Trees Gallery - The Yorkshire Arboretum -page 8

Pinus tabuliformis

Chinese pine

A native of N China and N Korea, growing up to 30m in a conical shape, though flat-topped when mature - hence tabuliformis - "table shaped". THe wood is used for construction, its resin provides turpentine, its needles are used to make tea, and the bark is a source of tannin.

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Populus balsamifera ?

Aspen

There is some uncertainty about a group of large poplars, in area 29B. On the "Meet the Trees" day on which the photos were taken, arboretum director John Grimshaw was unsure that the tag on the trees was correct, suggesting it may be the balsam poplar and not p. sieboldii as the tag showed. Aspens are a fast-growing deciduous tree that can reach a height of up to 20 metres. The leaves are green on the upper side and silver underneath. They have a round shape with slightly jagged edges. They are dioecious individual flowers are either male or female, but only one sex is to be found on any one plant . The leaves tremble in the wind, and a strong scent of balsam was very evident. To complicate identification further some sources, but not all, equate p.sieboldii to p. tremula.

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Pinus thunbergii

Japanese black pine

A native of Japan, black pines can reach 40m in the wild. Because of its resistance to pollution and salt, it is a popular horticultural tree. In Japan it is widely used as a garden tree both trained as Niwaki 'garden trees' in Japanese, the technique of niwaki is more about what to do with a tree than the tree itself and untrained growing as an overstorey tree. The trunks and branches are trained from a young age to be elegant and interesting to view. It is one of the classic bonsai subjects, requiring great patience over many years to train properly

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Prunus avium

Wild cherry

A native, mature trees can grow to 30m and live for up to 60 years. The shiny bark is a deep reddish-brown with prominent cream-coloured horizontal lines called lenticels. The second part of its botanical name – avium – refers to birds which play a role in the tree’s propagation by eating the cherries and dispersing the seed. In Scotland, cherry is sometimes referred to as ‘gean’. These days, cherry wood is used to make decorative veneers and furniture, as well as turned items. The wood is hard, strong and honey-coloured, and can be polished to a good, shiny brown. The wood burns well and produces a sweetly scented smoke, similar to the scent of its flowers. [Woodland Trust]

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Prunus Diane ?

Cherry

Not sure of this one, but I think it is the cherry cultivar, p. 'Diane'. Selected and grown by M. André Charlier at the Arboretum Rond Chêne in E. Belgium, named after Diane van Strydonck (de Belder), daughter of Robert and Jelena de Belder of Hemelrijk and Kalmtout fame. It is of the serrulata type.

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Prunus itosakura stellata

Wild spring cherry

P. itosakura is a wild species of cherry tree native to Japan, which has spawned a multitude of cultivars over a thousand years of Japanese arboriculture. The species includes weeping cherry, autumn cherry, and winter-flowering cherry. Slow growing but capable of great age, with examples such as Jindai-zakura, 2,000 years old, Usuzumi-zakura, 1,500 years old, and Daigo sakura, 1,000 years old.

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Prunus jamasakura

Hill cherry

A deciduous tree native to Japan, growing to 20–25m. It has large flowers suitable for cherry blossom viewing (hanami). These are followed by dark, purplish-red fruit, about 6mm in diameter containing one large seed. Cyanide is present in low quantities in the seed. The flowers are pickled in salt and consumed in tea or with rice gruel.

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Prunus kursar

Cherry blossom tree

A small spreading flowering cherry growing to perhaps only 3 x 3m in 20 years, it flowers early in the season - this photo is taken in March. The reddish - bronze, young foliage turns to mid-green and then develops red and gold tones in the autumn.

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Prunus matsumae ezonishiki

Japanese cherry

One of the most recent Matsumae selections, a cross between p. Ito-kukuri and a double-flowered, unnamed, sato-zakura the Japanese name for domestic flowering cherries . The late-season, medium-sized, semi-double pink flowers open from deep-pink buds and the young foliage is bronze. Selected and raised by Mr Masatoshi Asari a flowering cherry specialist and breeder in the Matsumae region of Hokkaido. b.1931, he is responsible for over 100 cultivars. . in Matsumae at the southern tip of Hokkaido.