The Horse chestnut is easily recognized, with distinctive palmate leaves and an autumnal crop of conkers.  It was introduced from Turkey around the 1600s, and is a common tree in parklands and towns, but occurs less often in woodland.

Identification: Tree shape

The tree grows up to 40m tall and has a wide, domed canopy with foliage coming low down the tree.  Trees live up to 300 years.  It grows fast in most soils, and needs plenty of space.

Identification: Leaves

Horse chestnut leaves are palmate, consisting of 5 – 7 sharp-tipped leaflets arranged like the fingers of an outstretched hand.  Each leaflet can be 30cm long, making for impressively large leaves.

The leaf margins are toothed, and each leaflet has clear alternate lateral veins.  They’re a rich green colour.  For more on leaf margins click here.  For a blog on compound vs simple leaves click this link, and tips on leaf shape can be found here.

Identification: Flowers

The flowers of the Horse chestnut grow in a clustered tower of up to 50 flowers, known as a panicle.  These are sometimes referred to as candles.  Branches of the panicle are longer at the base than the top, creating a cone shape.  The uppermost flowers are male, those in the middle are both sexes, and the lowest ones are all female.

 They have a distinctive shape with bilateral symmetry.  Each flower is 9-11mmm long and has 5 fringed white petals, with a yellow patch at the base.  Once pollinated, this turns from yellow to dark pink.  This may communicate to visiting insects that the flower is no longer worth visiting as it has ceased providing nectar post fertilization.

Identification: Fruit

Horse chestnut seeds are known as conkers.  Only 5 or so flowers per panicle develop into conkers.

The conker is instantly recognizable.  Encased in a pale yellow-green, spiked case; conkers are a shiny mahogany brown.  This type of seed is known as a capsule by botanists.  (For more on seed types, check out my blog.)

There are 1-3 conkers per fruit, released when the seed case splits three ways at maturity.  Each is up to 4cm across, with the entire fruit measuring up to 7cm

Identification: Bark and buds

The bark is pinkish-grey and thin in young trees, becoming grey-brown and scaly with age.

Buds are distinctive and grow on stout hairless twigs.  They are a rich reddish brown, oval, and very sticky.  Lateral buds are opposite.

When the leaves shed, they leave a distinctive horseshoe-shaped scar.  This could be the source of the tree’s name; although some suggest it relates to the curative flour, made from ground up conkers, that used to be fed to horses.

Similar species

The Indian Horse chestnut, Aesculus indica, native to the Himalayas, is the only similar species.  Like the Horse chestnut, it is planted in parks and public spaces.

However, it follows in June rather than April to May and is a less robust tree.  Indian Horse chestnut conkers are small, dark brown and wrinkled, and held in smooth green seed cases.

History: Folklore

Because the tree was introduced to the UK comparatively recently, there’s not a great deal of folk lore associated with it.

However, the conkers are threaded onto strings and used to play – wait for it – conkers.  The first recorded game occurred in 1848 on the Isle of Wight, although there’s evidence the game was played with other less suitable nuts prior to this.

 To play, you take it in turns to whack your opponent’s conker with your own, the aim being to smash your opponent’s conker to bits.  Baking, pickling in vinegar, and drying for a year or more are all methods thought to toughen up a prize conker.  To this day, kids in the UK play conkers every year (although some well-meaning schools have banned the practice because it’s deemed dangerous).

One foot note is that some think keeping conkers in a room discourages spiders.  My studio has an open box of conkers and a plethora of friendly spiders, so I remain unconvinced.

History: Mankind and Horse chestnut wood

The wood of the Horse chestnut is pale and light.  It is weak and is mainly used to make children’s toys and for carving.  As it’s absorbent, it is also used to make trays for storing fruit, and it was sometimes used to make light weight artificial limbs.

History: Food and Medicine

Conkers were ground up into flour in Victorian times, and used as a coffee substitute during World War 2.  The mildly poisonous nature of the fruit, and its limited appeal has made this practice obsolete.

Flower buds can be used as a substitute for hops in beer brewing

Medicinally, conkers were fed to cattle and horses by Turkish soldiers in the 1600s to cure respiratory disorders.

Varicose veins, haemorrhoids, sprains and bruising can all be treated with Horse chestnut creams which thin the blood.  This makes it harder for blood to leak from veins and capillaries, and is useful in the treatment of water retention and oedema.  Aescin seems to be the active compound at work here, both for animal and human ailments.

Finally, the high levels of saponin made them good for making soap, after crushing and soaking the conkers in boiling water.  They are considered useful as moth deterrents by some.

Horse chestnut and Wildlife

The profusion of flowers provide a welcome treat to pollinating bees in late spring, and the caterpillars of the Triangle moth Trigonodes hyppasia feed on the leaves.

The larva of the Horse chestnut leaf mining moth Cameraria ohridella also feed on the leaves, the caterpillars are part of the diet of birds like the Bluetit.

Threats

Two pests and diseases have taken a firm hold of the Horse chestnut population recently.

The first is the Horse chestnut leaf miner mentioned above.  This insect burrows through the leaves, eating as it goes.  It can make entire trees look ill with blotched, yellowing leaves.  The good news is that there’s little evidence that the caterpillars do any lasting damage, merely altering the appearance of the tree.

The second is Horse chestnut bleeding canker, a more serious threat.  This bacterial infection damages the wood and bark, blocking the tubes of the phloem, making it impossible for the tree to carry water and nutrients.  This eventually kills the tree.

Signs of the canker include oozing dark patches on the trunk, discolouration of the wood, and chunks of bark peeling away.  This canker is becoming more common since it was first noted in the 1970s, and now infects more than 30% of English Horse chestnuts.

Trees also suffer leaf blotching caused by the Guignardia fungus, and are prone to scale insect infestations.

Conclusion

With their beautiful candles of flowers and ornamental stature, Horse chestnuts are handsome trees.  Although of limited practical or culinary use, they are vital to parkland and gardens.  One can but hope that the threats posed by canker and pests don’t end up reducing the population of these trees too seriously.

Online sources for this blog include websites of the Woodland trust, Trees for life, Totally wild, the Tree guide UK, and NatureSpot.  Reference books for this blog include the excellent The Greenwood Trees by Christina Hart-Davies  , and the Reader’s Digest The Field Guide to the Trees and Shrubs of Britain (out of print but commonly available second-hand).  I also referred to The Tree Forager by Adele Nozedar and The Living Wisdom of Trees by Fred Hageneder.

The post Trees: Horse chestnut Aesculus hippocastanum appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

Scots pine is one of a series of blogs I’m writing on common British trees.  You can also see blogs on the Elder, the Yew, the Ash, the Oak, the Holly, the Sycamore, the Rowan, the Hawthorn, the Birch, the Lime, and the Beech.

The Scots pine is one of only three native UK conifers, along with the Yew and the Juniper.  It grows wild in heathland and in the Caledonian pine forests of the Scottish Highlands, although only 1% of these remain.  About 7000 years ago it was the commonest tree in Britain but suffered when the climate got wetter and warmer and then again when it was cleared for grazing.  Instantly recognizable, it is used for timber and provides a haven for birds, insects, and mammals.

Scots pine Pinus sylvestris tree

Identification: Tree shape

Scots pine grow to 35m tall and have a domed or flattened top and can live for 700 years.  They shed their lower branches as they grow, leaving distinctive broken limbs below the main crown.

Scots pine Pinus sylvestris tree growth progression

These trees grow in poor soils from sea level to 2,400m and were briefly extinct south of Scotland in the 1600s before being re-introduced to parkland and heaths.

Identification: Leaves

Scots pine have slightly twisted paired needles.  These are a grey green and grow to 10cm in young trees.  As the tree ages, the needles grow to shorter lengths, in the region of 3 to 7cm long.  They are evergreen, and linear.

Sprig of Scots pine

Identification: Flowers

The flowers of Scots pine are monoecious, meaning male and females are borne on the same tree.  The female flowers grow on higher more exposed branches where they can catch the male pollen, carried by wind.  They are reddish purple and grow on the tips on new shoots, looking like tiny pine cones.

Scots pine female flower (strobilus)

The male flowers are clusters of yellow pollen-producing anthers, growing at the base of the shoot.

Scots pine male flowers

Scots pine tend to flower in May, filling the air with clouds of pollen.

Identification: Fruit

The fruit of the Scots pine is a cone.  These develop from the fertilized female flowers and start off as green.  The cones take two years to mature and are 3 to 6cm long.  A Scots pine will bear cones of different ages simultaneously – young green ones and larger older grey ones.  Mature woody cones have a raised bump at the centre of each cone scale.  Within the cones are the seeds, and once mature the cone scales open to release the winged seeds.

Mature cone

Identification: Bark and buds

The bark of the Scots pine is reddish but becomes fissured and darkens to near black with age.  This explains why the tree looks like its tree trunk is two coloured, rusty red at the top and black at ground level.

Twigs are hairless and green, and the plant has sticky buds borne on the tips of yellowish twigs.

Similar species

There are other pines grown in Britain, many in forestry plantations rather than in the Caledonian forests or on heathland.  The bi colour of the bark makes the Scots pine distinctive.  The other native evergreens, the Yew and juniper, are very different from the Scots pine.  The former has glossy dark green needles and a flaky brown bark and the juniper has needle-like leaves and grows low to the ground.  They bear soft red and dark purple berries respectively, rather than woody cones.

Juniper Juniperus communis

History: Folklore

The Scots pine has been voted the national tree of Scotland and figures on coats of arms and clan motifs.  Clan chiefs would be buried under Scots pine trees and in the Norse countries, great warriors were buried on land in boats made from pine wood.

History: Mankind and Scots Pine wood

Scots pine were planted near isolated farms in the north as wind breaks, and stands of them were planted to help travellers with navigation on bleak moors and heaths.

The wood is a strong softwood and is used in the construction industry, and to make telegraph poles, gates, fenceposts and pit props in mines.  It has also been a source of charcoal.

Jackdaw on ancient Scots pine fence post

Rope can be made from the inner bark, tar derived from the roots, and a dye from the pine cones.  The cones were also dried and used for kindling.  Finally, turpentine can be made by tapping the tree for resin.

History: Food and Medicine

Although pine needles are edible, they are pretty tough and better used for flavouring.  Some evidence suggests that they can induce miscarriage, so shouldn’t be eaten by pregnant women.  They can flavour sugar, syrups and alcohol.  Steaming vegetables over water full of pine needles can give a piquant flavour, and they can be made into teas.

Cones and needles

Scots pine needles are rich in vitamin C and can be nibbled to quench thirst, or drunk in teas to fight asthma and fatigue.

There are unsubstantiated claims that pine pollen helps prevent aging.  Liniments of pine are used on sore joints, diluted pine oil can banish head-lice, and pine tar can help treat skin problems.  The scent of pine helps clear blocked noses and is good for respiratory problems.

Scots pine and Wildlife

In the Caledonian forests, rare birds like the Capercaille live along with Scottish wildcats and plants like the Lesser twayblade.  The forest floor is home to ants including the Scottish wood ant.

Worker ant Formica aquilonia Scottish wood ant

Red squirrels chase each other around their trunks and Pine martens chase the red squirrels.

Pine marten Martes martes

Flocks of Crossbill and small passerines feed there.  Golden eagles and Osprey nest in the crowns of the trees.  They provide vital shelter for so much wildlife, as seen in this blog from Loch of the Lowes.

Threats

Various diseases like Heterobasidion annosum affect the Scots pine causing root rot and butt rot. Pine stem rust, red-band needle blight, and needle cast disease also occur.  The trees suffer attacks from the pine wood nematode which causes pine wilt and Fusarium circinaum, a disease that leads to tree canker.  Some of these pathogens are recent arrivals and pose real threats to the trees, although the University of Nebraska suggests pine wilt can be prevented by injecting healthy trees with abamectin or emamectin benzoate.   For more on the threats to Scots pine, check out the article in The Guardian newspaper.

Canker (in this case on a rose not on a Scots pine)

A potential threat in future years is the Pine processionary moth Thaumetopoea pityocampa whose range is expanding northward due to global warming.

They may also be defoliated by the Pine tree lappet moth Dendropinus pini.  Migrating north from the European mainland, a breeding colony was detected in Scotland in 2009 and containment regulations are in place to try and contain its spread (Scottish Forestry).

Conclusion

The Scots pine is an easy recognised native conifer.  Despite challenges facing the tree, mainly caused by invasive species moving northwards thanks to global warming, for now it is common on uplands, heathland, and in forestry.  Providing timber and protection for wildlife, it is to be hoped that it will continue to thrive for centuries to come.

Long-tailed, Blue, Coal and Great tit in a Scots pine

Online sources for this blog include websites of the Woodland trust, Kew Plants of the World , Trees for life,  Tree guide UK, and NatureSpot.  Reference books for this blog include the excellent The Greenwood Trees by Christina Hart-Davies and the Reader’s Digest The Field Guide to the Trees and Shrubs of Britain (out of print but commonly available second-hand).  I also referred to The Tree Forager by Adele Nozedar and The Living Wisdom of Trees by Fred Hageneder.

The post Trees: Scots pine Pinus sylvestris appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

This is one of a series of blogs I’m writing on common British trees.  You can also see blogs on the Elder, the Yew, the Ash, the Oak, the Holly, the Sycamore, the Rowan, the Hawthorn, the Birch and the Beech.

There are 10 species of Lime in the UK, with three growing commonly in the wild.  Along with the Small-leaved Lime Tilia cordata, the focus of this blog; there is the Common lime Tilia x europea and the Large-leaved (or Broad-leaved) lime Tilia platyphyllos.   Lime trees are often called Linden trees, a catch all for all Tilia  species.

It’s important to remember that these lime trees have nothing to do with the citrus family’s lime tree which bears the lime fruit, Citrus x Latifolia

Identification: Tree shape

The Small-leaved lime reaches up to 20m and has a pretty conventional shape.  They grow in ancient woodland, favouring moist nutrient-rich soils, although Large-leaved limes prefer lime-rich areas.

Lime Tilia cordata tree

Identification: Leaves

Leaves are 3-8cm long and shaped like a heart (as noted in the Latin name, cordata, which means heart-shaped).  They have sharp small teeth and a prominent tip.  Sometimes they are wider than their length.

Leaf of Small-leaved lime

Where the leaf stem or petiole attaches to the twig there are tufts of rust-red hairs.  These also appear on the underside of the leaf, at the junctions of the veins.

Identification: Flowers

The flowers smell delicious and are carried in clusters of five to ten blooms.  They have five petals, are a greenish yellow, and carry male and female reproductive structures.

Lime flower

Unlike other Lime trees, the flowers stick out from the leaf-like bract they’re attached to at all angles.  Other species have more pendulous blossoms.

Flowering cyme of the Small-leaved lime Tilia cordata

Identification: Fruit

Small-leaved lime fruit ripen in August and are small and round.  They have prominent tips.

Identification: Bark and buds

Small-leaved lime bark starts smooth but develops fissured plates with age.  The twigs are chestnut brown, and become glossy in the sunshine.  The underside of the twigs is often flushed olive green.

Bark of the Common lime Tilia x europea

Buds are up to 4mm long, have two scales. and are shiny red.

Similar species

The two other common UK Lime species are the Large-leaved and Common lime.  The Large-leaved lime has bigger leaves which grow to 13cm long and have more regular teeth.  Hairs cover the underside of each leaf.  Large-leaved lime carry flowers in clusters of three to a maximum of six, and the fruits are prominently ribbed.

Large-leaved lime Tilia platyphyllos

Common lime is a hybrid of the other two species so shows mixed characteristics.  It also has heart-shaped leaves which are larger than those of the Small-leaved lime.  The hair tufts on the underside of the leaves are white, not red.  When in bud, Common lime twigs zig-zag and bear a bud at each change of direction.

History: Folklore

In Eastern Europe, the Lime is a symbol of fertility and is considered sacred in Slavic culture.  It has links to the Germanic and Norse earth goddesses Frigga and Freyya.  Germanic cultures in ancient times used the tree as a symbol of justice, with trials taking place beneath its boughs. Tthe Swiss and French planted Lime trees to celebrate battles.  In Britain Lime trees were planted along roads to encourage prosperous harvests of grain.

Linden tree

The tree is also associated with love and romance.

History: Mankind and Linden wood

Lime wood does not warp if cured correctly so is used to make bowls, furniture, and piano keys.  It is soft and light and easy to work.  Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721) carved his ornate alter pieces and panels from lime wood as it cuts cleanly and easily, and traditional nesting Matroshka dolls were carved from Lime.

The inner layer of the bark is fibrous and was used by Europeans and First Nations’ peoples to make rope, fishing nets, and string until Hemp was introduced from China in 400BC.

History: Food and Medicine

The flowers of the Lime tree are dried and made into fragrant herbal teas whilst the sap can be made into wine.

Medicinally, the teas or tissanes made from Lime were used to treat “nervous disorders”.  These included headaches and insomnia.  The tea is said to soothe diarrhoea and sinusitis as well as being used to calm jangled nerves and reduce blood pressure and cholesterol. It was said that sitting under a Lime tree could mitigate epilepsy.

Small-leaved lime

Applied to the skin, it can soothe skin conditions.

Lime trees and Wildlife

The blossoms of the lime tree attract pollinators, and in America Lime tree species are sometimes called “bee trees”.  Linden blossom honey is delicious.  Along with the bees and butterflies, wasps, and hoverflies, the trees also attract vast numbers of aphids and their “farmers”, ants.  All lime trees tend to be coated in honeydew produced by the aphids which makes the leaves sticky and may cover the ground below the tree.  The aphids attract predators such as hoverflies and ladybirds.

Ladybird Coccinella septempuctata

Nail galls are common on the Small-leaved lime and look like tiny scarlet fingers growing from the leaf surface.  They are the product of the Eriophyes tiliae mite which feed inside them, and seem to do no damage to the tree.

Lime Tilia europaea leaf nail galls from mite Eriophyes tiliae

Moths such as the Lime hawkmoth, Peppered moth, Vapourer and Scarce hook-tip use the Lime as a food plant whilst birds and wood boring beetles exploit the dead wood of older trees to make their homes.

Threats

Ancient woodland is a rare habitat in the UK, although it used to cover much of the land.  In 3000BC the Small-leaved lime was the most common broad-leaved tree in the UK.  Ancient woodland is where most Small-leaved limes grow, so the threats to this habitat are mirrored in the threats to the trees.

Some fungal infections can cause cankers and root rot, and occasionally a Lime tree may die from Wilt.

Aphids and some mites weaken the tree, but there are no new fatal diseases wiping out all our Lime trees.

Conclusion

With the scented flowers and heart shaped leaves, Limes are easy to recognize.  They make safe homes for many insects and are a firm favourite with pollinators.  With strong pale wood and a plethora of uses in herbal medicine, the tree has been used by mankind for millennia.  And luckily, despite the loss of ancient broad-leaved woodland, the Lime or Linden looks set to remain an important tree of the British Isles for many years to come.

Small-leaved lime Tilia cordata

Online sources for this blog include websites of the Woodland trust, Kew Plants of the World, Tree guide UK, and Nature Spot. Reference books for this blog include the excellent The Greenwood Trees by Christina Hart-Davies, and the Reader’s Digest The Field Guide to the Trees and Shrubs of Britain (out of print but commonly available second-hand).  I also referred to The Tree Forager by Adele Nozedar and The Living Wisdom of Trees by Fred Hageneder.

The post Trees: Small-leaved lime or Linden appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

I love geraniums, and am especially fond of the variegated leaves some types have with their circles of cream, green, and red. I think a geranium like this one is my favourite house plants which shows leaf variegation.

Ninety percent of all wild geraniums come from South Africa, and they’re hardy plants (although frost can kill them). There are loads of different types available from garden centres, and those whose leaves are striped with white and red areas are called Zonal geraniums (or Pelargoniums).  However, it’s tricky to tell geraniums and pelargoniums apart, as this blog from NZ Stuff explains.

This step by step blog follows on from my blogs on pattern.

Geranium and pelaronium sketchbook study

When I was researching why some plants have warning colouration, I found that flower petals of these Zonal geraniums paralyze the Japanese beetle Popillia japonica, a common garden pest in the US.  They do this by by mimicking insect neurotransmitters.  Thinking back to my blog on stripes, perhaps our striped leaf is a form of warning colouration?

On with the illustration.  The plant used in this step by step is Geranium “Mrs. Pollock”.

Choosing and Drawing a leaf

When you choose your plant, make sure it’s one with plenty of leaves, and with distinct markings that you can illustrate.  It might help to take the leaf off the plant so you can examine it better.

First step is to draw up the leaf in pencil.  Begin by drawing a rough suggestion of the leaf shape, and use the leaf veins as guides.

Rough outline of Pelargonium leaf

Work into the line drawing, looking for the shapes of each leaf lobe, and for the wide teeth on the leaf edge.  Plot in the lines where the red anthocyanin pigment first appears, and where the green pigment area ends.  A quick sketch so you don’t lose track of what colours go where can be helpful, and can be rubbed out later.

Look closer at the veins and draw the side veins.  You’ll be leaving these as white for a while, so feel free to give them a touch of thickness by using two pencil lines instead of one if it helps.

Detailed pencil drawing of Pelargonium leaf

Variegation: Adding greens

Now mix up a soft green. Daniel Smith Spring green, Cobalt blue, and a touch of Naples yellow works well.  Using little brush marks and looking at the leaf, start painting in the darker areas of green.  Look for patterns in the way the shadows fall.  Having a good strong light helps with this, a daylight lamp behind the left shoulder works wonders.  There are deeper greens down where the radial veins meet, and on the right hand of the central vein.  It’s a bit darker on the underside of the branching veins.  Let the paint dry.

Deep greens are added to the leaf

Make a tint of your green by diluting it with clean water.  Lay this on top of the painting, making sure to leave the veins as thin unpainted areas.  Leave paler areas in the middle of each leaf section, but try to blend the green in with the little brush marks. Ideally, it’s an easy visual transition between the pale and darker green.  Don’t worry about your pencil lines, you can rub them out later.

Main greens are completed

Variegation: Adding Cream

Mix a pale yellow. Naples yellow plus a dash of Pale cadmium yellow is the right sort of thing.  Keeping it dilute, pick out the edges of the leaf and the same shadows cast by the veins as before.  This area of leaf isn’t white, despite having no green cholorphyll.  Background pigments like carotenoids and flavonoids give that creamy colour.  Again, be sure to leave the white of the paper for your highlights.

Cream margins are added

Blend these areas of cream into the rest of the leaf margin with a tint of your yellow mix.  Once that’s dry, mix up more of your pale yellow and paint it over the entire leaf, including the veins.  Let it dry.  Using light pencil, you can draw in outside edges of the red, if you’ve not already done so.  It’s easier to see what’s going on now there’s some colour down.

Geranium leaf plus pencil guide to red areas

Variegation: Adding reds

Time for the red anthocyanin pigments.  This is a tricky colour to mix; it’s somehow crimson and bright orange-red at the same time.

We also have to be incredibly careful not to allow the addition of the red on top of the green to make a muddy mess, so go carefully.  Try mixing Alizarin crimson, Opera rose, and Cadmium orange.  Keep experimenting with your mix til it matches the reds on the leaf.

Starting on the inside edge of the red pigments, use tiny outward-pointing brush strokes.  Before these fully dry, go over them with a slightly paler, wetter red.  Be super careful not to let the red get muddy. Pull this scarlet out over the variegated pale margin, making sure it’s paler than the crimson you first applied. Let this dry and very carefully outline the vein edges in red.  Your leaf may well look a bit rubbish at this stage, but don’t panic.

Geranium leaf plus reds

Variegation: Adding shadow

Mix up a darker green, perhaps by adding purple to your existing green mix.  Pop a watery tint on this on top of the whole green area, including over the red areas.  Be careful not to mix the red and the green.  Let it dry fully.

Using a green darkened with blue or purple, pick out your darkest areas of green leaf.  The base of the leaf and right hand side of the central vein are darker, and there are tiny darker areas by the other veins.

Look for darker regions at the creamy edge.  With a delicate touch, pick these out with a mix of your pale yellow and a dash of green.  Using this to clarify the leaf edges helps pull the illustration into focus.

Once it’s dry, use a soft eraser to rub out the pencil lines.  Some watercolour papers handle this better than others, you can be quite vigorous with Fluid 100 HP and not harm the painting.

Geranium leaf with shadows added

Conclusion

Illustrating different colours on one leaf is not impossible, and feels far more frightening than it turns out to be.  Variegated leaves are beautiful, and well worth further examination.  Once you’ve given this leaf a whirl, a whole load of new subjects become available, and many are houseplants that can be painted year round.  For more on leaf variegation, check out my blog.

The post Geranium Variegated Leaf Step by Step appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

One of the things in nature which is worth taking a really close look at is pattern.  Spots, stripes and splotches decorate loads of living things; from beetles to reef fish, snakes to zebras, orchids to sunflower seeds.

Peacock Pavo pair with male tail on display

They have always amazed and delighted me, and I’ve recently looked a little further into them.

Ladybird Coccinella septempunctata

What are patterns for?

Patterns serve lots of different functions in nature.  They can provide camouflage, which works for predators as well as for prey.  This is true for plants as well as animals (Plant Camouflague by Niu and Sun, 2018)

Nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus settled camoflauged on the ground

They can be vigorous warnings, advertising toxicity.  The Monarch butterfly is toxic thanks to the milkweed its caterpillars feed on, and its colouration ensures any predator foolish enough to try and eat it once would not repeat the experience!

Monarch Danaus plexippus butterfly

Patterns can be used to attract mates (just think of the shimmering tail of a peacock), to mimic poisonous animals, and to guide animals to food sources.  IN certain habitats, such as coral reefs, many of these tactics are used at the same time making for a panoply of patterns and colour.

Red sea coral reef scene showing patterned clown fish, star puffer fish, and squirrel fish

Pattern variety

There’s variety in the patterns, and plenty of overlap.  Lots of spots can merge together into a loose stripe, as with the toad below.

Even slugs can have spots, as this Green cellar slug Limacus maculatus shows.

Green cellar slug Limacus maculatus

Stripes on plants can widen into blotches. In plants, spots and stripes can fall under the umbrella term of “variegation”, pale markings on leaves where there’s no green pigment.  Some animals and plants sport stripes and spots, and one flower is even decorated with chequer-board markings!

Variegated Yellow Archangel Lamiatrum galeobdolon subsp argentum

Plants show a wide range of patterns on their leaves, stems, flowers, seeds, and fruit.  There’s always a reason behind the spots, stripes and splotches; not only how they come to be there, but why they exist and persist across the generations.

Pattern and latin names

Although many people freeze when shown a scientific or Latin name, they can be really helpful in giving clues about the organism you’re looking at.  When it comes to patterns, anything with “zonatus” or “versicolor” in its Latin name is likely to be striped.

Turkey tail fungus Trametes versicolor

Anything including the word “maculata” will be spotty (see the slug above, Limacus maculatus), and a plant whose name includes “variegatum” will almost certainly be (you guessed it) variegated.

Lords and ladies Arum maculatum

Conclusion

So whether its spots or stripes, blotches or chequerboards, patterns are everywhere in the natural world.  Used for attraction, protection, hunting, warning…the purpose is endless.  And the result is a world full of stunning, patterned organisms.

The post Patterns in Nature: A quick overview appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

Many of the patterns you see on plant leaves, especially on garden and house plants, are caused by variegation.

Variegated leaves have areas of paler yellow or white on them, and vary widely form species to species, and between individual plants.  Some variegated leaves even have dark red or scarlet areas. So what’s going on to cause these markings?

Variegated zonal geranium leaf Mrs Pollock

Variegation happens when cells in the leaves end up without plastid pigments, which normally provide the green chlorophyll we see in most leaves.  This occasionally occurs in the wild, and can be triggered by too much cell oxidization. Without the green chlorophyll masking them, we see other yellowish pigments, or just the white of a colour-less leaf.

Variegation in the wild

It’s pretty rare in the wild because leaves that aren’t full of chlorophyll can’t photosynthesize properly.  This means they can’t produce the sugars the plant needs to survive.

Wild cyclamen Cyclamen hederifolia, Lesser Celendine Ficaria verna, Lungowrt Pulmonaria officianalis and Milk thistles Silybum do show variegation.

Cyclamen hederifolia sketchbook study

Variegated patches might help protect leaves from UV rays, help in pollination and seed dispersal, and be used to keep a plant’s temperature stable (Thermal Benefits From White Variegation of Silybum marianum Leaves. Shelef, 2019)

Lungwort Pulmonaria officinalis

Variegated Houseplants

Variegated garden and house plants are much more common.  They originally come from cuttings of wild plants, and are propagated over the generations because of their pretty leaf markings.

Hosta showing variegated leaf on the right (from The Garden Forager by Adele Nozedar)

You can get variegated forms of tons of common plants; hollies with white leaf margins, big waxy hosta leaves striped white, Hebes edged with cream, Geraniums with rings of colour on their leaves, Periwinkles Vinca, Salvias, Yuccas showing sword like striped leaves, big leaved rubber trees Ficus, Peace lilies Spathiphyllum, Calathea with their white blotches, Chameleon plants Houittuynia with leaves flushed crimson…the list goes on and on.

Chameleon plant Houttunyia cordata

Often these variegated forms originate from wild plants that come from plants from across the globe, and get planted wherever gardener’s want them, and conditions allow them to grow.

Reverting to the wild

However, if you put them in shaded and nutrient-poor parts of your garden, they’ll often revert to having green leaves as they struggle to produce the energy they need.  If you try to grow variegated plants from seed they too will mostly revert to type.  Having big blotches on your leaves that can’t produce sugars is not efficient, so in most cases (and certainly in temperate climates where water loss and sun damage aren’t big issues) plants will avoid variegation unless conditions are so good they allow the luxury of having inefficient foliage.

Types of Variegation: Blister

There are different forms of variegation.  Some leaves will have blotchy white marks as a result of damage cause by mosaic viruses.  These tend not to be propagated or grown by gardeners.

Blister variegation happens when there are little air bubbles between the surface and the body of the leaf.  These look like white or silvery areas.  This is what causes the pretty spots on Begonia leaves, and the stipes of the Aluminium plant Pilea cadierei  Wild flowers with this variegation are few and far between; the spotty leaves of Lungwort, the variations on Cyclamen leaves, and the white areas on Milk thistle leaves (where these blisters follow the lines of the leaf veins) come to mind.

Begonia Begonia pearce

Why use Variegation?

Some researchers have suggested these blotches might be a form of mimicry, making the plant look like it had already been attacked by leaf-miners. Leaf miners looking to lay their eggs would avoid such a plant, so the trade off between not being eaten and not being able to produce sugars in the white blotches paid off. (Leaf variegation in Caladium steudneriifolium (Araceae): A case of mimicry?, Soltau 2009)

Another suggestion is that white spots, stripes and blotches could act as a warning to animals thinking of eating them.  Lots of cacti, Aloes, and Euphorbia have impressive spines and these markings. (Aposematic (Warning) Coloration in Plants Lev-Youdun 2009)

Prickly pear Opuntia ficus-indica

In hot climates, the white areas of variegated leaves may help handle the fierceness of the sun, and with water retention.  It’s no surprise houseplant cultivars come from these regions.

Types of Variegation: Pigmentary

Pigmentary variegation happens when a leaf has areas without chlorophyll; or with another, stronger pigment such as anthocyanic (which cause pink and purple colours).  The Coleus houseplant is a good example of this, bright green leaves blotched with pink areas, then a darker purple where the two pigments overlap.

Coleus and other red-flushed plants

In wild flowers, one of the commonest plants to show this effect is the clover.  Look closely at a Red clover leaf Trifolium pratense.  There are much paler areas on each leaf, like arrow-heads.  These are distinct and occur on most of the plant’s leaves.

Red clover Trifolium pratense

You can mostly tell if a leaf is variegated, or if the blotches are caused by a deficiency in some nutrient or mineral.  The edges of variegated areas are sharply defined, and an individual leaf will not re-gain its’ green-ness if you change the soil conditions.  It might start growing new leaves which aren’t variegated, but leaves which are variegated remain so through their life – the missing plastid pigments can’t re-grow.

Autumn leaf colour and Variegation: The same source at work

It’s worth remembering that this effect, the lack of green chlorophyll, is exactly the same as what happens in autumn.  Leaves are normally green, but chlorophyll is broken down by deciduous trees as the colder weather approaches. The risk of damage outweighs any benefit a tree may get from keeping hold of photosynthesizing green leaves through winter.

Sycamore leaf Acer pseudoplatanus

What’s left?  The other pigments, many of which have been there round.  Yellows remain, caused by carotenoids and flavonoids (including one, lutein, which is what makes egg yolks golden!).  Oranges caused by other Carotenoids like beta-carotene (which also give carrots their colour) also remain.

These do get broken down as winter comes, but far slower than the chlorophyll.  Around now, trees also start producing the reds of anthocyanin.  Surprisingly, even now no-one really knows why this red pigment appears so late on in leaves, some suggest it might be protective.

Conclusion

Although variegation in the wild is not unheard of, it’s unusual because of the biological cost.  This isn’t true for house plants, hence the amazing variety of leaf colour we see.

Understanding what causes variegation also helps us know more about the chemistry and botany of leaves, which (one hopes) will end up with us admiring then even more.

The post Variegation: Patterns on leaves appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

Stripes are seen across the animal and plant kingdoms.  Although the first stiped animals you think of may be zebra and tigers, there are lots of striped beetles, snakes, birds, and loads of stripy fish.

Stripes for Camouflague

Stripes are a brilliant way of providing camouflage.  They break up the edges of an organism, making it harder to see against the background.  A baby tapir, rootling in the scrub of a forest will be almost invisible as patches of sunlight and dark shadow fall on its’ back.  If you see one in a different environment its’ stripes seem startling.

Likewise, a large predator like a tiger appears invisible as its stripes mimic the vertical lights and darks of the grass it uses as cover before it attacks.

Sketch of Tiger Panthera tigris , the first striped animal many people will bring to mind

Stripes as Camouflage: Breaking up the edges

Stripes are common on coral reef fish, where they not only break up the fish’s outline but can also dazzle and confuse potential predators.  Couple striking stripes with the surprise of flashing a big eye-spot, as many Butterfly fish do, and predators won’t risk an attack.

Snakes are often prey, and species with long stripes on their body use these to confuse predators.  The stripes flicker as the snake whisks away, and escape occurs before the predator can figure out where the edges of its’ prey are.

Variable kingsnake Lampropeltis Mexicana thayeri

Stripes as warnings of toxicity

Animals use stripes to signal their toxicity and to warn off predators. The most iconic example is the skunk with tis clear black and white stripes, but unpalatable caterpillars, cone shells, and stinging insects like bees and wasps also use stripes as a warning.

White tailed bumble bee Bombus leucorum

If a predator does happen to take a bite out of these creatures, they may well become ill or get stung.  Next time they see that distinct pattern, they’ll avoid it.  It’s interesting that so many insects sporting warning stripes are yellow and black.

Common wasp Vespa vulgaris

Colorado potato beetles (and many other beetles) have clear stripes.  They’re avoided by birds as they taste bad, another example of stripes being a warning to predators.

Colorado potato beetle Leptinotarsa decemlineata

Stripes for Mimicry

Stripes are used by mimics, harmless animals that “dress up” like toxic ones in order to avoid being eaten.  This is known as Batesian mimicry.  There’s a harmless British beetle, the Wasp beetle Clytus arietis which not only has yellow and black stripes, but also moves and behaves like a wasp.

Wasp beetle Clytus arietis

Another mimic happens when nestlings of the Cinereous mourner bird Laniocera hypopyrra hatch.  They’re orange and have odd, adapted feathers.  They move their heads slowly from side to side, and this makes them look a whole lot like some rather toxic caterpillars that inhabit the same Amazonian jungle. (Morphological and Behavioral Evidence of Batesian Mimicry in Nestlings of a Lowland Amazonian Bird, Londono et al 2015)

One plant uses stripes to mimic the damage done by leaf-miners.  The Milk thistle Sibilum maritum has white stripes following the lines of its’ leaf veins, caused by variegation.  These give off a message that the leaves are infested with leaf miners, and the adult flies avoid laying their eggs there, put off by the “competition” already within the leaves (Aposematic (Warning) Coloration in Plants, Lev-Yadun 2009)

Milk thistle Silybum marianum

A surprising use of stripes is shown by zebra; it’s been shown that these iconic markings don’t confuse predators, but flummox biting horseflies who avoid landing on the stripy surfaces (and biting the zebra). (Benefits of Zebra stripes: Behaviour of tabanid flies around zebras and horses. Caro et al 2019)

Stripes on plants

But why do plants have stripes?  They’re not active predators, lurking in the undergrowth.  They’re not hapless prey, trying to camouflage themselves in the shadows.  Although there’s some suggestion that plants do use pattern as a warning, this tends to be spots rather than stripes.  There is one example of a plant that uses warning stripes.  In Israel the same Milk thistle Silybum marianum is banded with white stripes and the wider the stripes, the stronger the prickles. (Local loss of the zebra-like coloration supports the aposematic and other visual defense hypotheses in Silybum marianum. Lev-Yadum 2017)

But most plants don’t use stripes for camouflage or warning.  So why stripes?

Stripes on Plants: Nectar guides

Plants need to be pollinated.  What’s more, they need to advertise to pollinators that they need pollinating, and that they have a sugary reward of nectar for any insect willing to do the job.  A really effective way to do this it to have stripes literally pointing to the nectar source, like arrows.

Insects can see ultraviolet rays (which we cannot), and lots of flowers have stripes and colours that only show up in UV light.  Under UV light dandelions have bright “red” centres, attracting bees to the flower.

Dandelion Taxicum officinale

Evening primrose, Hibiscus, and some daisies have evolved blue halos which centre around the middle of the flower and are clearly visible to bees.  Some flowers have very clear stripes when looked at in “bee vision”, like the Meadow Cranesbill.  These are also pointing the way to nectar.  It’s no surprise that these stripes, coming out from the centre of a flower, are known as “nectar guides”.  For mroe on this check out the blog by the No dig Gardener)

Meadow cranesbill Geranium pratense

If you look really closely at most flowers, you may well see these nectar guides.  Sometimes they’re indistinct, and just look like a few dark lines near the centre of the flower; or as paler areas near the centre of the flower, emphasised with stripes.

Detail of Marsh violet Viola palustris showing nectar guides

Violets, cranesbills, pea and bean flowers, Mallow, lupins, and hibiscus are just a few flowers with these clear nectar guides.

Mallow Malvus sylvestris claerly showing nectar guides

Some flowers are striped all over, not just at their throats.  These stripes are often simply the veins of the petals picked out in another colour.  Wood sorrel, Cranberry hibiscus, and the bearded iris all show these markings.

Wood Sorrel Oxalis acetosella

Wider stripes and Flowers

Other flowers have wide stripes of different colours. These tend to be garden plants like Petunias, camelias and tulips, and these stripes are not common in the wild.  One exception is the Candy cane sorrel, Oxalis versicolor whose white petals are edged with a crimson stripe.

Tulip flower Tulipa Bestseller

Plant breeders select for them, and it’s important to remember that function and form get a bit confused once you start looking at human-bred organisms.

Orchids often have elaborate patterns, including stripes.  Unusually, Tiger orchids, Oncidium has stripes which go across its petals, rather than following the veins of the petal.  It makes for a dramatic flower!

Striped leaves

Leaves of houseplants often have white stripes (and other markings) along them.  This is a result of variegation, and is selected for by plant breeders.

Spiderplants Cholorphytum comosum are probably the most cultivated houseplant in the world.  In their native southern Africa, they have pain green leaves.  Other stripy house-plants include Calathea, Sanservia, Bromeliads and Croton.  Many of these are native to hot climates, and the stripes that do occur in the wild could relate to preserving water or reducing heat.

Illustration of ferns and striped Calthea leaves

The leaves of the Zebra plant Cryptanthus zonatus (the English and Latin name give us clues to what’s coming!) have white stripes running across them.  This is much less common than the longditudinal stripes, and is also a result of variegation.

Striped fruit

Fruit can be striped, especially those in the Cucurbitae family which includes melons, squashes, cucumbers and gourds.  These stripes can be quite distinct and variable, and a selection of gourds and melons would make a good still life.

Striped and (an unstriped) Cucumbers Cucumis sativus

Striped seeds

Some seeds are striped.  Sunflower seeds, cannabis seeds, and chickpeas can all be stripy and interestingly, all have non-striped versions too.  Striped sunflower seeds have thicker coats than monochrome black ones, although it’s unclear why this should be.

Conclusion

We live in a stripy world, for all sorts of reasons.  Next time you’re asked to think of a striped animal, consider all the creatures sporting stunning stripes who are not zebra or tigers!

The post Striped Patterns in Nature appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

There are two main Birch trees in the UK, the Silver birch Betula pendula and the Downy birch Betula pubescens.  The Downy birch tends to grow better in wetter areas and in the north.  The Silver birch likes drier soils and is often found growing ornamentally in gardens and cities.

Both reach heights of 30m and can have a 20m spread.

They are pioneer species, easy to recognise, represent guardianship and fertility, and they are used to make everything from shoes to bobbins.  Birch also treats ailments as diverse as gout and skin disorders.

Birch trees support over 300 insect species, and birch woodland provides a wonderful habitat for woodland flowers.

This is one of a series of blogs I’m writing on common British trees.  You can also see blogs on the Elder, the Yew, the Ash, the Oak, the Holly, the Sycamore, the Rowan, the Beech, and the Hawthorn.

Identification: Tree shape

Birches have a slender shape, and twigs which can droop.

They are often the first to colonize a landscape which has been devastated by fire or deforestation.  When it comes to re-wilding, scrubby birch wood is often the first step.  This makes them pioneer species, settling the land and making it accessible to other plant species.

Birch is the commonest tree in Scotland, and the Downy birch stretches way up into the arctic.  For more on trees growing in such inhospitable climates, check out my blog on illustrating The Treeline by Ben Rawlence.

Identification: Leaves

Leaves are more or less triangles, with toothed margins.  Each leaf is up to 6cm long, and shiny green.  In autumn they turn to a bright, pale yellow.

Downy birch have less jagged margin teeth than the Silver birch, and the leaves are diamond-shaped, and less rounded.  However, the two birches frequently hybridize, hence me popping them into the same blog.

Identification: Flowers

The birch is monoecious, which means it carries male and female flowers on the same plant.   These are wind pollinated catkins.  Male catkins are yellowish, and grow through the winter maturing as the birch leaves grow in spring, then dropping.  These are long catkins, easily visible, and carried in groups of 3 or 4 at the tips of the shoots.

Catkins of the DownyBirch

Female catkins are smaller, and bright green.  They’re borne upright and flower in April through May,

Catkins of the Silver birch

Identification: Fruit

After pollination, the female catkin thickens and develops a dark crimson colour.  Masses of tiny seeds are released from this fruit, and borne off in the wind.

Fruiting catkins of the Downy birch

Identification: Bark

Silver birch bark is what gives the tree its name.  It’s paper white, and can be peeled from the tree in sheets.  There are often dark diamonds present, and older trees may have far darker trunks, especially towards the tree base.

The white colour reflects UV light, some suggest it works like a sunscreen in areas where reflected light from the snow can be blinding.

Buds are long, purplish and pointed.

Twigs are drooping and smooth, with dark warts.  The shoots of Silver and Downy birch can be used to tell them apart.  Silver birch shoots are smooth with warts, whereas those of Downy birch are rough, warty, and covered in short, downy hair.

Similar species

The white bark sets these trees apart from others, and the little triangular leaves with their jagged edges are unlike other large tree leaves.

Most sources suggest the main problem here is telling your Downy form your Silver birch, other species don’t get a mention!

History: Folklore

The Birch is seen as a guardian tree, and a way to keep evil spirits at bay.

Baby cradles would be made form birch to keep the devil away, and people would bring bundles of birch wood into their homes at Halloween to repel the evil spirits.  Birch brooms swept out dirt, but also got rid of the devil, and a garland of birch twigs might be hung over the door for protection.

However, witches broomsticks were also meant to be birch wood, so there’s some disconnect there.

Birch is also closely linked to fertility.  Using a switch of birch on a heifer would either ensure she got pregnant, or that the calf was healthy.

In Britain, if a couple wished to live together but not marry, they could step over a birch broomstick together.  Once done, they could live as man and wife.

When Beltaine came around on May 1st, with all its’ links to spring and fertility, it would be the Birch tree chosen as the wood for the maypole.  In some places, this festival meant any legal bonds between couples could be lifted for 24hrs, and there was frequently a spike in birth-rate at the start of the following February.  It will come as no surprise that these practices left the Christian church apoplectic, but powerless to do much about it.

Birch also relates to motherhood and femininity.  Russian folklore has the Birch as the “Lady of the Woods”, while there are close links between the Irish goddess Brigid and the Birch.  Brigid was the goddess of poetry, something of a muse, and responsible for spinning and weaving.

History: Mankind and Birch wood

Birch wood is pale and soft and not very durable.  It’s used for walking sticks and broom handles, and makes good charcoal.  It also makes good skateboards!  Bobbins and spinning reels were made of birch wood, back in the days of the Lancashire Cotton industry.

The bark has been used to make a plethora of things.  Sheets of bark were perfect as paper substitutes.  Applied to roofs, it provided a level of waterproofing against the rain.  You could mould the bark into shoes, or use strips woven together to make baskets for soft fruit.

Canoes and boats, hats, firelighters, and rolled bark candles were all made from Birch bark.

Powdered birch helped ensure you had a pale complexion.

Leaves yield a reddish dye, while the catkins provide a sunshine yellow colour.

History: Food and Medicine

The sap of the Birch was gathered and made into wine.  This was fed to those afflicted with kidney stones, or urinary tract infections.

Tea made from birch leaves worked on gout and again on kidney stones.  The leaves are indeed full of flavonoids, a type of anti-oxidant.

Birch bark oil was used to treat skin disorders like eczema and psoriasis; the same substance was used to waterproof boats.

In the north, after a sauna you can stimulate circulation by beating yourself with a birch stick.  And, while we’re on the topic of beating, the dreaded old school cane was often made of birch.

Birch and Wildlife

Birch woodland has a light, airy canopy.  This proves excellent for wild flowers like Wood anemone, Violets, Bluebell, and Wood sorrel, as well as for mosses.

Over 300 insect species are associated with birch, including a lot of aphid species.  In turn, this means that Birch trees are great for ladybirds who feast on the aphids.  Moths such as Angleshades, Buff tip, and Kentish Glory have Birch as host plant for their caterpillars.

Birds use the birch too; siskin and greenfinch eat the seeds while woodpecker nest in tree cavities.

Fungus are common on the woodland floor with Fly agaric, Woolly milk cap, Chanterelle, and the Birch polypore closely associated with the birch.

Fly agaric Amanita muscaria

Threats

The threats to Birch in the UK are limited,  Plantations can fall prey to Birch dieback, which is caused by two fungal species.  However, self-seeded trees seem more immune.

As with every single species, the climate emergency presents challenges to birch trees living very far north.  However, it’s probably the Downy birch tree’s incremental growth further and further northward that forms a more immediate ecological threat.

Conclusion

Birch are elegant ornamental trees, instantly recognised thanks to their white bark.

With links to protection and fertility, and the ability to heal skin diseases and be used for building canoes, it’s a fascinating tree.

The most common tree in the whole of Scotland, and stretching across vast swathes of the planet, the Birch is worthy of our respect, and love.

Online sources for this blog include websites of The Woodland Trust, Kew’s Plants of the World, Tree guide UK, Trees for life, and Naturespot.  Reference books for this blog include the excellent The Greenwood Trees by Christina Hart-Davies  , and the Reader’s Digest The Field Guide to the Trees and Shrubs of Britain (out of print but commonly available second-hand).  I also referred to The Tree Forager by Adele Nozedar and The Living Wisdom of Trees by Fred Hageneder.

The post Trees: Birch appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

Beech trees are common across Britain, favouring chalky soils.  The oldest Beech trees live up to 400 years.  You’ll find them in open spaces and in woodland and can tell them straight away by their smooth bark.  The trees produce beech mast which is nutritious for animals, and the canopy supports wildlife.  Beech wood is used in furniture making, and has links to the earliest of books.  It’s associated with knowledge and femininity, and has been used to treat ailments and as food.

This is one of a series of blogs I’m writing on common British trees.  You can also see blogs on the Elder, the Yew, the Ash, the Oak, the Holly, the Sycamore, the Rowan, and the Hawthorn.

Identification: Tree shape

The Beech grows up to 30m tall, and its’ shape varies according to where it’s growing.  In open fields, the branches spread into a wide canopy.  In confined woodland there are few side branches and a much straighter silhouette.

Identification: Leaves

In spring, as they unfurl, Beech leaves are a bright acid green, and are covered in downy hairs.  As they mature they become a more modest green, and in autumn have a pretty consistent warm tan colour.  Leaves are 4 to 9cm long, and are oval with smooth but wavy margins.  They’re arranged alternately.  Each leaf has 5 to 9 pairs of veins.

Leaves overlap, making an umbrella-like canopy with shields the floor below from rain.  They also are rich in lignin, which means they decompose slowly. This means the woodland floor is often a difficult habitat, dry and carpeted with persistent crunchy leaves.  You could know you’re in a beech wood by sound alone.

Beech trees hang onto their leaves through winter, which is known as macrescence.

Be aware that the common Copper beech is a varient of this native species.  It looks similar, but the leaves are a dark maroon instead of green.

Identification: Flowers

Male and female flowers are carried on the same plant, and are pollinated by the wind.  Female flowers grow in pairs, within a little cup.  Male flowers are catkins carried on long, tassel-like catkins.  Flowers appear as the young leave emerge in spring.

Identification: Fruit

Beech nuts are known as mast, and consist of three triangular nuts encased in a spiny case.  This splits open, revealing the chestnut-brown nuts surrounded by a pale velvety lining.

They’re produced in real abundance once every four or five years, which is known as a mast year.

Identification: Bark and buds

Beech bark is really distinctive.  It’s very smooth and pale grey.  It stretches as it grows, so when names are carved on beech trees they become distorted over time.

The bark is sensitive to sunlight.  If an older tree is suddenly exposed to a lot of direct sun, the bark will get “sunburn” and this can kill the whole tree.

Buds are distinctively pointed and slender, reddish brown and with a clear criss-cross pattern.  No other trees in Britain have quite such pointy buds, which (along with the bark) means it’s easy to identify in winter.

Similar species

Because of the smooth bark and persistent leaves, beech isn’t readily confused with other trees.  Hornbeam Carpinus betulus has similar shaped wavy leaves, but these have teeth on the margins

History: Folklore

Beech trees have been associated with knowledge and femininity.  In Britain, the Beech is sometimes called “the queen of the woods”.  Romans had sacred beech groves, some dedicated to Jupiter, and some to Diana, Goddess of animals and the hunt.

Writing and learning have associations with the Beech, possibly because of its links to the invention of the book.

In Westphalia, in Germany, up til the 18^th century there was a tale that babies weren’t brought by the stork, but found in the hollows of Beech trees.

Finally, druids often used beech twigs for water divination.

History: Mankind and Beech wood

The wood of beech is hard and heavy, but not tough.  It’s no good for building as it can’t bear weight, but responds well to steaming so has been used to make the backs and legs of Windsor chairs and other bentwood furniture.  Trees were often pollarded for this purpose.

The wood burns hot, and was used in industry – fuelling fires for iron, glass, and charcoal production.

Beech mast is over 50% oil, so the nuts have been used as a source of furniture polish.  Meanwhile the leaves, non-degrading and persistent were used to stuff (presumably very noisy!) mattresses.

Beech tar was used as glue from paleo to mesolithinc times.

Before the invention of paper, thin slabs of beech wood were used to write on, and sometimes bound into prototype books.  There’s evidence of this in Germany in the 1300s.  There’s some suggestion that Guttenburg had the idea for his historic press after writing on beech wood and noticing the pressure made a print on the page below.

History: Food and Medicine

The beech mast is highly nutritious, providing oil and protein, but is very difficult to access.  In general, it was fed to cattle, goats, pigs, and sheep who foraged in woodland, or gathered up and fed to overwintering livestock.

However, in times of hardship, and until the Iron age, beech mast was roasted and made into flour.  In France, the roast mast was used to make a coffee-like drink.

Newly emergent leaves are tender and can be used in salads and soups.

Beechwood tar was used as chewing gum, and I’m sure even in my childhood in the 1970s you could buy packets of Beech nut chewing gum,

Medicinally, Beech was used to treat bronchitis and has astringent, antiseptic and disinfectant properties.  These were recognized by early Europeans and by the First Nations People in the Americas, who used bark preparations to fight fever.

It’s also used to treat animal hoof ailments, and in soap production.

Beech and Wildlife

The unusually shady forest floor found in beech woodland initially seems devoid of life.  However, some rare plants like the Coralroot bittercress and Red helleborine love these conditions, as do fungi.

Truffles can grow here, and in the past beech woods were planted to encourage them.

Moths feed on the leaves, namely the Olive Cresent, Barred Hook-tip, and Clay triple-line species.

Wood boring insects and larger animals like woodpeckers often make their homes within the tree.

The beech mast feeds a whole ecosystem; from voles to badgers, squirrels to jays, mice to great tits, woodpeckers to nuthatches.

Threats

When compared to other British tree species, the Beech isn’t in too much trouble.

At around 200 years old they can develop core rot in they’re growing in an environment low in tannic acid.  Basically, this means anywhere without Oak trees growing nearby.  This can kill them.

The trees can suffer root rot, caused by fungus like Phytopora,

Beech bark disease is caused by scale insects and a canker fungus.  This causes lesions to appear on the bark every year.  Eventually, these encircle the tree and thus can kill it.

However, a swifter way for a Beech to be “girdled” is when Grey squirrels come and strip all the bark off.  This can soon result in death and is especially problematic in younger trees.

Conclusion

The Beech tree is common, easy to spot, and useful.  With the smooth bark, pointy buds, and over-wintering orange-ish leaves, it’s easy to identify.  Although not used in building or as food; the wood and beech mast has proved vital over the centuries.  From chair backs to chewing gum, charcoal production to ancient flour, livestock feed to books, fevers to ancient glue; the Beech tree has served mankind well.

They’re pretty trees, and well worth a closer look next time you’re in a woodland with crunchy leaves underfoot.

Online sources for this blog include websites of The Woodland Trust, Kew’s Plants of the World, Tree guide UK, Trees for life, and Naturespot.  Reference books for this blog include the excellent The Greenwood Trees by Christina Hart-Davies  , and the Reader’s Digest The Field Guide to the Trees and Shrubs of Britain (out of print but commonly available second-hand).  I also referred to The Tree Forager by Adele Nozedar and The Living Wisdom of Trees by Fred Hageneder.

The post Trees: Beech appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

The Elder Sambucus nigra is common in hedgerows and woodland, and appears as a shrub as often as a tree.  It has strongly scented blossoms in spring, deep purple berries in autumn, and pale wood.

There’s an enormous amount of folklore associated with this species, and it’s a firm favourite with both foragers and those interested in herbal remedies.

Identification: Tree shape

Elder grows as trees up to 10m, or as shrubs.  Branches are often curved, and the wood is brittle.  Elder trees have short trunks or “boles”.  Compared to other tree species, elder don’t have loads of branches, and these grow from low down.

Elder tree

You often see Elder trees in thickets or scrubby woodland, or growing alongside streams with a variety of other species.  If an Elder is given space and light, it’ll grown into a tree.

Elder shrubs are common too as the species shows in both growth habits.  Lots of branches emerge at ground level, forming a thicket of a bush.

This species loves nitrogen-rich habitats, and will colonise anywhere where people have lived, or where nitrogen levels are high in the soil (such as fields where animals have been grazed).  It grows fast, and establishes itself quickly.  If you see a tree growing from a wall or in a farmyard, it’s very likely to be an Elder.

Identification: Leaves

Elder leaves are compound, that is made of lots of leaflets (for more on leaf shape, check out my blog).  In this case, there are 5 to 7 leaflets, with one terminal leaflet.  Leaflets are opposite each other.  Although the leaves have a relatively long stalk, each individual leaflet lies close to the stem.  Each leaflet is 3 to 9 cm long.

Elder leaf and pencil study

The leaves of Elder are oval and a bright pale green.  They’re toothed along the margins. (Click here for my blog on leaf veins and margins).

Elder branch with two compound leaves (each made of five leaflets)

The venation of the leaves isn’t very obvious, and is rather similar to that of lots of other oval leaves.  Side veins branch from the central mid-rib, and are mostly opposite one another.

Elder leaves

Some people think Elder leaves smell nasty, and although they do let off a pungent odour when bruised, I wouldn’t call it unpleasant.

Identification: Flowers

The creamy froth of elder flowers is instantly recognizable, by smell as well as by sight.  The smell is a heady perfume, and one of my favourite scents of summer.

Flowers cover the tree or shrub, borne in flat-headed umbels. Each umbel is 10 to 20 cm across; individual flowers are 5mm across.  Looking into the branching structure, you can see there are five main rays to each umbel.

Sketchbook study figuring out flower growth pattern

The flowers are closely packed, and have cream or white petals.  Anthers are a creamy colour too.  Each individual flower has five rounded petals, and 5 stamens.  Anthers protrude beyond the petals, helping the umbel look even frothier.

Small flies pollinate the flowers, which may explain why the scent of the blossom is so heady and heavy.  Elderflowers appear in May or June and will be in flower for 4 to 6 weeks.

Individual elder flowers

Identification: Fruit

Elderberries are shiny and black when fully ripe.  The branches they’re borne on are frequently flushed dark magenta.  Unripe berries are crimson.  Each berry is square-ish, and very juicy.

Sketchbook study of elder berries

It’s really common to see elder berries in partial umbels – lots of the berries will have fallen off or been eaten; the remainders look scruffy because of the empty stalks along side them.  They last well into late autumn, eventually shrivelling or falling in the frosts.

Working on an elderberry illustration

The berries are very rich in vitamin A and C and provide a vital food supply for birds and small mammals.  However, they are also quite sour, and both leaves and berries are rich in Hydrogen cyanide.  This can cause vomiting in people.  For a fascinating look at poisons in our everyday foods, check out this BBC Future article I stumbled on.

Identification: Bark

The bark of an elder tree is thick, smooth and corky; deep ridges develop with age. The branches are smooth, with pithy insides.  This pith can be removed to leave a hollow twig, and elder wood has been used for centuries to make whistles and musical instruments.

Twigs have obvious lenticels and are thick and greyish, or greenish.

The jelly ear fungus Auricularia judae is a brownish jelly-like fungus that often grows on elder and I use it as another way to identify the species.

Similar species

Some other tree species also have frothy white blossoms.  The Rowan does, but the flowers are far less scented, and the tree rarely grows as a shrub.  Guelder rose also has panicles of white flowers, but these are much larger blossoms and the leaves are a totally different shape.  The berries are orange and scarlet, never black.  However, as Guelder rose also forms a shrub, it’s worth a mention.

Guelder rose Viburnum opulus

Ash Fraxinus excelsior, Walnut Juglans regia, and Rowan Sorbus aucuparia  also have compound leaves, but the walnut leaves are arranged in an alternate pattern.  Ash leaves have more obvious veins and feel less “flat” than elder.  Rowan leaves are smaller and sharper.  All have toothed margins, but with a little experience you’ll notice differences between the shape and sharpness of the teeth.

Ash twig and leaves Fraxinus excelsior

History: Folklore

Like Hawthorn and Rowan, Elder is alive with folklore and history.  It’s interesting that all three of these trees produce highly visible white blossoms and distinctive colourful berries.  I guess they were easily recognized, common, and therefore very much in people’s awareness for millenia.

Elder has long been associated with “the little people”, and those who believe in faery folk will be very familiar with it.  If you were lucky, you might see the Queen of the Fairies passing by under an elder on Midsummer eve.  Lots of references advise against sleeping under an elder; this also relates to belief in other-worldly peoples.

Elder shrub

If you had to chop down an elder tree, you were supposed to ask permission from the Elder mother, a female spirit that inhabited the tree.

It was seen as a protective tree, and would be planted near houses and dairies.  Cheese cloths would be hung to dry on elder branches, and it was thought to prevent the milk form turning.  Interestingly, the elder leaves do repel flies, so these beliefs could have contributed to the hygiene of the dairy.  Herdsmen would carry elder switches.

Elder berries and leaves

However, there was a darker side.  A child beaten with an elder stick would never grow.  Judas Iscariot was said to have hung himself from an elder tree, and criminals were crowned with elder as a symbol of their shame.  Again on a Christian theme, there was a suggestion that the cross on which Jesus was crucified was elder wood.  It was not to be brought into the house, and if you burnt it you were sure to see the devil.  Witches could transform themselves into Elder.

The rule of thumb was to treat the elder with a healthy dose of respect.  And caution.

History: Food

The flowers of the elder can be used to make a lovely scented champagne, or fried as fritters.

Once heated, the berries can be reduced into deliciously strong-flavoured jams and jellies and syrups.

Illustrating elder berries

Flowers and berries are made into drinks and cordials.  Until 1900 you could buy spiced elderberry wine in the streets of London.

The most famous elder drink is the spirit Sambucca, made from elder berries and aniseed.  Traditionally, this is presented with one coffee bean and is set on fire as it’s served.

History: Medicine

Most parts of the elder have been used for medicine.  There’s some suggestion that even the ancient Egyptians used elderberries medicinally.  The medieval herbalist John Evelyn described elder as, “a kind of Catholicon against all Infirmities whatever”.

Berries are high in vitamins C and A, and (once you’ve destroyed the hydrogen cyanide by heating) are used to cure a plethora of conditions.  Sore-throats, coughs, respiratory problems – all were treated with elderberry syrup or “rob”.  They’re also a laxative, and diuretic.

The bark is a strong purgative.  Leaves can be crushed into poultices that are applied to bruises, sprains, and chill-blains.

Flowers are dried into tea and used to treat colds.  You can also wash your face in water soaked with elderflower to preserve your youthful looks.  Even today, elderflower is used in eye and skin lotions.  Some say that if you soak elderflower in cold water it helps relieve symptoms of hay-fever.

Adele Nozedar, whose books I illustrate, foraging for elderberries

Elder is rich in anthocyanins and antioxidants, both of which are known to boost the immune system.

Uses

There is a lot of pith in elder branches, which means when you hollow them out they make good musical instruments.  Children made small toys and penny whistles from elder wood.  The wood was also used to make pipes, pea-shooters and bellows.  Small spoons, and combs were sometimes made from elder wood.

The pith was used as a blotter, and to hold botanical specimens whilst they were being prepared for microscope slides or botanical sections.

Elder berries and leaves

Harder mature elder wood was sometimes made into cogs for machines.

The leaves contain natural fly repellent which probably explains why they were so often planted near houses and stables.

Finally, the elder is really useful as it produces a whole variety of different dyes.  The leaves give a green hue, flowers produce a lilac colour.  The berries make for deep and fade-resistant black and purples.  And even the bark was used to make black dye, used either for dying wool or ones hair.  The highly esteemed Harris tweed used elder to dye its’ materials, even though elder trees are less common in northern Scotland than in the rest of the UK.

Elder: Wildlife

The berries are eaten by birds and mammals, and the leaves are food for the Buff ermine, dot, White-spotted pug, and Swallow-tail moth caterpillars.  Insects drink the nectar from the flowers.  Voles and dormice eat flowers and berries.

Field vole Microtus agrestis

Threats

Luckily, not too many things threaten this amazing tree.  Red spider mites can suck the sap of the tree, and blackfly damage leaves.

Conclusion

Elder is an extraordinarily adaptable plant.  It’s been associated with Jesus, witches and fairies.  It can bring good or bad luck.  Berries are poisonous but can be made into delicious syrups.  The flowers can be eaten, used as a beauty treatment, or used against colds.  Elder wood makes toys, cogs, and instruments.  Personally, what I love most about elder is the smell when the flowers are out.  The buzzing of flies, the heavy scent in the air, and the rustle of leaves in a gentle breeze.  It sums up summer for me.

Jersey Post Fruits and Berries stamp issue copyright Jersey Post 2019

Online sources for this blog include websites of The Woodland Trust, Trees for life, and Naturespot.  Book references for this blog include Adele Nozedar’s The Tree Forager, the excellent The Greenwood Trees by Christina Hart-Davies, and the Reader’s Digest “The Field Guide to the Trees and Shrubs of Britain” (out of print but commonly available second-hand).

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