaped crown. The vernacular name ‘stone’ pine comes from the hard nuts or ‘stones’ in its cones, which yield edible seed. These pine nuts are much used in the various Mediterranean (including North African) cuisines. In Italian they are called pignoli. In Britain the tree is cold-hardy right up to Scotland, but is not much planted.

Cf. Pine seed.

Strawberry tree

An evergreen tree of the heather family (Ericaceae) with strawberry-like fruit. The species planted in England is generally Arbutus unedo which is native to SW Ireland and S Europe, or a hybrid of that species and another strawberry tree. Unedo means ‘I eat one’ (un edo) — not more than one, because the delicious-looking fruits have a bad taste. The Roman natural scientist Pliny gave it that name. The fruit has narcotic properties and was reputedly fed to the troops of Alexander the Great before they went into battle. The wine made from it in Spain has the same property.

Madrid’s coat of arms depicts a bear standing on his hind legs and reaching up towards the crown of a strawberry tree, a madroño. It appears that both bears and strawberry trees were formerly common the Madrid area, and that bears like the taste – or is it the narcotic property? – of the fruit.

A. unedo was popular in Italy during the period of unification when it was considered a ‘patriotic’ tree because its leaves, flowers and fruit display the colours of the Italian flag, green, white and red.

Swamp cypress (Taxodium distichum)

Large, deciduous conifer with spreading crown and feathery needle-shaped leaves with beautiful spring and autumn colours. Grows on wet soils and in swamps from Delaware to Florida and Texas, but is also grown on drier soils in many countries as an ornamental. It was introduced already in the 1600s to Europe, where it is doing particularly well in England, which has some mighty 30-m high specimens. In America it is sometimes called the ‘wood eternal’ because of the durability of its heartwood.

An oddity is that in the swamps of the American South this species is sometimes attacked by crabs which nibble its roots.

Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)

Large, magnificent, straight-stemmed timber tree in the forests of the American South, where it is second only to oak in hardwood production. In Europe, South Africa and other temperate countries it is much planted as an ornamental. Few species have more magnificent autumn colours: at the same time, in parts of the trees the maple-like leaves retain their bright green colour, in other parts they have turned bright yellow, and in other parts again they have turned dark red. When they are shed, the leaves may be either red or yellow.

In American pioneering days a gum was obtained from it which was used for medicine and chewing gum. See also Storax.

Sycamore

Sycamore is a maple. In England the name refers to Acer pseudoplatanus, which means ‘the false plane-tree maple’. It is from the Continent. The Scots call this tree ‘plane’. The Americans use the name ‘Sycamore’ to describe their own plane tree, Platanus occidentalis. In the English translation of the Bible, finally, to compound the confusion, the name is used for the fig Ficus sycomorus.

The sycamore does very well in Britain, including on difficult coastal sites, on high limestone hills, and in air-polluted cities. On good soils it can be invasive in the native forests, pushing out local tree species, and covering the soil with its leaves which makes it difficult for the flowers. Environmentalists are therefore anti-sycamore.

Teak (Tectona grandis)

A tree from the dry forests of Thailand, Myanmar and other SE Asian countries, yielding an excellent wood for furniture, panelling, boat-building and poles. Has been widely planted throughout the tropics in areas with a relatively pronounced dry season, not only for timber but also for poles and fuelwood. Very resistant to fire and drought, but requires a good soil. The heartwood is extremely durable. An interesting survival feature of the teak tree is that it sheds its leaves in the dry season where the latter is severe, but otherwise not.

Traveller’s tree (Ravenala madagascariensis)

Palm-like member of the Strelitziaceae family with very characteristic fan-shaped crown. Originally from Madagascar, but now pan-tropical. The vernacular name is derived from the fact that potable water tends to accumulate in the leaf bases.

Tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima)

The name is said to refer to the short time it takes this fast-growing tree to ‘reach heaven’. A native of China, but widely naturalized in the US and Europe; in England it has been grown since 1751. In warm areas it tends to be invasive. Also called Copal or Varnish tree. It is hardy to air pollution and as such of interest for pollution-ravaged regions of central Europe, but not good as a city tree because its roots get into drains and cracks, and because its flowers and crushed leaves have an unpleasant smell. It was declared a punishable offence in Washington DC already in 1875 to maintain trees of this species.

Tree of life (Thuja spp; arborvitae)

Any of six species of the evergreen conifers of the genus Thuja spp; arborvitae from North America and East Asia. The North American northern white-cedar or ‘eastern white-cedar’, T. occidentalis, is also known as the eastern arborvitae. In 1536 the French explorer Jacques Cartier and his men spent the winter where the city of Quebec is today. Twenty-five of the men died of scurvy, and others were very sick with that vitamin C deficiency disease, until an Indian recommended that they should drink tea made from the leaves (needles) and bark of eastern white cedar, and that cured them. Hence the name. This species was probably the first North American tree grown in Europe.

The carnauba* palm of Brazil is also known as ‘tree of life’.

Tulip-tree (Liriodendron tulipifera)

Also known as ‘tulip-poplar’ or ‘yellow-poplar’, although it is not a poplar. From eastern USA but much planted in Europe. A tall beautiful tree with flowers resembling tulips or lilies. The Native Americans and the colonists used to make canoes from single logs of this tree, and in fact the Native Americans called it ‘canoe wood’. The genus Liriodendron – ‘lily-tree’ in Greek – contains only two species, the other one being the Chinese tulip-tree, and they are survivors from the pre-Ice Age flora of China and eastern North America.

Tung-tree (Aleurites fordii)

Tree originally from south China but now also cultivated elsewhere in the subtropics, e.g. in north Argentina and south Brazil, for its nuts whence the tung oil is obtained which is used in the manufacture of paint, varnish, linoleum, oilcloth, and insulating and waterproofing compounds. The fruit which contains the nut is poisonous.

Viburnum spp.

Several species of shrubs and small trees in Europe, North American and China. Viburnum tea is drunk in France.

Walnut tree

The walnut trees belong to some 15 species in North America and Eurasia of the genus Juglans, meaning ‘Jupiter’s nut’. The American walnut, ‘black walnut’, is a finer-looking tree, but the European walnut, J. regia, called ‘common walnut’ in Britain, has a better-tasting nut. The common walnut may have been one of the many tree species brought to Britain by the Romans. The husks which enclose the nuts yield a surprisingly persistent brown dye. The wood is of high quality, and one single bole can sell for thousands of pounds. The British forest scientist Peter Savill calls it a ‘forgotten species’. It is one of the few European species which produces a dark furniture wood. In Dordogne, which produces about a third of the French crop of walnuts, these are widely grown for the oil.

There is a misogynous saying which goes: ‘A wife, a dog and a walnut tree/The more you beat them the better they be’. The part about beating the walnut tree may have a grain of truth. In the same way, a barren avocado tree may bear fruit in the season after its bark has been roughly scratched with a rake or some such implement.

Wattle

The word ‘wattle’, from the old English watul, originally meant the pliable interlaced rods from which walls and fences were made, but today it has also come to mean the Australian acacias (Acacia spp.) which have such branches and twigs. In South and East Africa they are widely planted for the tannin* yielded by the bark, but the wood is also used for pulp, and the seed are used in cakes.

Welcome tree

South American tree known as ombu or ‘welcome tree’ or Phytolacca dioica. The lower part of the stem, or the above-ground part of the root system, forms a kind of circular bench around the stem, big enough for people to sit on. The branches contain as much as 80% water.

West African locust bean (Parkia clappertoniana or P. biglobosa)

A leguminous, nitrogen-fixing, and thus soil-improving tree in the West African savanna. The pulp around the seed is used for food, while the bean itself is used as a spice in soups and sauces. Regarded as an ‘economic tree’ in West Africa, where it is protected by the farmers. Often growing in association with the shea* butter tree. Name in north Ghana: ‘dawadawa’; in French: ‘neré’.

Wild service tree (Sorbus torminalis)

This tree is native to — but not common in — England, where its presence is usually interpreted as an indicator of ancient woodland which has never been ploughed. See also Chequers. The Swedes call this tree ‘German service tree’ and the Danes call it ‘twisted-intestine-tree’ because its fruits were formerly used as a medicine for the illness which the doctors call ‘ileus’; the specific Latin name torminalis (tormina meaning ‘stomach pain’) has the same origin. The wood of the wild service tree commands a very high value for veneer in France.

The fruits of this tree, called ‘checkers’ (‘chequers’), was a staple food of Stone Age man, and was popular until a couple of hundred years ago. The alternative name of the tree, ‘maple cherry’, is an echo of that. Yet already in 1830, according to the English poet John Clare, the berries were ‘little known’. An alcoholic drink was also made from the berries – see Chequers. Perhaps the biggest wild service tree in England, on Parsonage Farm at Udimore in East Sussex, has a an average diameter at breast height of 1.3m and produces 2 tons of berries in good years. This is a beautiful and useful tree, so perhaps it and its berries will make a come-back one day.

Cf. Rowan tree.

Willow (Salix spp.)

Same family, Salicaceae, as the poplars. Moisture-loving, often occurring along rivers (cf. Othello). Its twigs were once used to drive out evil spirits. Was formerly much planted along roads in southern Sweden and Denmark, where it is pollarded at a height of two or three meters; originally that was to supply coppice shoots for the making of baskets and furniture. The same type of pollarded willows can be seen in old Chinese prints.

Willows are fast-growing. They are grown for pulp and paper in the La Plata delta near Buenos Aires, and in energy* plantations in Sweden. Willows can absorb more heavy metals from the soil than other species, and can therefore be used as ‘pollution sponges’ for example along highways where lead from petrol has accumulated over decades. See also Aspirin, Dowsing, Energy plantations, Poplars, Soil pollution.

Wollemi pine (Wollemia nobilis)

The Wollemi ‘pine’ is a coniferous tree of the Araucariacea family. It is one of the ‘living fossils’ in the sense that it belongs to a genus which was thought to have died out millions of years ago — see also Ginkgo and Dawn redwood. Whereas Ginkgo has been known to botanists for hundreds of years, and dawn redwood (Metasequoia) since 1941, the Wollemi pine was not discovered until 1994, in spite of the fact that it is a big tree and grows within 150 km from Sydney, Australia’s biggest city. It is one of the rarest plants in the world, with less than 100 mature trees known. It grows in the Wollemi National Park, and it is ironic that the meaning of the Aboriginal word ‘wollemi’ is ‘watch out’ or ‘look around you’. The species name ‘nobilis’ is derived from the surname of David Noble, the parks officer who discovered the tree.

Today seedlings of Wollemi pine are being commercially propagated, and sold all over the world, which is the best guarantee against extinction. There is at least one specimen in Kew Gardens

Yew (Taxus spp.)

A coniferous tree from North America, Europe and the Far East. The European species is T. Baccata. At Fortingall on Tayside in Scotland there is a huge shattered old yew tree which the Conservation Foundation estimates to be 5,000 years old, i.e. older than the pyramids and about as old as Stonehenge. In a churchyard near Abergele, Clwyd, Wales, is a yew estimated to be between 4,000 and 5,000 years old. The old trees usually have multiple fused stems. The Ankerwyke yew by the Thames near Wraysbury has a diameter of 9 m. This species’ ability to send down new roots from branches which touch the soil means that in theory it can become limitlessly old.

The yew tree was sacred to the Celts, to whom it was in particular associated with the midwinter solstice on 21 December. It was used in Ireland in connection with the inauguration of chieftains. In Britain the Christian church, presumably acting on the principle ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’, associated the yew tree with the new faith. Sprigs of yew were thrown into the graves with the coffins, or used on Palm Sunday. This is one reason why the trees were planted in the churchyards. In lands which were not previously occupied by Celts, like Scandinavia, yew trees are not particularly associated with churchyards. In the case of old churchyard yews in Britain there is sometimes a debate about which came first, the yew or the church; i.e. was the church established where there was a holy old yew tree, or was the yew planted near the church to give the latter credibility?

Yew wood, like ash, was once used for making bows. Up to the reign of Queen Elizabeth I yew trees were protected in England for use for poor men’s bows, the rich preferring wood from Spain. It was also grown, by royal decree, in churchyards to ensure a constant supply; there it could not harm browsing cattle, or be harmed by them, and it was sanctioned by the ancient pre-Christian beliefs. Long after the introduction of Christianity it was also considered a life symbol, and it was considered unlucky to cut it down. And yet, apart from the succulent red cup surrounding the seeds, all the tissues of the tree contain an alkaloid called ‘taxin’ which is poisonous to man, cattle, horses and sheep, but apparently not to deer and squirrels.

The hard oily wood is highly appreciated for making carved articles and turnery, and the branches are still sometimes used in place of palm fronds on Palm Sunday. As is so often the case with poisons (arsenic, curare), small doses can have a medicinal effect, and the yew poison was used a medicine in Europe by the Druids, in China and by the Native Americans. The tree is very resistant to pruning, and can be cut into many shapes and sizes, like tree putty. It is also resistant to industrial smoke.

Ylang-ylang (Cananga odorata)

Ylang-ylang, or ilang-ilang, or ‘the perfume tree’, is a South Asian tree of the custard apple family. ‘Ylang-ylang’ means ‘flower of flowers’ in Tagalog, the lingua franca of the Philippines. An essential oil distilled from the flowers is used as a perfume, and as a medicine to regulate blood pressure.

Yohimbé tree (Corynanthe yohimbe)

West and Central African tree from the bark of which the crystalline alkaloid yohimbine is derived, which has for centuries been used as an aphrodisiac in Africa, and which is also available in the form of tablets in the West. However, most researchers consider that its stimulatory effect is not attained until a toxic dose has been ingested.