Year 2 Plants blog: Buxus sempervirens; ' Common Box'

This is an evergreen shrub or small tree that is native to western and southern Europe, northwest Africa and southern England.

 The shrub is slow growing and only grows to 1 to 9 meters tall and grows best in chalk and limestone soil. The plant produces small boring yellow/green flowers in the winter months and small round fruit.

It has dark green tightly packed leaves which produce a strong scented smell.

These box hedges were found in Platfeilds Park, in a secluded part of the park. Creating a quiet seating area which is often used by couples and people reading the papers.

The box shrub is used within British gardens as a ornamental plant often as boarders to flower beds and topiary.

Prunus spinosa; 'Blackthorn'

Blackthorn is a large, sprawling, deciduous shrub that is found in all the hedgerows within Great Britain. It is often used as a barrier along field boundaries to protect or prevent animals wandering due to its sharp thorns that grow in abundance on its branches. This plant will grow almost anywhere and is very hardy, it is mainly found growing in hedgerows .

The shrub has very small dark green leaves and flowers in early spring.It is often the first plant to flower at this time of the year. It produces beautiful white flowers which attract many types of insects.Many animals and birds use this shrub for protection and nesting due to its dense follage.

The shrub produces black/purple round berries which ripen in the Autumn months. These are commonly known as sloe berries they have a very bitter taste but are picked to produce sloe gin. 

This Blackthorn was found on the edge of Longford Park, it was next to someone’s back garden and tangled up with a holly bush.

Sambucus nigra; 'Elder'

The Elder is a scruffy-looking shrub which can be found growing anywhere especially in woodlands, hedgerows ,on waste ground and railway embankments.
This species will grow well in most soil types and spreads rapidly.
 The elderberry has used for centuries for medicinal properties and is used to produce cordials, wines and teas. This is now so popular that orchards have been planted to supply the fruit.

Elder is a shrub or smallish tree producing clusters of tiny, white, scented flowers in May to July. After flowering, the dark purple berries hang in large clumps on the branches.It flowers attract insects and its berries provide an important food source for birds such as blackbirds and thrushes.

Elder provides forage for wild animals and provides a nesting habitat for a variety of birds. 

This Elder was found in a ditch in Ryebank Fields, it was in an areas which is regularly very damp and went, it was covered by nettles and brambles covering the ground plane.

Acer campestre; 'Maple'

 This Is Britain's only native maple tree, it is small in size and grows relatively slow compared to other trees. This tree can grow up to 26 meters high; It displays brightly coloured amber-yellow foliage in the autumn months.

It grows better in the south of England in the chalk and limestone soils these trees are rarely seen in Wales and the north.

This tree is widely grown as an ornamental tree in parks and large gardens. The wood is hard and strong used for furniture, flooring, wood turning and musical instruments. When you cut into the truck of the tree many knots are visible which form a distinctive pattern these can often be seen in wood panels and furniture.

The tree has seeds that have wings that help them to float away from the tree and land a distance from the tree. These are often described as ‘helicopters’ .These seeds are often mistaken for the sycamore's seeds they are different as they are set  angle while the field maple's are in a straight line.

The field maple's brightly coloured amber-yellow autumn leaves mark it out as one of the most striking of Britain's trees. 

This Young specimen was found in Chorlton Park, it was in shade as it was beneath large more matures trees and one held was facing a walled garden.

Prunus avium; 'Wild Cherry'

The Wild Cherry is a species of Cherry, native to Europe and western Asia (also known as the Sweet Cherry). This tree is deciduous , grows to 9m to 15m tall and lives for 200 years. This tree is found in all woods and hedgerows throughout Great Britian except Northern Scotland.It grows best in sunny positions and prefers fertile soils. This tree can been seen growing wild in Europe.

This tree grows best on clay soils over chalk or limestone because of this it can be found in the Chilterns, the Cotswolds, the Wiltshire Downs and parts of Sussex. The leaves of the wild cherry are a pointed oval shape about 10cm in length with serrated edges. The leaves are bright green in spring and summer and turn bright shades of yellow and red in the autumn months .

The  bark is very colourful and adds to the attraction of the tree it is shiny brown and peels away in horizontal strips.

The cherry tree produces edible fruit, the wild cherry has been a favourite of humans since at least the Bronze Age. They also provide food for a variety of birds within the summer months. The tree is also grown for its timber. The tree is popular with gardeners because of its beautiful display of white/pink blossom in the spring. This tree can be seen growing wild throughout in Europe.

Tilia x europaea; 'Common Lime'

This tree was originally imported from the Netherlands in the 17^th and 18^th centuries. At this time in history they were used to line streets and roads you can still see evidence of this today in the lime avenues along the roads. Lime trees were also planted in the grounds and gardens of stately homes across Great Britain.

The tree grows to 40 meters in height, if not pruned regularly they become difficult to manage and keep under control especially within the urban setting.

 The leaves are in the shape of a heart and are about 10 cm long. The greenish yellow flowers appear in early July and smell very sweet and sickly. This attracts all species of bees, moths and insects who are attracted to the nectar.

Insects also feed on the leaves of these trees especially Aphids which can cause undigested juice of the leaves to fall on the cars and pavements below making the cars and pavements sticky and black is can cause problems especially in the urban setting.

This mature common lime was found in a church, with very little growth under this tree as it was very large and dominating the light available on the ground.

Populus nigra; Black Poplar

Black poplar is one of Britain’s rarest native timber trees which are generally found alongside water courses in the UK. These Robust deciduous trees grow up to 35 meters tall with a 20 meter wide rounded crown.

Black poplar can also be found in Europe, North Africa and in central Australia.

Black poplar trees can live up to 250 years and with some approaching 300 years.

The black poplar has a deeply furrowed dark grey bark and with a diameter of the trunk at around 250 cm

The dark green long acuminate leaves are in triangular in shape and when looked at closely are obvious to be a triangular shape.

This poplar was found in Ryebank Park in a mown field, which is unusual as the black poplar is oftern in wetter conditions.

Acer pseudoplatanus; 'Sycamore'

 The sycamore tree is native to central and southern Europe. The sycamore is now grown across Great Britain and thought to have been introduced from Europe in the 15^th or 16^th century. It was introduced to Britain, and planted in parks and walkways where it was used to provide shade for pedestrians.

This tree will grow best in full or part shade it is an extremely robust species and will grow almost anywhere including city parks, and by the coast where trees usually grow smaller and tend not to do very well.It grows best in moist but well drained soil. Chalk, Clay, Sand or Loam suits the species best.

The tree grows up to 35m in height; this tree can grow very wide and almost appears round in shape.It produces bark that is grey and looks like silver amour which is made up of rectangular patches. When these patches peel off they expose bright orange patches which cause a patchwork effect on the trunk. The tree has dark green five-lobed leaves which turn a deep golden-yellow colour in autumn. 

The tree flowers in April after the leaves first appear in the spring. The tree produces seeds that ripen in autumn. These seeds spiral down from the branches very slowly to improve the chances that they will float away from the parent tree in the wind.

The seeds are known to most people as 'helicopters' because of the way that they fall to the ground and are shaped like wings.

The sycamore tree can live up to around 500 years old. This tree grows very quickly and if not controlled can cause problems to other species by causing too much shade and not allowing other plants and trees to thrive.
These trees produce a mucus-like slime when the leaves decompose on the ground which often cause slimy ,sticky and dangerous footpaths.
At the same time these trees provide a very good source of insect food (aphids) for birds such as house martens which helps encourage and maintain wildlife to urban areas.