More trees?

From Langtons, Hornchurch

Solitary Tree

Blurred trees

Europe’s oldest trees?

At an age of anywhere between 2,000 and 5,000 years old, the Fortingall Yew in Perthshire, Scotland was believed to be the oldest tree in Europe (It is likely to be nearer 2,000 years old rather than 5,000. The age of yews can’t be measured by counting tree rings). It would seem that it has lost this record: scientists have found a cluster of spruces in western Sweden which, at an age of up to 8,000 years, may even be the world's oldest living trees.

The Norway spruces were found in a mountain range that separates Norway and Sweden. Carbon dating of the trees carried out at a laboratory in Miami showed the oldest of them first set root about 8,000 years ago, making it the world's oldest known living tree, Two other spruces, also found in the course of climate change studies in the Swedish county of Dalarna, were shown to be 4,800 and 5,500 years old.

"These were the first woods that grew after the Ice Age," said Lars Hedlund, responsible for environmental surveys in the county of Dalarna, Sweden "That means that when you speak of climate change today, you can in these (trees) see pretty much every single climate change that has occurred."

California's "Methuselah" tree, a Great Basin bristlecone pine, is often cited as the world's oldest living tree with a recorded age of between 4,500 and 5,000 years.

The Highways Agency does its bit to save the Black Poplar

I will freely admit that I am an ignoramus when it comes to identifying trees (okay I can tell an oak...) One of the few I can definitely identify is the Black Poplar and that is because of a whopping great sign at a local nature reserve providing a wealth of information about the tree, including the fact that it is one of the rarest trees in Britain.. I have put up posts on the trees at the Chase nature reserve here, also here and here.

It is good to see that the Highways Agency is doing its bit to prevent this tree from extinction. 24 of them have been planted along the A421 Great Barford Bypass, near Bedford recently. In 1993, environmental scientists predicted the species would be extinct in Britain within 20 years because land development was lowering the water table in many places and this was destroying the trees' natural habitat.

The Highways Agency has now started a planting programme for the Black Poplar on its road schemes. They will be used in landscaping to bring back a traditional look to the countryside, the Highways Agency said.

Simulacrum corner

As seen on a Black Poplar at the Chase Nature reserve, Hornchurch (or is it over the Dagenham border?). Oh and a thank you to my 30,000th visitor

Festival of the Trees 10

The 10th edition of Festival of the Trees is now at Roger B's Words and Pictures. Needless to say it includes plenty of excellent posts about trees and tree related matters. My post about the Black Poplars at a local nature reserve is among them (not that I think it's excellent - it's just among a lot of excellent posts!).

The Festival is well worth a visit if you have an interest in trees or if they give you wood...

Black Poplar - Chase Nature Reserve,

The Black Poplar (Populus nigra var betulifolia) is one of Britain’s most endangered native timber trees. There are only 3000 specimens, of which just 600 are female.

The Black Poplar was once a common sight in Britain. It was a very useful source of timber and was often planted near farms and villages and used for scaffolding, wagon making, even for arrows - a Black Poplar in Portsmouth is the descendant of one used to make arrows for the armoury of the Mary Rose.


However, the Black Poplar needs very specialised conditions in which to propagate. The seeds need to lie undisturbed on bare, wet mud or silt from June to October to germinate successfully. These conditions became harder to find as suitable habitats were lost.


Also as the need for native timber dwindled fewer Black Poplars were planted, this propagation difficulty became more important. Even worse, as a rule only male trees were planted: the females were considered a nuisance because of the drifting white down they produce.

thanks to Peter Roe’s informative Black Poplar website for this information.


It is nice to know that a local nature reserve, the Chase has six female specimens. These photographs were taken here earlier today.

London Wildlife Trust

Playing with an infra red filter

The problem with IR filters is that they are pretty well opaque so I couldn't see what the hell I was photographing. This was a lucky shot - perhaps it's to buy a tripod and if I want to do these sort of photos properly.

Taken at the Chase nature reserve, just south of Elm Park