Tree of the week!

The pictures show just one of the spectacular displays that trees are putting on at the moment. It’s not a cherry, as you might think at first glance, but is in fact an apple.
This is Malus hupehensis, and is also known as the Tea or Hupeh Crab Apple. It is a Chinese tree, with quite an unruly and scruffy crown, but with masses of bright red apples in the autumn.

After lunch we were taken to see some Monterey Pines (Pinus radiata), which Aaron felt might be interesting and useful for the students to see- and he was quite right!!

Initially we were greeted by the sight of a lot of Honey Fungus growing around the base, but Sam Whiffin spotted the growth in the middle, and Emma Gilmartin the fungal bodies to the left.

The one on the left is Phaeolus schweinitzii, or Dyers Mazegill, and the one on the right is Sparassis crispa called the Cauliflower fungus for obvious reasons. By coincidence, I found another specimen much younger, and in better condition the following day, on another Pinus radiata and I have included the picture on the right- it really does look like a cauliflower!

Neither of them is a particularly welcome site, as both are parasites of trees, and both cause degradation of the wood that can lead to brittle fracture of the stem base.

They are certainly going to give Aaron some pause for thought!

The theme of the day really was about trees and people, interaction and management, and we were looking at such diverse things as Ash Dieback and the way in which The National Trust have been managing the different habitats at Saltram. There is Parkland, Wood Pasture and Woodland, and all of them have different management needs, alongside making them accessible for people.

I have been a Parish Tree Warden for about 10 years, we have a role to play in our communities, keeping an eye on trees, and also making the community aware of what it has, or in the case of Ash Dieback, what it is going to lose. We will have to prepare ourselves for this devastating loss, and perhaps think of other species that we can plant around the parish to replace the Ash once they have gone. I heard last week, that there has been a recorded case in East Devon, not far from Exeter, so it is now very close, and we can no longer pretend it isn’t going to get to us- it just has.

In the afternoon  Jon persuaded me  to give a couple of short talks on ivy in trees and management of old and hollow trees from a tree surgeons perspective- so much for a day sat at the back just listening for once!

The tree Council website is full of interesting stuff and information and is at:
http://www.treecouncil.org.uk