What sort of tree is this?

[shirokazan]

Been bugging me for quite some time. I'd guess that it's some non-native species as I've been unable to find it in guidebooks to British trees. Anyhow, CycleChat being full of knowledgeable folk, I'm sure someone here knows.

Here's the tree:


And here's a not very good photo of the pointy leaves.


Thanks for your help.

 

[Andy_R]

It looks suspiciously like a willow of some sort. willows

 

[Glow worm]

Looks to me like ash or rowan at first glance. Best way to tell if it is ash is whether the buds are black. If they are - it's ash. (couldn't quite tell from the pic). Ash is unusual as a street tree though, but some exotic rowans are planted as street trees.

 

[smokeysmoo]

I could be wrong, but from those pics it definitely looks like a wooden one too me

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Phew, no tree puns - I'd be sycamore of them!

 

[mr Mag00]

Salix spp

 

[Angelfishsolo]

I could be wrong, but from those pics it definitely looks like a wooden one too me

Damn - you beat me to it.

 

[smokeysmoo]

Damn - you beat me to it.

 

[the_mikey]

Rowan/Ash/mountain ash... Needs a better pic!

 

[Andy_R]

Not of the Ash family - they have compound leaves, as do Rowan Trees. It's deffo a willow, possibly salix nigra

 

[shirokazan]

Thanks for the responses, guys.

I'll see if I can bag a better picture in the next few days. This particular tree is in Byng Place, London but I've seen other ones around the city centre and also one in Canterbury when I cycled through it last year. Glow worm's comment about exotic rowans being used as street trees rings true: definitely some sort of exhibition tree. However, I also note Andy_R being quite firm about it the leaves being of the wrong type for it to be rowan. I'll try and find one with low-hanging leaves so I can take a more detailed picture of them.

 

[growingvegetables]

Wild off-the-wall guess ---- it's not a eucalyptus of some sort? The leaves seem to have a similar "leathery" look?

Naah - can't be ...... except, just maybe?

I'd guess crushing a leaf would release the smell of the oil - but maybe it needs the heat of West Africa? (I'd recognise better the smell of the wood being used to grill fresh caught oysters on - palm-lined beach, surf gently rolling in, cool beer, followed by grilled fresh caught barracuda .....................................................................




Oh - and +1 for it being the wrong kind of leaf for a rowan.

 

[furball]

Does it have catkins in the spring?

 

[vernon]

Does it have catkins in the spring?

He wants the answer now, not next year.

 

[Zoiders]

Ash tree - the slim long trunk is felled, trimmed and then split lengthways into four blanks of timber which are then rounded with a spoke shave to fashion staffs, pikes and spears.


The origin of the name "quarter staff".

Handy tree if you are planning a peasants revolt.