As such, trees are invaluable both to our environment and for human well-being. As well as providing homes and food for a wide range of wildlife, they also provide us with oxygen and clean air, and they help to conserve water and stabilise the surrounding soil. Main image: Close-up of a tree trunk.Trees are a vital part of our ecosystems and essential to all life. Scots pine tree bark is pinkish-red with shallow grooves, deeper with age the bark cracks into small plates or scales. Scots pine tree bark ( Pinus sylvestris) Scots pine bark. © Felicity Rose Coleĭowny birch tree bark is whitish with grey smudges and black grooves, but usually duller than silver birch. © Felicity Rose Cole Downy birch tree bark ( Betula pubescens) Downy birch bark. With age, turns silver-white, with large black lenticel grooves and bosses. Silver birch tree bark is shiny and purple-chestnut in saplings. Silver birch tree bark ( Betula pendula) Silver birch bark. Often carved with graffiti (not good for the tree). © Felicity Rose Coleīeech tree bark is smooth and grey, with bosses and lumps as tree ages. Beech tree bark ( Fagus sylvatica) Beech bark. Similar to cultivated poplars, but with arched, decurved branches. © Felicity Rose Coleīlack polar tree bark has deep fissures and large bosses when mature. Black poplar tree bark ( Populus nigra) Black poplar bark. © Felicity Rose ColeĬrack willow tree bark is brown and crisscrossed with deep ridges twigs olive-green and brittle. © Felicity Rose Cole Crack willow tree bark ( Salix fragilis) Crack willow bark. Great spotted woodpeckers drill holes to suck sap. Small-leaved lime tree bark is smooth and grey in saplings more grooved with age. Small-leaved lime tree bark ( Tilia cordata) Small leaved lime bark. How to make elderflower cordial, on the BBC Countryfile Magazine website.© Felicity Rose Coleĭiscover foraging recipes using elderflowers: This large shrub usually has some leafy buds in winter. © Felicity Rose ColeĮlder tree bark is greyish-brown, crossed with deep, corky ridges. © Felicity Rose Cole Elder tree bark ( Sambucus nigra) Elder bark. © Felicity Rose ColeĪspen tree bark is pale grey or off-white, with dark, diamond-shaped lenticels that fuse into channels as the tree ages. Aspen tree bark ( Populus tremula) Aspen bark. Old trees become craggy, with regular deep grooves, wider at base. Pedunculate oak tree bark is grey-brown, but often dusted in algae. Felicity Rose Cole Pedunculate oak tree bark ( Quercus robur) Pedunculate oak bark. Wild cherry tree bark is shiny and maroon, with ‘tiger’ stripes often also deep grooves and lenticel strips. © Felicity Rose Cole Wild cherry tree bark ( Prunus avium) Wild cherry bark. With age, the bark develops shallow grooves, deep fissures and bosses. © Felicity Rose ColeĪsh tree bark is smooth and pale grey in saplings. Ash tree bark ( Fraxinus excelsior) Ash bark. The stringy bast of lime trees was once used for rope-making. (Cut a wine-bottle cork in half and you’ll see the pores as long passages.)īark’s inner layer, called bast, contains conductive tissue that transports food around the tree. These are breathing pores and are most obvious on aspen and birch. It is made up of many layers, including the outer layer, or periderm, which often has dots or marks known as lenticels. An ash copse transforms into a ghost-wood as the pallid trunks reflect waning winter light.īut though we may be dazzled by bark’s form, its function is to protect the tree. When low winter sun glances off the trunks of Scots pines, it creates foxy flares that contrast with the blue-green foliage, and it burnishes the shiny bark of wild cherries to a rich maroon. Celebrate the diversity of our trees by taking a closer look at the bark of a dozen, mostly common, native species.
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