Trees of the Park

[David Cemlyn]

The guide to the trees of the park is now up and running. Select "trees" above to view.

[admin]

FANTASTIC!!

[Simon Randolph]

Well done for making this available to all, David. Can I just let you know that there is a misidentified/wrongly named tree in the guide. This is tree 48 which is not Fraxinus ornus (Manna Ash or Flowering Ash) but a Common Walnut (Juglans regia) like tree 55.

Simon

[David Cemlyn]

Thanks. It is possible that the Council data base is wrong because this is where I got the information. I did some spot checks but did not check every tree. I will investigate.. I am also waiting for the name of the tree that has replaced the cedar. Have you checked all the trees.? Are there other mistakes do you think.?

[Des Bowring]

'I am also waiting for the name of the tree that has replaced the cedar'.

I'm disappointed that we have to wait for a name. Can't we just call it George?

[Simon Randolph]

As all cedars come from various areas of the Middle East, perhaps we ought to go for something more appropriate than 'George'. How about Ishtar or Ashur?

[Simon Randolph]

I think Jo Corke has been informed by someone from the parks dept. that the replacement is a Cedar of Lebanon but you had better check with her. I have only come across one other slight mistake which I gave details of in a comment to a photo of tree 72 which I put on the website back in November. I have copied this comment below:


This is an impressively large tree towards the centre of the Park. Its massive buttressed trunk would not look out of place in a tropical rain forest! In David Cemlyn's Guide to the Trees of St Andrews Park, this tree is identified as a Black Poplar (Populus nigra 'ITALICA'). The common name for this form of the Black Poplar is the Lombardy Poplar. However, our local tree expert, Tony Tichen has corrected this identification. What we have is Populus nigra 'PLANTIERENSIS'. - The following information is taken verbatim from the entry on Black Poplar in Wikipedia:

"The Plantierensis group consists of clones derived by crossing 'Italica' with P. nigra ssp betulifolia at the Plantières Nursery near Metz in France in 1884; they are similar to 'Italica' (and often mistaken for it) but with a slightly broader crown, and better adapted to the cool, humid climate of northwest Europe, where the true Lombardy poplar does not grow well. Both male and female clones are grown. This is the tree most commonly grown in Great Britain and Ireland as 'Lombardy poplar' ".

So, if you are not even more confused than you were, our tree is not a true Lombardy Poplar (P. nigra 'ITALICA') but P. nigra PLANTIERENSIS which is still (mistakenly) referred to as the 'Lombardy' Poplar!!