Читать книгу The Double Dangerous Book for Boys - Conn Iggulden - Страница 22

GREAT BRITISH TREES

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There is a chapter on trees in the original Dangerous Book, but despite astonishing variety, we managed to include only eight: the oak, the lime, the hawthorn, the silver birch, the beech, the horse chestnut, the sycamore and the ash. They are good ones, but space prevented the inclusion of more – something we can remedy with another six here, bringing the total to fourteen. With thanks to the Woodland Trust, a charity that protects ancient woodland and plants new ones.

YEW

Taxus baccata

Evergreen and extremely long-lived, with dense foliage that can be shaped into a hedge. Highly poisonous and traditionally believed to ward off evil spirits, which is one reason why they are often planted in churchyards. Ancient yews are slightly eerie to encounter. The most famous use of their wood is in the longbows of English and Welsh archers, so they have a powerful historical association.

WILLOW

Not only are cricket bats, baskets, fences and chairs made from flexible willow, but its bark contains salicylic acid, which is better known as aspirin. It was the world’s first painkiller and anti-fever agent. For that alone, it would be a wonder – but also, see cricket bats. The two most common varieties are the crack willow (Salix fragilis), which has twigs that break with a crack sound, and the white willow (Salix alba), which has pale undersided leaves and more flexible twigs. Usually found near water.

Müller/McPhoto/Alamy Stock Photo; Inset. Florapix/Alamy Stock Photo

LONDON PLANE

Worth including here as it is found in every London park and places such as Berkeley Square, though few other places. It is not a native breed, but a hybrid of the Oriental plane (Platanus orientalis) and the American plane (Platanus occidentalis) – imported in the 16th and 17th centuries respectively. Distinctive speckled bark. Planted in huge numbers in the 19th century to help soak up pollution. Sometimes called the ‘lungs’ of London.

Mark Zytynski/Alamy Stock Photo; Inset. Manor Photography/Alamy Stock Photo

ROWAN

Sorbus aucuparia

Known to the Greeks and sacred to the druids, this ancient British tree hangs heavy with red berries when all else has gone to winter. The berries are inedible in large quantities to humans, but loved by birds. The trees have been associated with protection and magic for thousands of years. They were often planted near houses to keep witches away. One friend of ours has rowan trees on three sides of his house, but cannot prevent his aunties getting in through the front door.

Geoff Smith/Alamy Stock Photo; Inset. FLPA/Alamy Stock Photo

SCOTS PINE

Pinus sylvestris

Ancient pine with blue-green needles. Native to Scotland and found mainly in the Highlands. Adopted as the official tree of Scotland in 2014, they can grow to 120ft tall (36m). They are home to red squirrels, wildcats, pine martens, owls and capercaillies – the largest member of the grouse family. As with oaks, each mature tree is a village.

Arterra Picture Library/Alamy Stock Photo; Inset. Rootstock/Shutterstock.com

HORNBEAM

Carpinus betulus

An ancient hardwood tree, native to south-east England. The name means ‘hard tree’. Looks similar to beech, as the bark is smooth and grey, though hornbeam leaves are double-toothed, spikier, with much more pronounced ridges. Grows surprisingly quickly for such a hard wood, and so densely it also makes a good hedge, though unlike a beech hedge, it loses all leaves in winter.

hornbeam

Mark Zytynski/Alamy Stock Photo

hornbeam leaves

Nic Murray/Alamy Stock Photo

beech (left), hornbeam (right)

Courtesy of the author