Couple of IDs please

[ganstey]

Went for a bimble in some local woods today, and came across a couple of things I couldn't identify.

First is a tree with very obvious and striking horizontal bands on its bark. It was a mature tree, and the leaves were far too high for me to see properly, but their silhouette was sort of beech-like. This wood has common english trees, mainly beech, birch, sycamore, and larch, together with holly and hawthorn. But this was nothing like any of them.

Then I spotted some berries close to the ground. There were two separate 'stalks', one on either side of a small hawthorn. They were growing out of the soil, and were surrounded by ivy:

Any ideas?
G

 

[Toddy]

The berries look like Cuckoo pint to me.
http://www.the-tree.org.uk/EnchantedForest/WoodlandFlowers/lordsandladies.htm

Cherry is sometimes ringed like that on it's trunk but mine are redder.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[ganstey]

The berries look like Cuckoo pint to me.
http://www.the-tree.org.uk/EnchantedForest/WoodlandFlowers/lordsandladies.htm

Thanks Toddy, that seems to fit.

Cherry is sometimes ringed like that on it's trunk but mine are redder.

Guess I'll have to keep an eye on it and try and get more diagnostic info as the seasons roll by.

Cheers
G

 

[Rosco]

looks like poplar to me

 

[fred gordon]

I'm with Toddy on this one. I saw Cuckoo Pint in France a couple of years ago and it looked just like that.
I also think the tree might be cherry. They often are redder than that but I have sen some that are greyer.

 

[ganstey]

I also think the tree might be cherry. They often are redder than that but I have sen some that are greyer.

Cheers for that. I'll keep an eye on it over the coming months.

I'm off on my hols to far northern Norway now (Lofoten). See you all in a week or so.

G

 

[Makar]

Cuckoo pint leaves look quite like the edible sheeps sorrel, although are reasonably poisonous. I remember many years ago stating to a seasonal ranger that the leaves that she was looking at were in fact lords & ladies or cuckoo pint, she thought she would try them anyway as she was convinved they were sheeps sorrel or sourocks in Scotland. I watched over her as she spat for the next ten minutes in disgust. I suppose I should have stopped her...

 

[robwolf]

the first pic is wild cherry if you look at the buds they are light brown and clustered oak trees and cherries do this a good id hint the other is lords and ladies

 

[ganstey]

the first pic is wild cherry if you look at the buds they are light brown and clustered oak trees and cherries do this a good id hint the other is lords and ladies

Cheers Rob, I'll keep an eye on the tree and see what, if anything, develops.
G

 

[robwolf]

did you know you can eat the sap of cherry it was once used by native american indians as a sweet , because its a gum insted of a resin its water soluble,and it melts in your mouth mind you it doesnt taste sweet it tastes like rinsted pastles

 

[ganstey]

did you know you can eat the sap of cherry it was once used by native american indians as a sweet , because its a gum insted of a resin its water soluble,and it melts in your mouth mind you it doesnt taste sweet it tastes like rinsted pastles

Hmmm, interesting. I'll have a closer look next time I'm in that bit of the wood.

Cheers
G

 

[dwardo]

I was tought that there were two cherries we tend to see, sargent cherry - silver bark and japanese cherry - red barked. Probably just an old "husbands tale" as it was an old bloke that told me

 

[chickenofthewoods]

Cuckoo pint leaves are very superficially similar in shape to Sorrel, but it's really not hard to tell them apart.

Common Sorrel
http://www.dkimages.com/discover/previews/962/85024113.JPG

Cuckoo Pint
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...0px-Cuckoo_Pint_Arum_italicum_Leaf_3264px.JPG

As you can see, the cuckoo pint has deep ridges in the leaf that are of a different pattern to those on the Sorrel and even when it has no varigations it is usually much larger & darker in colour with a more distinctly angular/triangular shape. Where it's growing is also a good indicator as it prefers shade whereas Sorrel likes an open grassy situation.

 

[Mang]

did you know you can eat the sap of cherry it was once used by native american indians as a sweet , because its a gum insted of a resin its water soluble,and it melts in your mouth mind you it doesnt taste sweet it tastes like rinsted pastles

Hey, I've just collected some that's oozed out into little amber like balls. I was going to see if it burned well but now I know to try it!