Buxus sempervirens; Box Hedge

This Box hedge was found in Plattfields Park in the formal Shakespeare garden. They are small and very dense, this means they can be easily shaped into interesting and aesthetic forms as they hold their shape. They are spreading evergreen trees or large shrubs.

It has numerous young, green twigs which are angular and covered in white hairs.

The bark is smooth, grey and breaks into small squares with age.

The leaves are opposite and ovate to oblong. They grow up to 2.5cm long and 10cm across with a notched tip. The upper surface is dark green and glossy, whereas the lower surface is paler. 

Prunus spinosa; Blackthorn (Sloe)

I located this Blackthorn in Longford Park lining a garden fence. A rather untidy looking, denssely branched, spiny deciduous tree. Often surrounded by numerous suckers. The branches are spreading, terminating in spiny twigs.

The leaves grow to about 4.5cm long and have about 10cm long petioles. They are oval, pointed at the tip, with toothed margins. The upper surface is smooth and dull green. Lower surface is downy along prominent veins. They have white flowers, mostly solitary, opening before the leaves. The are short stalked with 5 petals about 8mm long.

The bark is silvery brown. 

Sambucus nigra; Elder

I found this Elder in Ryebank Park surrounded by a bunch of raspberries. They are small deciduous, often rather untidy trees or large shrubs. The bole is usually short and an old bole often has fast-growing young shoots emerging from it.

The branches are spreading, numerous and twisted. Branches and twigs have white pith in the center.

The leaves are opposite and compound with 5-7, occasionally 9, pairs of leaflets. Each one up to 12cm long, ovate and pointed with a sharply toothed margin and slightly hairy underside. Green during the summer but sometimes turning a deep plumb-red before falling in autumn. Crushed leafs have an unpleasant 'catty' smell.  

The bark is deeply grooved and furrowed bark and greyish- brown in colour. Older specimens often have a corky texture.

Acer campestre; Field Maple

This young maple was found in Chorlton Ees nature reserve. They are medium-sized deciduous trees with a rounded crown and a twisted bole. Rather variable in appearance, much depending on its habitat. 

The leaves are opposite and up to 12cm long and usually holds strongly 3-lobed. The lobes themselves often have lobed margins and tufts of hair in the axils of the veins on the underside. Newly opened leaves have a pinkish tinge to them at first becoming dark green and rather leathery later.

The branches are much divided and dense, sometimes almost impenetrable so, when pruned or cut regularly. The shoots are brown and sometimes covered with fine hairs and often developing wings. 

The Bark is grey- brown and fissured with a slightly corky texture.

Prunus avium; Wild Cherry/ Gean

This Cherry was found in Longford Park in a small cluster of Cherries and Silver Birch. They are a large deciduous tree with a good taping bole and a high domed crown. 

The branches are widely spreading that terminate to smooth reddish twigs. 

The leaves are small and ovate. They grow to 15cm long and have a long pointed apex and forward-pointing irregular teeth margin. The upper surface is smooth and dull , whereas the underside is downy on the veins. The petiole grows up to 2-5cm long with two glands near the leaf junction. It has white flowers in long stalked clusters of 2-6 that open just before the leafs in April-May. It bears cherry fruit that ripen in early Summer, which are dark purple or red on long stalks with a smooth, round stone in the middle. 

The bark is reddish brown and shiny with circular lines running horizontally and it peels into tough papery strips and occasionally becoming fissured. 

Tilia x europaea; Lime

This Lime was found lining the roadside outside a block of flats. It is a large clipped tree. They often have an upright bole with an irregular crown. 

The twigs are smooth and green when young and the branches are ascending and arching on older trees. Buds are ovoid, reddish brown and up to 7mm long. 

The leaves are broadly ovate and grow up to 10cm long. They have a short pointed tip and a heart shaped base with a toothed margin. They are dull green on top but on the underside they are paler with tuffs of white hair is the vein axis.

This tree has been maintained and cut back as the base of the bole. It leaves bulges with small amounts of growth around it. 

The bark is grey-brown and ridged. 

Populus nigra; Black-poplar

This is a large Black Poplar found in Longford Park set back slightly from a main pathway. They are large spreading trees when fully mature with a domed crown with a thick, blackish gnarled bole. covered with distinctive burrs and tuberous growths. 

The branches are mostly ascending and the bole can be multi stemmed or one single straight trunk. This poplar has a thick trunk at the bottom that splits into two main boles going up straight.

The leaves are triangular or diamond shape and have variably long stalks. They have finely toothed margins and are fresh and shiny on both sides. The shoots and buds are smooth and golden brown when young. They also have reddish, pendulous male catkins and green female catkins.

The bark is grey-brown and becomes darker with age and becomes greatly fissured

Acer pseudoplatanus; Sycamore

This Sycamore was found in Longford Park just set back from a football field growing in a tree row. Sycamores are a fast-growing and vigorous deciduous tree with a very spreading habit and a broadly domed crown. 

The branches are usually quite thick near the main bole, terminating in grey-green twigs with pale lenticels and reddish buds.

The leaves are opposite and up to 15cm long. They are divided into 5 toothed lobes. Young or fast growing Sycamores has deeply cut leaves and long scarlet petioles. However mature, slow growing Sycamores have smaller leaves with more shallow lobes and shorter pink or green petioles. This is a very large, mature Sycamore and you can see the pinky, green petioles here.

Sycamore flowers are long and pendulous in small yellow clusters up to 12cm long. They are prolific and slender and open around april-may. The fruits open in late summer and are paired reaching 6cm long. They hold two seeds and each seed is buried in a wing. The fruits are often called 'Helicopters' as when they drop they rotate as they float to the ground like a helicopter landing. 

The bark is greyish and broken up by numerous fissures forming irregular patches that sometimes fall away leaving a more orange colour underneath. 

Salix Caprea; Goat Willow

Can be either a small tree with a straight rigid stem and sparsely domed crown or a multi stemmed, dense, shrubby tree. Often found in more drier places than the rest of the willows. The Goat Willow is a major source of food for moths whole will eat the leaves. 

The leaves are large and oval with a short, twisted point at the tip. The underside of the leaf is noticeably grey and woolly, whereas the top side is a dull green and slightly hairy. They have small irregular teeth.

The shoots are thick, stiff twigs that are hairy in young trees but become smooth and yellowish brown over time.

The Goat Willow is often called 'Pussy Willow' because the silky grey buds resemble a cats paws.

Crataegus Monogyna; Common Hawthorn

This Hawthorn was found in a small clearing in Chorlton Ees where a few were dotted around. They are often no more than a small spreading deciduous tree or a hedgerow shrub that grows up to 15m tall. Either grows on a single stout bole or a multi stemmed tree with a spreading crown. The berries provide food for a lot of wildlife including birds and moths. 

The branches and twigs are usually densely packed with sharp spines.

The leaves are roughly ovate and deeply lobed reaching 4.5cm long. They usually have three lobes and are pointed with a few teeth near the apex. They have a tough feel with toughs of hair over them. The fruits or haws are usually rounded and bright red, sometimes more of a maroon colour and contain hard cased seeds. 

The bark is usually deeply fissured into a fairly regular pattern of vertical grooves. The outer layers are grey and the lower layers more of an orange colour.  

Corylus Avellan; Hazel

This Hazel was found in the woodlands of Chorlton Ees. Hazels are often no more than a small multi stemmed shrub but can grow into a larger tree with a shrubby crown and a short but thick and gnarled bole. It is immensely important for wildlife due to its edible leaves and fruits. 

The leaves are rounded and grow up to 10cm long with a heart shaped base and pointed tip. They are toothed and the upper surface is hairy and on the underside it has white hairs that grow off the veins.

The male catkins grow up to 8cm long and hang down in bunches. In early spring they are a yellow colour.

The branches are upright to spreading. The twigs are covered with stiff hairs and the buds are oval and smooth.

This is a multi stemmed Hazel which could be a result of coppicing where the bole is cut in young trees and grows with multiple thinner trunks.

The bark is smooth and often shiny. It peels in thin papery strips.

Alnus Glutinosa; Common Alder

A small spreading tree with a broad domed or conical crown. Can sometimes be multi stemmed. They have very tough roots and are often used to help stabilise river banks and prevent erosion.

The leaves are stalked and noticeably rounded. They grow up to 10cm long and have a slightly notched apex and a wavy or blunty toothed margin. The buds are about 7mm long, on stalks 3mm long

The branches are ascending in young trees but become more spread as it matures. The twigs are sticky when young but turn smooth as it grows. 

The bark is brownish and fissured into square or oblong plates.