Category Archives: Trees

Walking in the leafy fields surrounding Quarr Abbey, on the north of the Island, the Ranger discovered a spectacular and sorry sight: a great veteran field-oak had succumbed to the recent storms and split asunder, with both sides having crashed into the ground.

One side is broken off entirely, and the fragment that is still standing is profoundly fractured. In the season the field is normally the home to beef cattle, and so any regrowth from the stump will be so low as to be browsed off. So it’s unlikely that the tree will long survive this last, dramatic chapter in a life that has spanned centuries. Continue reading →

This seasonal submission from a Ranger’s Blog reader suggests a new historical and literary way to play the traditional game of conkers. All suggestions for variant rules will be considered!

William Duke of Normandy was quite content in France playing ‘Conkers” with local dignitaries. However in 1065 during a severe storm, his last chestnut tree was struck by lightening and died. It is for this reason that in 1066 he invaded England, as England was reputed to posses the finest Conkers. This is why today William I is also known as William the Conkerer. Continue reading →

Look at all those cherry trees. Lovely blossom, eh? Cherry is these days an almost ubiquitous tree in urban environments, and for a few short weeks in spring casts a delightful pink haze across our towns and cities.

This year the Natural History Museum has started a survey of cherry trees, because they’re not all the same. Cherry trees are really easy to spot, especially at this time of year, and there are some good online resources to help ID them including a very impressive interactive cherry identification key, with a slightly more practical print-out-and-keep version too. It’ll be fun to see what sort of cherry you’ve got in your street, park or woods; and also helps with a wider scientific project to study urban trees. So go on, check out a cherry today! (thanks to Jon Heuch via UKTC)

This week saw the inquest into the death of a woman on the Isle of Wight who ate the deathcap mushroom Amanita phalloides and died.

Amphon Tuckey died in 2008, two days after eating a meal of cooked Amanita with her sister-in-law and niece, Mrs Kannika Tuckey, who survived despite becoming gravely ill. Both women were from Thailand. Deathcaps are responsible for 90% of all fatal mushroom poisonings in the UK and are said to have caused the deaths of both Roman Emperor Claudius in 54AD and Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI in 1740. They look innocuous enough, are pleasant to eat, and once you’ve eaten enough – and a small amount is enough – you’re highly likely to die an unpleasant death and no treatment will save you. But despite this common fungus growing pretty much everywhere, incidents of Amanita poisoning, let alone deaths are almost unknown. So what went wrong? Why did Mrs Tuckey die? Back in 2008 when this incident occurred, I was indirectly involved, as it involved a wild species (possibly) on council land. At that time I had do do some very quick research into Amanita poisoning and the risks thereof to satisfy concerned senior types who were advocating the immediate elimination of all fungi in public places and other such unachievable goals. Whilst I was easily able to calm down the over-reactors, something else I discovered on the way was very interesting. Now the inquest is over and done with I thought it might be time to bring it out. It has something to do with Mrs Tuckey’s country of origin. Continue reading →