Glen Parva & Glenhills Nature Reserve - Species List

The apple tree (Malus pumila, commonly and erroneously called Malus domestica) is a deciduous tree in the rose family best known for its sweet, pomaceous fruit, the apple. It is cultivated worldwide as a fruit tree, and is the most widely grown species in the genus Malus. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, Malus sieversii, is still found today. Apples have been grown for thousands of years in Asia and Europe, and were brought to North America by European colonists. Apples have religious and mythological significance in many cultures, including Norse, Greek and European Christian traditions.

Blackthorn is very thorny. It makes a good hedgerow plant (together with hawthorn, gorse and holly) as it creates impenetrable thickets and therefore provides good protection for a whole range of wildlife. Many plants grow beneath it as they are protected there from grazing animals. Birds build their nests among its branches and small mammals like hedgehogs find safe shelter below its dense canopy.
The white flowers have 5 petals. The flowers are white and appear very early in the spring before the shoots. They are one of the first sources of nectar and pollen in the spring.

Blackberries grow almost anywhere, their roots forming networks underground with bunches of stems growing up and out, feeling their way across the countryside, colonising and tangling themselves into dense, prickly thickets.
According to Plantlife, over 400 bramble microspecies have been recorded in Britain, and there certainly seem to be big variations in flower appearance, blossoming and fruiting times, and even the size and taste of the berries (although light, shade and soil may play a part). I have taken photographs of different bramble flowers in my local patch. The buds, flower shape and thorns are clues that brambles belong to the rose family.

The bullace is a variety of plum. It bears edible fruit similar to those of the damson, and like the damson is considered to be a strain of the insititia subspecies of Prunus domestica. Although the term has regionally been applied to several different kinds of "wild plum" found in the United Kingdom, it is usually taken to refer to varieties with a spherical shape, as opposed to the oval damsons.
Unlike nearly all damsons, bullaces may be either "white" (i.e. yellow or green) or "black" (i.e. blue or purple) in colour, and ripen up to six weeks later in the year. Though smaller than most damsons, bullaces are much larger than the closely related sloe. Their flavour is usually rather acidic until fully ripe.

The Cherry Laurel is a vigorous, large, spreading evergreen shrub with handsome, glossy dark green leaves to 15cm in length. Small white flowers in erect racemes to 12cm in length are followed by cherry-like glossy red fruits soon turning black

one of the ancestors of the cultivated apple (of which there are more than 6,000 varieties), it can live to up to 100 years. Mature trees grow to around 10m in height. They have an irregular, rounded shape and a wide, spreading canopy. With greyish brown, flecked bark, trees can become quite gnarled and twisted, especially when exposed, and the twigs often develop spines. This 'crabbed' appearance may have influenced its common name, 'crab apple'.
The crab apple is one of the few host trees to the parasitic mistletoe, Viscum album, and trees are often covered in lichens

A thorny climber, dog rose has strongly hooked, or curved prickles, to gain a purchase as it weaves in between other shrubs and uses them to support its growth. It can grow up to 3m tall when well supported.
The leaves: on alternate sides of the stem, and divided into 2–3 pairs of smaller, toothed leaflets. Leaf buds can be affected by a gall known as robin's pincushion. This looks like a ball of fibrous red threads and is caused by a gall wasp.
The flowers: large pink or white with five petals and many stamens. They have a faint sweet smell.

Grey willow and other broader-leafed species of willow (including goat willow) are sometimes referred to as 'sallows'. Goat willow is known as ‘great sallow’ and grey willow as ‘common sallow’. Both species are also sometimes called 'pussy willow' after the silky grey female flowers, which resemble a cat's paws.
The leaves unlike most willows are oval rather than long and thin. However, unlike goat willow, the leaves are at least twice as long as they are wide. They have a fine silver felt underneath (hence its name) with rusty hairs beneath the veins.

Guelder rose is a spreading, deciduous, upright shrub. It can reach up to 4m high and can spread from 2–5m. It has greyish, hairless stems.
Look out for: the three-lobed leaves which have leaf stems with a channel running down the centre and a pair of round glands near the apex of the leaf.
Identified in winter by: green, hairless buds which have a pair of scales. Buds are pressed closely to the hairless twigs.

Festive, neat and prickly. Holly is a well-loved shrub that shelters birds and gives hedgehogs a cosy place to hibernate.
Mature trees can grow up to 15m and live for 300 years. The bark is smooth and thin with lots of small, brown 'warts', and the stems are dark brown

Spiky cases, gleaming seeds, celebrated by children. Horse chestnuts, with their mahogany-bright conkers, are the very essence of autumn.
Mature horse chestnut trees grow to a height of around 40m and can live for up to 300 years. The bark is smooth and pinky-grey when young, which darkens and develops scaly plates with age. Twigs are hairless and stout; buds are oval, dark red, shiny and sticky.

Ivy is an evergreen, woody climber which can grow to a height of 30m. It has two different forms – juvenile and mature. It has climbing stems with specialised hairs which help it stick to surfaces as it climbs. Mature forms can be self-supporting.

Dense and pungent, but with fruits that are enjoyed by birds and humans alike, the Midland hawthorn is a supremely useful tree whose natural range is not fully understood.
A large shrub that can sometimes grow into a small tree reaching up to 8m in height, but can be taller. It provides a dense, thorny cover.

John F April 2018

Wild types are large shrubs or small trees reaching 8–(12) m (25–40 feet) tall, sometimes spiny, with glabrous, ovate deciduous leaves 3–7 cm (1.5–2.5 inches) long. It is one of the first European trees to flower in spring, often starting in mid-February before the leaves have opened. The flowers are white or pale pink and about 2 cm (0.8 inches) across, with five petals and many stamens.

Pretty, pale, a symbol of purity. This common tree, with its silver-white bark, is favoured by gardeners who want to renew and purify their land for coming year.
Silver birch is a striking, medium-sized deciduous tree. When mature they can reach 30m in height, forming a light canopy with elegant, drooping branches. The white bark sheds layers like tissue paper and becomes black and rugged at the base. As the trees mature, the bark develops dark, diamond-shaped fissures. Twigs are smooth, and have small dark warts.

The Snowberry is a very hardy fast-growing suckering shrub with attractive snow-white berries, originating in North America. Although not a British native, it has good wildlife value, and is a good plant for poor soils and dense shade. Its suckering habit means that it quickly makes a dense thicket, so it is good for screening and can be trimmed as a low hedge.
The tiny bell-shaped pink flowers appear in clusters in July. They are followed by round matt white berries in autumn, each containing 2 seeds. The berries are poisonous, but produce a strongly emetic reaction

For most of the year spindle (Euonymus europaeus) is an inconspicuous shrub or small tree most commonly found on base-rich soils, but in the autumn as it leaves start to turn red it produces spectacular pink fruits which split open to reveal bright orange seeds. This autumn display ensures that spindle is frequently planted by park-managers and others who believe that native shrubs are more ‘worthy’ than non-natives even if the native is planted well outside its natural range of distribution. Thus spindle is becoming more widespread throughout the British Isles.

Familiar, romantic, sticky. Sycamore might have been introduced by the Romans or in the 1500s. Since then, it’s colonised woodland becoming a source of food and shelter for wildlife including aphids that leave behind their tacky honeydew.
These broadleaf trees can grow to 35m and live for 400 years. The bark is dark pink-grey, and smooth when young, but becomes cracked and develops small plates with age. Twigs are pink-brown and hairless.

Wild Cherry - Prunus avium
John F 4th April 2020

Beautiful blossom and a bounty of bright red fruits. Wild cherry , one of the prettiest native trees, is relished by gardeners and wildlife.
Mature trees can grow to 30m and live for up to 60 years. The shiny bark is a deep reddish-brown with prominent cream-coloured horizontal lines called lenticels. The second part of its botanical name – avium – refers to birds which play a role in the tree’s propagation by eating the cherries and dispersing the seed. In Scotland, cherry is sometimes referred to as ‘gean’.

Yew trees are deeply entwined in mythology and folklore.
They are some of the oldest living species in Europe, with some trees thought to be over 2000 years old.
Yews have a deep-rooted history and sacred ties which is why you find the magnificent ancient trees growing in churchyards.
ew is a densely branching, evergreen tree with a big trunk that can reach up to 20m tall. The bark is thin, scaly, and brown, it comes off in small flakes. Its leaves are dark green, leathery, and narrow with a pointed tip. Yew seeds grow at the tip of a dwarf shoot, enclosed in a red, fleshy, cup-like structure called an aril.