These are the flowers of an oak tree. Oaks are monoecious; they have male flowers and female flowers on the same tree.
Continue reading “Oak flowers”Oak flowers
The Trefoil Oak
by Ian Bushell
It was a bit of a miserable drippy morning but eventually we sorted things out. The Trefoil Guild and the two metre English oak tree [Quercus robur] they have gifted to the reserve to commemorate Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee arrived at the top of Simpsons Field at 10:30am, as planned.
Continue reading “The Trefoil Oak”Haloing oak trees
Veteran trees
A veteran oak tree is usually somewhere between 200 and 400 years old. These are trees that have local historical significance or that play important roles in a particular biosphere or landscape. In the reserve we have many notable and veteran oak trees, numbered and mapped.
Continue reading “Haloing oak trees”Predation
Hoping for a pine marten, a top predator, to move into the reserve might seem a strange idea but predation is an important factor in ecological dynamics. The lack of predators is one of the reasons the UK’s biosphere is so unbalanced and in such danger.
Continue reading “Predation”More about our oaks
The reserve provides habitat for all kinds of wasps. This year, despite the drought, must have been a good year for gall wasps because our oak trees are showing a goodish crop of the various round galls we call oak apples.
Continue reading “More about our oaks”
Fact of the week
In Britain we have two native species of oak which look very similar. This is how to tell them apart: pedunculate oaks (Quercus robur) produce acorns which hang on a stalk or peduncle while the acorns of the sessile oak (Quercus petraea) are stalkless.
Left: sessile oak; right: pedunculate oak. Header image: the oak by the bridge between Sleepers and Cornfield photographed by Ian Bushell
Ecosystem engineers
Ecosystem engineers are organisms that modify their environment. They increase biodiversity by creating habitat for species other than themselves. The oak apple, caused by a tiny wasp called Biorhiza pallida, is just such an engineered environment.
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What happened to Oak 5552?
Sometimes, healthy and mature trees shed large branches during the summer for no apparent reason. This is what is known as Summer Branch Drop Syndrome and it is what happened to Oak 5552 in August of this year.
Continue readingCorrection
More about oak 5552
Ian Bushell writes:
Unfortunately, in late August oak 5552 suffered from Summer Branch Drop when at least two limbs fractured and fell.
Continue reading “Correction”
Winter oak
A beautiful photograph from Ian Bushell of the pollarded oak tree by the footbridge between Cornfield and Sleepers.
These are spangle galls on an oak leaf.
Continue readingEcosystem engineers
Ecosystem engineers are organisms that modify their environment. They increase biodiversity by creating habitat for species other than themselves. The oak apple, caused by a tiny wasp called Biorhiza pallida, is just such an engineered environment.
Continue reading “Ecosystem engineers”Silk button galls
There are silk button galls on the underside of oak leaves all over the park.
Continue reading “Silk button galls”
More about oak galls
This strange object is a knopper gall on an oak tree, photographed in the reserve yesterday by Ian Bushell. At this time of year, our many oak trees are sporting a whole variety of galls.
Continue readingOak factoid
There are 2,300 species associated with oak, 320 of which are found only on oaks. Here is a gallery of wildlife photographed in the park’s oaks.
Header picture: Oak Bridge by DKG
Silk button galls
There are silk button galls on the underside of oak leaves all over the park.
Continue reading “Silk button galls”
More about oak galls
Yesterday’s post about oak apples prompted questions. Here is more information about some of the oak gall wasps that induce oak trees into producing such strange growths.
Continue readingOak gall ink
More about our oaks.
Continue reading “Oak gall ink”Oak number 5526
Message from Ian Bushell.
Sad to report that Oak number 5526, dubbed Stoat Oak, in the hedge line between Corn and Sleeper Fields has suffered a two limb loss – the large upper branch taking out the lower one on its descent. The fallen branch is safe and not impinging on the hard path.
No idea why; admitted it is in full leaf and thus heavy but there has been no wind or rain in the last couple of days. This tree lost a limb about the same place about 10 years ago. Don’t think there have been any other losses in the park this summer.
More from Ian about the park’s oak trees:
Oak flowers
These are the flowers of an oak tree. Oaks are monoecious; they have male flowers and female flowers on the same tree.
Continue reading “Oak flowers”The Park’s Veteran Oaks
By Ian Bushell
Southwick Country Park has a number of veteran oaks and ten ancient oaks. There are no hard and fast rules about when and why an oak tree becomes classified as veteran or ancient; in different environments and soils oaks grow at different rates and girth is only an indicator. Here the underlying Oxford clay provides an excellent medium and the trees are large and shapely.
Continue reading “The Park’s Veteran Oaks”
More about oak galls
Yesterday’s picture of an artichoke gall among oak tree leaves produced questions and enquiries from our readers via Messenger, Facebook and our website’s below-the-line comments column. Here is more information about oak gall wasps.
Continue readingOak flowers
These are the flowers of an oak tree. Oaks are monoecious; they have male flowers and female flowers on the same tree.
Continue reading “Oak flowers”
Southwick Country Park Nature Reserve 