Trees gallery - in and around Thornton le Dale

Thornton le Dale is a small village on the road from Pickering to Scarborough in North Yorkshire. It is famed for its thatched cottage by the beck, and has been a popular coaching stop for over a hundred years, welcoming the open topped charabang parties that would drive out for a day trip to coast or moors. There are many interesting trees in and around the village.

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Acer campestre acer - Latin name for the maple; campestre - of the fields.

Field maple

Our native maple, commonly planted on roadsides and in car parks, as here, due its resistance to air pollution. Capable of reaching 20m, and living up to 350 years. Usually monoecious male and female reproductive parts are on the same plant , the yellow-green flowers appear as the leaves open, in erect clusters; they are insect-pollinated. The fruit is a samara a winged achene, a type of fruit in which a flattened wing of fibrous, papery tissue develops from the ovary wall with wings aligned at 180°.

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Acer pseudoplatanus acer - maple; pseudoplatanus - false plane, referring to a superficial similarity of leaves and bark to those of plane trees (genus platanus); brilliantissimum - Latin meaning most brilliant or most shiny, describing the tree's striking spring foliage, which emerges salmon-pink or bright shrimp-pink in colour brilliantissimum

Shrimp leaved sycamore

A popular cultivar of the common sycamore, grown for its modest size (to 4m in 20 years), and its salmon pink spring leaves. It displays greenish yellow flowers in spring and winged red fruit in the autumn.

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Acer palmatum acer - from the Latin for maple; palmatum, palm-like, referring to the 5-lobed hand-shaped leaves;

Japanese maple

One of many varieties of Japanese maple, possibly a. palmatum Bloodgood, which holds its deep red-purple foliage well into summer.

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Acer palmatum acer - from the Latin for maple; palmatum, palm-like, referring to the 5-lobed hand-shaped leaves; orange dream

Japanese maple orange dream

One of many varieties of Japanese maple, probably a. palmatum orange dream, which emerges bright orange/yellow/red, turns green, then bak to orange and red in autumn.

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Acer platanoides acer - from Latin for maple; platanoides - resembling the plane tree (platanus). Drummondii after Thomas Drummond (1790 - 1855) Drummondii

Variegated Norway maple

A maple cultivar with creamy white edged variegated leaves, turning orange in autumn. Masses of bright yellow flowers in spring. Named after Scottish botanist Thomas Drummond (1790 - 1855).

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Acer platanoides Crimson King acer - from Latin for maple; platanoides - resembling the plane tree (platanus); Crimson King is the name of a purple cultivar raised in Belgium in the 1930s.

Norway maple

A deciduous tree growing to 30 m, native to E and C Europe and W Asia. The bark is grey-brown and shallowly grooved. Unlike many other maples, mature trees do not tend to develop a shaggy bark. Flowers are in corymbs a flower cluster whose lower stalks are proportionally longer so that the flowers form a flat or slightly convex head. of 15–30 together, yellow-green with five sepals and five petals; flowering occurs in early spring before the new leaves emerge. The fruit is a double samara with two winged seeds.

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Acer pseudoplatanus acer - maple; pseudoplatanus - false plane, referring to a superficial similarity of leaves and bark to those of plane trees (genus platanus)

Common sycamore

During daily walks around the village in the coronavirus lockdown, we took note of some of the trees around the village. This is a stand of 5 sycamore trees, growing tightly packed together in High Fields, to the north west of the village, isolated from other woodland.

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Acer pseudoplatanus acer - maple; pseudoplatanus - false plane, referring to a superficial similarity of leaves and bark to those of plane trees (genus platanus)

Common sycamore

A fine large sycamore, next to the Bowling Club, by Burgess Mill. Very common, considered a weed by some, as it is not native to this country and spreads readily. Its timber is perfect for pyrography and for turning unseasoned in preparation for piercing.

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Acer pseudoplatanus acer - maple; pseudoplatanus - false plane, referring to a superficial similarity of leaves and bark to those of plane trees (genus platanus)

Common sycamore

Another tree on the Ancient Tree Register, number 1720. Classed as a veteran tree with a girth of 5.19m. It suffered the loss of a large branch in 2019, but is still growing. Situated on the path between the car park and the sports field.

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Acer pseudoplatanus acer - maple; pseudoplatanus - false plane, referring to a superficial similarity of leaves and bark to those of plane trees (genus platanus)

Common sycamore

Yet another tree on the Ancient Tree Register, number 228. Classed as a veteran tree, with a girth of 5.54 m . It looks like limbs have been lopped off over time, probably necessary to prevent their weight causing them to split and break away.

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Aesculus carnea , aesculus the ancient name for a type of oak; carnea, Latin, meaning flesh-colored or pink, referring to the tree's distinctive flowers.

Red horse chestnut

A medium-sized tree, an artificial hybrid between A. pavia (red buckeye) and A. hippocastanum (horse-chestnut). Its origin uncertain, probably appearing in Germany before 1820. It inherits the red flower color from A. pavia. Its showy flowers are borne in plumes on branch ends in spring, producing leathery fruit capsules in autumn. Usually smaller in stature than its more prolific parent, growing to 12m.

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Aesculus aesculus - an old Latin name for oak or mast bearing tree (or possibly an edible acorn); hipposcastanum - from Greek hippos - horse and kastanos - chestnut, reflecting similarity of the two unrelated species' nuts. Horse could be due to a medicinal use with horses (doubtful), or the older meaning of horse as 'strong'. hippocastanum

Horse chestnut

A large horse chestnut dominates the village green (more of a traffic island these days) in Thornton le Dale, a plentiful source of conkers in September. There are numerous other examples around the village, particularly in the Thornton Estate Woods at the south of the village. Many suffer from leaf mining moth attacks as the season progresses.

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Alnus glutinosa old Latin name for alder; glutinosa for, Latin for 'sticky', referring to the young twigs, buds, and leaves which are coated in a resinous gum.

Alder

Yet another tree on the Ancient Tree Register, number 31726. Classed as a veteran tree, with a girth of 3.6m. Not easily accessible, down a footpath on a bend in Thornton Beck on the south side of the village.

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Amelanchier alnifoliaAmelanchier - likely derived from the French which itself comes from Celtic roots; alnifolia Latin, meaning having leaves similar to an alder tree.

Serviceberry

A.k.a. saskatoon berry, western shadbush, or western juneberry, a shrub native to North America. It is a deciduous shrub or small tree that most often grows to 1–8 metres. Its growth form spans from suckering and forming colonies to clumped. As with all species in the genus Amelanchier, the flowers are white, with five separate petals and five sepals. They appear on short racemes of 3–20, somewhat crowded together, blooming from April to July. The fruit is a small purple pomea fruit consisting of a fleshy enlarged receptacle and a tough central core containing the seeds, e.g. an apple, pear, quince, rowan. , with a waxy bloom.

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