TREES OF IRELAND PROJECT

BY

COMMON TREES OF IRELAND

With Irish Titles in Red

A tree is  defined as an erect plant with a single woody stem capable of reaching a height of at least 6-8 meters at maturity. The tallest and oldest tree in the British Isles is at Portlaw and reaches a height of 80m approximately. It is Sitka Spruce. Portlaw is across the river Suir from Carrigeen.

Sitka Spruce Portlaw Largest and oldest tree in the British Isles

There are many different trees in Ireland. There are many different types of uses for the wood of the trees .The ash is very well known it is used to make hurleys . The oak is also well known it is used to make furniture .

There are two diffrent types of trees decidious and evergreen .

Trees are also used in the manufacture of paper . The people that cut down trees should plant another in the same place . In some parts of the world this is already happening . The trees today are protected in some parts of the world because they are very scarce. Trees today play a very important part in the world we live in always have and always will. They are grown particularly in towns and cities so as to absorb the carbon dioxide which is given of from industry and traffic.

diagram showing the process of Photosynthesis.

Trees in Central Asia, America and Africa: 
Millions of trees have been cut down in these regions in recent years. As a consequence the ozone layer has become bigger and land erosion is on the increase. It is time to put an end to the destruction of Rainforests.

Oak Tree

The oak tree is a deciduous or evergreen tree. 
Oak wood is used for flooring and wood trim in home construction and for railroad ties, on wharfs ,barrels ,boats, furniture and fuel . The oak produces acorns which are were fed to hogs. There are different kinds of oak , the red oak the white oak and the ringed oak and evergreen oak, Holm  oak. There were two specimens of Evergreen Oak at Carrigeen. The last storm felled the best tree we had.We  have new  oak trees  growing  in the school field.

The Larch Tree

Larch is the common name for trees of the genus harix of the pine family. Ten species occur in cool, moist regions of the northern hemisphere.

The bark is thick and scaly, and the needles are pale or bright green, turning yellow in Autumn. Large forests of Larch are sometimes destroyed by the larch sawfly.

It is the only coniferous tree to shed its leaves in Autumn.
In Spring it  is  easy to  see  Larch  trees  in  the forest  because of the fresh  green  needles.

Pine 

Pines comprise 90 to 100 species of evergreen , cone-bearing trees. Pines are of primary importance in wood production and are also grown as ornamentals. Pines  usually have a thick, furrowed bark, resinous wood and an upright trunk from which extend circles of spreading branches 

The woody cones are egg-shaped or cylindrical. The cones are collected for seeds. White  and red deal  are  got from the pine.

Plum

Plumb is the name given to various small trees the genus Prunus family Rosaceae, that have been cultivated for centuries for their lovely ornamental blossoms and their smooth skinned fruit . The fruit is called a drupe because it has one seed surrounded by a stony endocarp. Plum trees are low wide spreading trees.

Approximately 100 species are known.

Leaves

Leaves  are centers of food production in trees. Chlorophyll makes the leaves appear green in colour . Leaves come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes, from large compound structures , to needles and tiny scales. They are divided so as to recognise trees easily.

The root system consists of one or more large woody roots and a network of fine roots. The large tree roots anchor the tree and the fine roots help the tree to absorb water and nutrients from the soil. Water absorbed by the fine root systems moves through the coarse roots , stem and branches to the leaves. In Autumn this stops an so the leaves turn colour and die.

Bark of Tree

Bark is the external, impervious covering on the stems of trees and shrubs. The cambium produces inner layers of xylem (water-conducting) cells which eventually become part of the bark. As the plant stem increases in girth , the layers from the cambium rupture and die and produce the characteristic bark patterns of the different types of plants. The thickness of bark in mature plants varies from less than 3 cm (1.2 in) to the more than 30 cm (1 ft) found in giant redwoods.

Importance of Trees

Trees have commercial value for their appearance and can be bought and planted as part of a general landscape design for home's, business, factories, as well as for parks. Trees also provide fruit, sugar, rubber, resin, cork, paper, various chemicals, and timber, among many other products. Tree's are instrumental in preventing soil erosion.

Sycamore

The sycamore tree can easily be recognised by it's fruit. The sycamore is 30 metres tall, and two metres across. They are very hardy and might live to 150 years. Sycamore trees are almost found all over Great Britain and Ireland. The colour of the leaves varies according to the variety of sycamore. Some have yellow leaves, some have pink and some have leaves with a purple underside.

Furniture is also made from it when it is polished to a golden-brown colour, and it also used for the floor of dance halls because it is so strong and smooth.

The Willow
They are lots of other willows.
Weeping Willow .Purple Willow .Bay Willow .Almond Willow .Goat Willow .Pursy Willow

The Goat Willow is familiar to nearly everyone near Springtime.

The Poplar

Poplars are deciduous hardwood trees. The leaves are usually long stalked and broad. They thrive in moist soil and are often found along stream banks.

Elder
The common elder best known as a shrub growing in woods, hedges and waste places, but it may also be a tree, sometimes 6 metres tall. It produces elder berries.

Walnut
Walnut trees come from Western Asia. It was said that it was brought to Britain by Romans, who called it the nut of Jupiter, the chief of their gods. Often they grow thirty metres tall and one metre thick.

The bark is thick , grey and deeply furrowed : the buds black and covered with short , fine hair , and the leaves which are about thirty-six centimetres long , are made up of oval leaflets . The fruit is ripe in autumn.

Evergreen and deciduous

.

Evergreen trees keep their leaves year round.

Deciduous trees shed their leaves in the Autumn and grow new ones in the Spring. Each year trees add a new layer of wood, which can be seen as a new ring under the bark.

Plane Tree

Plane trees, genus Platanus, also known as sycamores are deciduous hard wood trees that belong to the family Platanaceae. They have a whitish bark that flecks in large, thin patches, with brown, green, and grey inner bark. The alternate long-stalked leaves are 3-7 lobed and often toothed. Drooping, spherical, fruit matures in the Autum. They grow in towns and are ornamental.

Autumn

If you go for a walk in the woods or in the park in your town you will notice that the trees look different from the way they look in summer. They were green in summer. Now they look yellow or brown. It is the leaves which are changing. Some are yellow , some are red ,some are russet-brown. They no longer take in water and the sap stops rising and spreading to the leaves.

Birth of a Tree

Each kind of tree from the giant sequoia of California to the dwarf oak , or tiny shrub starts in the same way. The acorn is the seed of the oak. After lying on the ground soaking up moisture, the shell splits and two pole shoots appear. The tree has begun to grow.

Beech

This tree belongs to the Fagaceae family which also includes the oak and the chestnut. It has a smooth, grey-green bark and reaches a height of 30 metres with a trunk 2 metres across. The first common beech first appeared in southern England between 1000 and 2000 B.C. The branches are smmoth and finely pointed.

Birch

One of the most graceful of the wood-land trees is the birch which belongs like the alder to the Betulaceae family. It is unlike other wood-land trees because its bark is silvery white . Birch leaves are golden in spring. Very green in summer . Yellow in Autumn. The bark peals and curls. Arre very common in bogland and wet areas. They are usually grown in groups of three for effect.

Roots

The root system consists of one or more large woody roots and a network of fine roots. The large tree roots anchor the tree and the fine roots help the tree to absorb water and nutrients from the soil. Water absorbed by the fine root systems moves through the coarse roots , stem and branches to the leaves. In Autumn this stops an so the leaves turn colour and die.

The growing tip of a root is sensitive as well as strong . If it meets an obstacle it travels around it. If it is wrapped around a rock crevice it can split the rock and grow through to the earth beneath.

English Elm

Pale brown winter twig with its very small oval grout buds and larger . The elm does not have hanging catkins but it has little fussey flowers . They have red stamens . Fruits of the English Elm is of papery wing . A single seed placed more or less centrally. The English Elms fruit is round and small. It has seed placed near the Apical notch . Summer leaves are more rounded .

Used to make expensive furniture and "coffins".

Smooth Leafed Elm

The fruits are oval placed close to the apical notch. The leaves are more shapply and longer pointed than those of English Elm and are smooth on both surfaces . They are very unequal at the base .

Wych Elm

Leaves of the Wych Elm are large. They are varying from 3 to 6 m and are rough on both surfaces. The apex of the leaf is extended into a long narrow point. Pointed lobes on either side of the apex.

The fruits tend to be very large. The seed cavity is placed half way beetween the central point.The apical notch.Young leaves emerge near the 5th of May. Dutch Elms leaves are large and may be smooth or slighty hairy on the upper surface . Pale, gold leaves come in Autumn on the 25th of September. The Dutch Elm is easily destroyed by Dutch Elm disease. The cure is to cut back hard any affected areas and somtimes the tree must be cut down.

Dutch Elm disease showing a bare tree.

Hazel Tree

Hazel trees in winter are brown and covered with stiff hairs. The buds, stout, blunt and either green or red-brown are set alternatively.

The male calkin, which may le green or pinkish-brown have not yet started to expand. They grow early in Febuary.. Lambs tail from the tip of which protrude bunches of crimson styles. The Hazel-leaves with their mixtures of green, yellow, pink, and brown, can be very attractive in the Autumn. Hazel nuts are ripe in Autumn.

Holly Tree

Male and Female flowers are on separate trees. They arise in clusters from the leaf axils. Holly Trees are evergreen trees Typical leaves are covered with the familier sharp spines. The red berries may grow on the tree through the winter . In hard weather the berries are soon eaten by birds.Old leaves fall from the tree throughout the summer . The leaves go a deep shade of yellow. Holly is used as decorations at Christmas time.

Cypress

The true cypress is evergreen . It is a cone bearing tree. The leaves are small and over top each other like scales . The European cypress is common around the shores of the Mediterranean . It can normally grow to 22 meters .

Broom

People somtimes mistake the broom and the gorse for the other although they are related . The small lower leaves of the broom are divided into three parts but there are no spikes on the stem . The flower appears in May or June they are flaming yellow . The seed pods burst open when ripe and are fly in all directions.

Cherry trees are tall and stout, the trunk sometimes grows one foot or more.The fruit maybe black,yellow or red. Both winter cold and summer hot harm the trees. It has a lovely white to red tinged colour wood. They produce cherries in Autumn.

The wood is used in "turning

Chestnut is a tree with spreading branches. They grow in all parts of the world. It bears a chestnut it is round and spikey. When the covering cracks it is brown , smooth, shiny and hard. Children use th e fruit as "Conquers", in the Autumn.

Forests of Ireland

In Ireland long ago the whole country was covered in forests. But now it is only the hills and mountain sides. When civilization took over people who cut down trees to build houses. Nobody wanted to live on hills or mountains so the trees were left alone. You can find ferns, heather and wild flowers in forest areas. Badgers, Squirls, foxes, mice, rats, rabbits and hares live in the undergrowth. The oldest trees in Ireland are known to b e 12 thousand years old.

Cedars have small scalelike leaves tht grow in many parts of the world . There are two major groups of cedars the aipressineous cedars of the cypress family and the three cedars of the pine family . The oldest tree is the "Cedar of Lebanon".

 
Cedar  growing at Piltown Agricultural College

Noble Fir