Indian Bean trees
If you are in The Walks this week, it is worth stopping to admire the Indian Bean trees in flower (Catalpa bignonioides). They are not from India but the southern USA. Pick up a ‘Tree Trail’ leaflet and learn more about our excellent tree collection.
Cormorant
In the past, UK Cormorants tended to breed on coastal cliffs and offshore islands, but might visit inland rivers and lakes to feed in wintertime. Increasingly they now also breed at inland sites. (One theory is that the inland breeding birds are actually a sub-species that has spread from continental Europe.) Cormorants are primarily fish […]
Fungi
The Walks has a wonderful collection of trees, many of them known to have been there since the 19th century. Older trees often have prominent fungal brackets, which themselves can be very old. New research is establishing that fungi can be present in a tree throughout its entire life – sometimes even present in the […]
Mistletoe
In The Walks you can see an exceptional display of Mistletoe (Viscum album). It seems to grow mainly in the lime trees, although you can also see it in poplar, willow, maple and sorbus trees and traditionally it has been associated with apple orchards – mainly in the west of England. Nowadays it appears to […]