Sycamore id, Yew id questions & Birch question

[THOaken]

Hello, I have a few questions.

I would like to know if this is a Sycamore sapling. I was out in the woods today for around two and a half hours trying to find fallen Sycamore with which I could carve my next project, but had no luck. This might sound rather strange but I've never been able to spot Sycamore in all my walks, not at least until I've started scouting for it.

I found these leaves on the ground which looked like Sycamore leaves on my guide and also the bright green buds in Winter.

I'd also like to know if this is indeed a Yew tree. They are quite striking and unique, aren't they? I suspect it is a Yew.

And, lastly, I wonder about the furrowed and cracking bark on many of the fallen birch trees I've seen. I was trying to harvest some for a spoon carving, but they were either all very rotten or dried out. Is the surface like this due to low moisture content?

Thank you.

 

[Mesquite]

Yes
Yes
No, it's how the bark grows naturally. They're called Lenticles

 

[Harvestman]

Yes to the first, it is sycamore. Yes to the second, that is yew.

My computer is going too slowly to see your birch pictures.

 

[Clouston98]

Yes
Yes
No, it's how the bark grows naturally. They're called Lenticles

What he said .

 

[THOaken]

Thanks, everyone.

Another question... I saw that the leaves of that very same Sycamore were actually developing, which is rather strange. When does Spring start in the south of England? I assume it's March 20th, but I can't explain seeing open buds and tiny leaves in mid January.

 

[Harvestman]

If you look around, you will see that most trees have buds ready and waiting for sufficient day-length and warmth to throw out new leaves. Leaves take work and preparation, so the trees generally have their leaf buds ready to go from about now. Likewise all the spring plants are at least through the surface of the soil, just waiting for better weather for them to shoot up and flower.

Nature doesn't care what the date is. Plants just need suitable conditions and they will grow regardless.

 

[shaggystu]

Thanks, everyone.

Another question... I saw that the leaves of that very same Sycamore were actually developing, which is rather strange. When does Spring start in the south of England? I assume it's March 20th, but I can't explain seeing open buds and tiny leaves in mid January.

Maybe that particular Sycamore didn't get a calender for Christmas last year

 

[THOaken]

Indeed. I guess I was just surprised to see such developments so early. It was blistering snow in Scotland in March last year. I'm not used to such a warm climate

 

[didicoy]

I've been around trees long enough to not assume at first glance. Indeed the first tree & leaf is of the Acre species, but without a full ID no telling if it is Acer pseudoplatanus, the typical Sycomore introduced to the British isles and now naturalised. Many Acre sp do hybridize.

 

[ozzy1977]

Spring does not start on march 20th, nature has no calendar, it starts when the conditikns are correct in that area

 

[Macaroon]

And nothing, but nothing, has been caused by a lack of moisture for a good while now in the UK

 

[Harvestman]

And nothing, but nothing, has been caused by a lack of moisture for a good while now in the UK

I just had today's activities washed out

 

[Macaroon]

I'm getting water in over the tops of my rubber boots on a regular basis lately; the woodland up here is inundated and will remain so for a long time now, even if it stopped raining tomorrow............

Walk a mile and you use the same energy as would usually get you five!

 

[ozzy1977]

Nice and dry ever here

 

[THOaken]

I was looking at the few trees in my front garden and I came across this young tree with similar buds to that of the Sycamore. This wouldn't be Sycamore, would it? There are no leaves on the ground for me to tell if it is and it's in an odd place. I just noticed the buds.

Thanks.

 

[Mesquite]

Yup, that looks like a sycamore as well.

 

[ozzy1977]

Acer buds are in pairs opposite each other, the next pair are 90* to the first

 

[THOaken]

Yup, that looks like a sycamore as well.

Oh, that's very interesting... I've been looking for Sycamore to make a new wood carving, but I didn't want to cut down that sapling I found in the woods yesterday, but now one's in my garden.

A silly question, perhaps, but does wood perform all the same if it's a young tree? Does it matter at all or could I cut this down and use it for greenwood carving?

Thanks.

 

[Mesquite]

No difference at all that I know of so go get your saw out and chop it down.

Nice thing about that sycamore is you can treat it as a coppicing exercise as well

 

[Quixoticgeek]

Thanks, everyone.

Another question... I saw that the leaves of that very same Sycamore were actually developing, which is rather strange. When does Spring start in the south of England? I assume it's March 20th, but I can't explain seeing open buds and tiny leaves in mid January.

Spring is very much a variable concept. Traditionally Spring was heralded by the bloom of the black thorn (sloe), which you can easily spot in the hedge as large areas of white in the next month or so. But with the way the weather is these days, the reality is that it's a very movable target. The snow drops in my garden have been in flower since before Yule, and there are buds on the Oak, Apple, Grape, Hazel, and Blackcurrants in my garden. Where I've been out today, the hedgerows of East Kent are also showing lots of trees in bud. Has spring sprung? Could be. BBC's Springwatch on twitter has been sharing a lot of people's reports of the first signs of spring across the country for the last couple of weeks. This all said, February is usually when things get really cold, so it may be that we get a Winter in February, then another Spring...

March 20th/21st is the Spring Equinox, and while it may be the astronomical start of spring, the reality is that it has very little, if any bearing on the plants outside.

Incidentally, how big a lump of sycamore do you want? I have a few 3-4" diameter chunks left over from a felled tree that I could easily drop in the post.

J