The tree trail was a project undertaken by Urban Green in collaboration with MCC whereby selected trees were given labels with QR codes which could be read on smartphones, giving information about the relevant each tree.
Here’s a link to the website that was created:-
Hop Hornbeam Ostrya carpinifolia
The hop hornbeam is quite similar to our native hornbeam Carpinus betulina, but is thought to have been first introduced from Europe about 300 years ago, and remains quite unusual in this country. Its common name arises from its distinctive feather-like fruits which hang in clusters of nutlets and droop downwards with the appearance of hop flowers. Each hanging hop-like cluster brings to mind traditional ale and the warmth of the public house on a winter’s walk.
Elsewhere, in Northern Italy, the hop hornbeam is known to be a host for prized white truffles. They are much rarer than other types of truffles as they are impossible to cultivate, making them only available in the wild. These special mushrooms, highly prized for their alluring fragrance and flavour, colonise the roots of trees and establish a closely harmonised relationship.
European Beech Fagus sylvatica
If the oak is the king of our English trees, then the beech is the queen. In contrast to the rugged oak, the beech has smooth, silver-grey bark and is topped by a huge, domed crown with leaves that go through a range of colours every year: lime green in spring turning to dark green in the summer and gold or bright yellow in autumn. Beech nuts, produced inside small brown, spiky husks and called mast, are small but edible and were used as a foodstuff by stone age man. However, they are very bitter and best left for squirrels and other wildlife.
Columnaris Hornbeam Carpinus betulina ‘Columnaris’
This magnificent tree is an example of the rare columnaris variant of the Common or European hornbeam. The latter are deciduous trees native to much of Europe and western Asia and are notably the dominant species in Epping Forest, the former Royal Forest just outside London. Their common name combines “horn”, meaning “hard”, with “beam”, which is the Old English word for “tree”. They are also sometimes called yoke elms, since their wood was used to make “yokes” to allow oxen to pull carts or the plough, although it is too hard to be easily worked for most other purposes. Finally, “columaris variant” means the tree is a “cultivar”, artificially bred to have the branching habit and densely globular shape exhibited by old trees like ours.
Tulip Tree Liriodendron tulipifera
The tulip tree is a thing of imposing beauty, towering into the sky with its handsome leaves and tulip shaped, buttery yellow flowers. A native of Eastern North America, it is a major honey plant there, enticing bees into its rich, nectar filled flowers. The honey is well regarded by bakers due to its strong taste. Its wood is used in furniture making and in former times, native Americans and early settlers carved their famous dug-out canoes out of its light and buoyant trunk. The tree has been cultivated in this country since before 1688, when one was already growing in the garden of the Bishop of London’s palace in Lambeth.
Mt. Fuji Cherry Prunus Shirotae
Loveliest of trees, the cherry now Is hung with bloom along the bough, And stands along the woodland ride Wearing white for Eastertide A.E.Housman 1896
Of the many varieties of cherry trees, none is more beautiful than Prunus Shirotae (Mt. Fuji Cherry), which derives its popular name because its blossom reminds Japanese people of snow lying on the mountains around Mt. Fuji. Cherry blossom (Sakura) is deeply embedded in Japanese culture and shares its name Sakura with its the heroine of an ancient legend of love and constancy, It is celebrated in song and poetry, especially those concise verse triplets, haiku.
Here is one invoking rival beauty spots in 17th century Tokyo:- A cloud of cherry blossoms;
The temple bell－
Is it Ueno, is it Asakusa? Basho Matsuo (1644-1694)
Snake Bark Maple Acer rufinerve
As part of the snake bark maple group, Acer Rufinerve is native to the mountain forests of Japan. The Japanese connection with maple trees is deeply cultural. Known as kaede or frog’s hands in English, it is easy to understand this analogy when seeing its webbed leaves dripping in the Manchester rain. In Japanese culture its grain is used to add texture to paintings and links the background and subject matter together.
And, of course, the beauty of the maple tree has been written in haiku:
“Gnarled twisted branches,
brought together at the trunk
resembling friendship.”
Sweet Chestnut Castanea sativa
The sweet chestnut is a lofty native of Southern Europe and is easily recognised by the very distinctive spiral ridges on its trunk and by its long thin leaves with a serrated edge. In September, it is covered in innumerable green spherical seed pods, with many prickly spikes. These fall to the ground in October, splitting open to reveal the rich brown chestnuts within. A large tree like ours can produce tens of kilos of nuts each year, to be collected and consumed by squirrels and human visitors alike. Here we think of roast chestnuts and using them to stuff the traditional Christmas turkey. Other countries have richer traditions, which include the sweet marrons glacés (candied chestnuts) from northern Italy and southern France, and a Chinese favourite, chicken with chestnuts, from Shanghai.
This majestic tree is native to the Western Himalayas, where it typically grows at dizzying heights of 5,000–10,000 ft. It is the national tree of Pakistan and is revered by Hindus, the name deodar being derived from a Sanskrit word meaning “wood of the gods”. First introduced to Britain in 1831, it differs from the other cedars commonly grown here – Cedars of Lebanon and Atlantic Cedars – by its weeping habit and drooping leading shoots. A conifer, it has attractive green barrel-like cones which sit upright on top of the branches before turning brown in winter.
Imagine going back 65 million years and seeing the prehistoric creatures roaming the primeval landscape. Ginkgo biloba is a living fossil dating back to times before the dinosaurs. To survive so long, you have to be tough, and six trees were among the few living things that survived the atomic bomb blast at Hiroshima in 1945. They are still there. Take a close look at its leaves. They are highly unusual and resemble those of the maidenhair fern, giving rise to the old popular name “maidenhair tree.” A native of China, where it was traditionally planted in temple gardens, the tree is now prized in parks around the world for its autumn colour, when the leaves turn a deep saffron yellow.