This is a reproduction of a map drawn by the Friends of Blundells Copse. It was part of a competition when the original planting programme was undertaken. You had to say which trees corresponded to the numbers on the map. It might still be fun to do, but there are no prizes now!

 

The Trees

Crack Willow - tall tree, deeply grooved bark, common by water, often with several trunks rising from a single base and often cracked apart, leaving fallen trunks.

Oak - large stocky tree, preferring drier ground. One of our commonest trees in Britain and the best for supporting other wildlife, especially insects and birds.

Wych Elm - small, often more of a shrub than a tree. If it grows too big it is susceptible to Dutch Elm Disease (like its big brother the English Elm). Lopsided leaves distinctive.

Silver Birch - large tree, here at least (on heathland, where it is very common, it is often much more slender). Very distinctive white bark.

Blackthorn - a thorny shrub found on the open edge of the Copse, with small leaves and black twigs. The fruits are the well known blueblack sloe berries.

Hawthorn - another prickly one. A small tree found in hedges as well as out in the open and in woods (as here). Gnarled bark and red berries.

Cherry - medium large tree, the bark having many deep horizontal score marks. Unlike its domesticated cousin, the fruits are usually too bitter to eat.

Ornamental Cherry - here a small tree, with distinctive yellow leaves. Not a native species, and found only up at one end of the wood where some planting has taken place in the past.

Crab Apple - medium sized tree, with miniature versions of apples as the fruit, usually too sour to eat. Look out for them on the ground below the tree.

Alder - medium sized and, like the Crack Willow, common by water (so look out for both of them by the stream). Dark brown bark and clusters of small pine-cone like seeds.

Aspen - small / medium sized tree with rounded leaves. Not particularly common in Berkshire, but found throughout the British Isles. A member of the Poplar family.

Elder - a woody shrub, common in waste places, wood edges and hedges. Here it's growing rather on its own, but maybe there will be a hedge here one day?

Norway Maple - like the ornamental cherry (with which it grows), this is an introduced species, here small tree, and also with vivid yellow leaves.

Hazel - a common shrub found throughout the Copse, and often in coppiced form. This results in many straight (ish) stems arising from a single base, which were formerely used for hurdles, etc. Also forms an excellent habitat for wildlife.

Beech - often a large tree, but here in small coppiced form, (like the Hazel, with many stems arising from a single base). Common, but not in Blundells Copse (it really prefers chalky soils).

Holly - small tree, with characteristic waxy, prickly leaves and clusters of red berries (which are found only on the female holly trees).

Ash - tall tree, common in Blundells Copse and one of the commonest species in Britain. The seeds are formed into clusters of 'keys'.

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