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Oldfern woodland and parklands gallery - Scampston page 4

Ryedale, North Yorkshire

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Date

Morus nigra Morus Latin for mulberry; nigra - Latin for black, referencing the dark purple or black color of the mulberry fruit.

Black mulberry

A native of SW Asia, it has been cultivated in the UK since the 16th century, and is a neophyte a plant not native to a region, introduced and escaped into the wild in recent history (after 1500) , with escapes mainly in southern England. If allowed this bush could develop into a medium sized tree - 12m tall, 15m wide.
Tree peony April 2026
Tree peony April 2026

Paeonia delavayi paeonia - from Greek mythology, where Paeon, a student of Asclepius (the god of medicine), used a peony root to heal Pluto, prompting Asclepius to try and kill him out of jealousy. Zeus saved Paeon by turning him into the peony flower; delavayi - after Father Jean Marie Delavay, a missionary based in China.

Maroon peony

A deciduous, woody shrub or subshrub native to China, growing to 1.8m tall with a spreading habit. It is characterized by deeply divided, dark green, leathery leaves (often with a reddish tinge) and, from late spring to early summer, nodding, saucer-shaped flowers, which are typically a deep red, maroon, or yellow about 5-8 cm wide.
Tree peony April 2026
Tree peony April 2026

Paeonia suffruticosa paeonia - from Greek mythology, where Paeon, a student of Asclepius (the god of medicine), used a peony root to heal Pluto, prompting Asclepius to try and kill him out of jealousy. Zeus saved Paeon by turning him into the peony flower; suffruticosa - from Latin sub, under and fruticosus, shrub-like..

Moutan peony

A perennial deciduous shrub with stems up to 2 m; the branches are short and thick. Leaves are usually green, pale green, sometimes white, about 5 - 11 cm long. Flowers have petals of reddish purple, pink to white. Flowering occurs in May; fruiting in June.
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Persian ironwood
October 2023

Parrotia persica - named after Georg Friedrich Parrot (1767 - 1852), a German naturalist; and persica refers to the tree's native habitat, Iran (i.e. Persia).

Persian ironwood

A native to Iran, it can grow quite quickly to 30m. Widely planted in gardens and parkland for its brilliant show of colour as the leaves turn in autumn, and for its smooth exfoliating loss of skin (bark) bark.
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Chinese cork tree
October 2023

Phellodendron - from Greek phellos - cork, dendron - tree; chinensis - from China chinense

Chinese cork tree

A group of four phellodendrons form the centre of the molinia grass garden. A deciduous tree growing to 10m, native to C China, with young shoots at first thinly downy, brown and glabrous the second year. Flowers are small, yellowish green, crowded on a short, very downy panicle, followed by black, globose, aromatic fruits. It is known as Huang Bai in China, as is the bark, a fundamental herb in traditional Chinese medicine.
Norway spruce
October 2025
Norway spruce cone
October 2025
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Picea abies picea- from Latin pix - pitch, meaning pitch pine, abies - from the Latin for fir tree, referring to the tree's original classification or similarity to a fir

Norway spruce

A fast-growing evergreen conifer which can reach 40m and live for up to 1,000 years. They are tall and straight and of a triangular appearance, with a pointed crown. This tree is exhibiting what I believe is a sport a part of a plant such as a branch, leaf, or fruit—that shows distinct genetic mutations, causing it to look different from the rest of the plant, a dense clump on one side of the tree. The kind of material that could create a new cultivar?
Corsican pine August 2023
Pinus nigra maritima August 2023
Pinus nigra maritima August 2023

Pinus nigraPinus - from Latin for pine tree; nigra - black, referring to the very dark, deeply fissured bark of the species; maritima - of the sea or maritime, referring to the subspecies' natural range in coastal or lower-elevation Mediterranean regions (such as Corsica and southern Italy). maritima.

Corsican pine

A subspecies of the black pine, with good resistance to coastal weather. Less branched than its close relative the Austrian pine (subspecies austriaca). Native to the mediterranean island of Corsica, it has been planted across Europe for ornament and for timber, having a straight trunk and horizontal branches.
Pinus patula October 2025
Pinus patula October 2025

Pinus patula pinus- Latin for pine patula - from Latin meaning wid open, spreading, or lax .

Mexican weeping pine

This is probably pinus patula, also known as jelecote pine, spreading pine or patula pine, a native to the highlands of Mexico. It can grow to 30m tall. It has been widely planted as a forestry tree in many parts of the world, but is becoming an invasive species in countries such as New Zealand, South Africa and Hawaii. Female cones are stalkless, and are 6 - 10 cm long. As with other pines, clusters of small orange coloured male cones appear in spring.
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Pinus sylvestris pollen
August 2021
Pinus sylvestris bark
August 2021

Pinus sylvestris pinus- Latin for pine silva - woodland or forest, reflecting the tree's habitat.

Scots pine

The only native UK pine, and one of only 3 native conifers. It can grow to 35m, and live for 700 years. This one at Scampston has lots of holes in the bark, probably made by woodpeckers. The main specimen grows near the lake, and always seems to have plenty of cones on the ground (for collecting!)
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London Plane leaves and bark
October 2021

PlatanusPlatanus - from Greek platanos or platys meaning flat or broad, referring to the tree's wide, flat leaves; acerifolia - from Latin Acer, maple tree; folia, leaves, so maple-leaved plane tree acerifolia

London Plane

Contorted twisting branches silhouetted through the relatively sparse covering of leaves on this London plane tree. At its base is a circle of bluebells (some of which are white). A later visit in August found another London Plane. Glossy leaves with the typical five point acer family shape. A tight, scaly bark on a trunk has a tall stand before branching out. This particular tree does not show the more typical scaly, flaky bark common to plane trees, perhaps because of a slower growth rate.
Plumbago August 2025
Plumbago August 2025

Plumbago auriculataPlumbago - from Latin plumbum, lead, referring to a European species used in traditional medicine to treat lead poisoning, or possibly the plant's light lead-blue flower colour; auriculata - from Latin auricula, ear, referring to the ear-shaped lobes at the base of the leaves.

Plumbago

A.k.a. Cape leadwort, a fast-growing, evergreen scrambling shrub from South Africa, with intense sky-blue phlox-like flowers. Growing here as a climber trained indoors in a conservatory, with arching stems, blooming profusely from summer to autumn. It is drought-tolerant and thrives in full sun. It would not survive frosts outdoors in the UK.