Tree Profiles

A schematic, simplified and pragmatic classification of fruits is presented. This arrangement is principally based on external morphological characters. All fruit types are clarified by a few examples.

In the first of an occasional series of articles on tree species thought to be extinct in the wild, CAROL GURNEY introduces Amherstia nobilis (Fabaceae), which is spectacular in flower.

Araucaria araucana has its natural distribution in the Andes Mountains between 37o and 40o S and between 600 and 1800 m.a.s.l. Around 1960 its distribution area was estimated at 250,000 - 300,000 ha, with 75% on the Chilean side of the...

The conference opened in Auckland on Thursday morning with Professor David de Laubenfels, who has described more of the currently-accepted species in the family than any other scientist, presenting a controversial paper on ‘New...

Following the RHS Woody Plants Committee meeting on the 18 September 2008 at Wisley, HUGH McALLISTER AND KEITH RUSHFORTH thought it might be helpful to draw together their personal conclusions on the Thibetica group within the genus...

Plant hunters have searched the globe travelling to far and distant places for millennia, but only in recent times have plant breeders realised the value of the earth’s germplasm. Vietnam, with an area of 330,000km2, contains at...

  Following Chris Callaghan’s update on Cathaya in cultivation published in the 2008 yearbook, DICK VAN HOEY SMITH sent the following photos.

  The discovery of the relict Cathaya argyrophylla or Cathay Silver Fir in a remote wilderness area of Kwangsi province (now Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region) in Southern China in May, 1955, created more than a ripple of...

Following the article published in the 2006 yearbook CHRIS CALLAGHAN has sent photos of Cathaya argyrophylla flowering in cultivation, outside China.

  FREDERIC WEBER has, since childhood, had the privilege of observing the cedar of Lebanon that has been growing at Le Vallon in Switzerland since the early nineteenth century. Here he lists the differences between...

There is no doubt that the flowering dogwoods are among the most beautiful ornamental trees and shrubs. Gerd Krüssmann, co-founder of the IDS, once wrote that if he had to decide to grow just one species of the large-bracted dogwoods,...

Euonymus species are particularly prized for their decorative fruits. This work describes and illustrates (in water colour), the fruits and seeds of 30 commonly cultivated species found in Central European plant collections. The text...

  In October 2010 a group of champion tree recorders, from all over Europe, met in Belgium, to exchange notes and discuss their findings. CHRISTOPHER CARNAGHAN1 reports on this international meeting, its purpose...

In the second of this occasional series on tree species extinct in the wild, CHARLES CRESSON, writes about the discovery of Franklinia alatamaha and its history in cultivation.

The walnuts have always excited interest for their combination of utility and beauty, but despite this, most species of Juglans remain little known in cultivation and poorly described in the literature, while specimens in many...

The Australian Bicentennial Arboretum celebrated its twentieth year in 2008 with the arrival of a new hybrid magnolia, appropriately herein named ‘Bicentennial’. In this article, CHRIS CALLAGHAN suggests that the...

On the IDS tour to Sikkim in May 2010 we found a few trees of Magnolia hodgsonii (Talauma hodgsonii), this very handsome low-altitude magnolia growing as widely spaced trees of about 12m high in the wild forest up the Teesta valley near...

In general magnolia seeds respond readily to a variety of rearing techniques, and experienced growers often evolve their own particular methods for getting good results. For those interested, the following advice from STEFAN COVER*...

  As is so often the case, what was expected to be a leisurely pursuit of magnolia study in the tranquil atmosphere of the Australian Bicentennial Arboretum, turned out to be an exciting adventure into the wilderness of...

 The IDS Araucariaceae symposium, held in Auckland, New Zealand, 14-17 March 2002, and the pre-symposium tour of Northland is described above by Timothy Waters. Here we give an account of the post-symposium tour to New Caledonia,...

Of the 34 known species of the genus Nothofagus, nine are found in Chile and Argentina, three in New Zealand, and three in Australia; the remaining 19 come from New Guinea and New Caledonia. Nothofagus are commonly called Southern Beech and...

Among the many street trees in Vancouver are numerous parrotias including two cultivars not mentioned in last years “Tree of the year”. CLIVE JUSTICE gives further details.

An over-view of the genus Picea (Pinaceae) in China is given, with particular reference to the P. likiangensis group of species. This group is considered to include P. likiangensis (Franch.) E. Pritz. subspecies likiangensis, P....

The silver fir (Abies: Pinaceae) in the Yarlung tsangpo drainage of southeast Tibet (Xizang, China) is compared with other species in Abies section Pseudopicea Hickel emend Farjon & Rushforth subsection Delavayianae Farjon &...

The newly described white pine from northeast Mexico Pinus stylesii Frankis ex Businský is compared with other related pines, including P. flexilis James, P. reflexa (Engelm.) Engelm., P. strobiformis Engelm., P. veitchii...

All over Greece, from the very north to the extreme south, on the mainland and islands alike, in villages or country towns, one finds magnificent, age-old plane trees draped gracefully over churchyards or main squares. In the squares,...

  CHRIS CALLAGHAN of the Australian Bicentennial Arboretum reports the finding of an intriguing new conifer in the Pinaceae related to the living fossil Cathaya argyrophylla from China and, pending valid publication,...

Palms in Cuba, magnolias in China or conifers in Vietnam – all around the world tree species are in serious trouble. While the extinction crisis and the fate of the world’s forests have been relatively high profile in the past...

During the 1990s a plant was distributed under the name Quercus x fernaldii and was acquired by several collections in Britain and continental Europe. It was also listed under the name Quercus ilicifolia rubra or Q. ilicifolia x rubra.

During the Austrian Danube tour of June 2006 we were shown a layered oak in the Lednice Chateau Park situated in South Moravia (Czech Republic). At least one of the local foresters remembered the presence of a branch connecting the trunk...

The Commander Islands are the western group of the Aleutian Islands, the western extremity and the upper part of a huge underwater volcanic range, which protrudes from east to west for up nearly 2,000 kilometres. They lie in the northern...

The island of Sakhalin, situated at the eastern edge of Eurasia, is a unique region of Russia, and is home to a number of interesting plants. 75% of this large island (which measures 943 km from north to south) consists of hills and mountains,...

We arrived in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on a gloomy July morning, after a nine-hour direct flight from Moscow. The primary purpose of this botanical expedition being to replenish the holdings of the herbaria of RBG Kew, UK, and the...

Though named in 1933 by Handel-Mazzetti and collected numerous times by George Forrest, Sorbus filipes does not seem to have been introduced to cultivation until recently (1985), since when several expeditions and individual...

KEITH RUSHFORTH reviews the species in Sorbus section Thibeticae Aldsasoro et al and names a new section, Sorbus section Dunnii Rushforth and nine new species, viz Sorbus burtonsmithii Rushforth, Sorbus guanii Rushforth, Sorbus...

On a warm, sunny Friday afternoon in late October members from all over Europe gathered on the cafeteria terrace of Kalmthout Arboretum before being led out by its Director Abraham Rammeloo. Abraham briefly introduced the arboretum and...

The distribution zone of Taxus baccata extends from Finno-Scandia to Asia Minor and the Caucasus and southward into north Africa, but mainland Britain contains the greatest concentration of truly ancient trees. The range of this...

On a botanical exploration in October 1999 in remote karst limestone mountains NW of Quan Ba close to the Chinese border in the northern Vietnamese province of Ha Giang an unidentified conifer was found growing on the summit ridge of one of...

 CHRIS CALLAGHAN of the Australian Bicentennial Arboretum updates his woody plants comparison of Wa Shan and its sister mountain, World Heritage-listed Emei Shan, finding Wa Shan to be deserving of recognition as one of the...

Wollemia nobilis first hit the headlines in 1994 when David Noble found the grove of them northwest of Sydney, the exact location still secret. Tregothnan had been busy adding to its collection of rarities for and immediately set about...

The island of Rodrigues lies 574km east of Mauritius at 63° 30'E, 19° 40' S (Strahm 1996), in the western Indian Ocean. With Mauritius and Reunion it forms the Mascarenes group; a trio of young volcanic islands, the oldest...