17 - Trees, myths, legends and the science - Part Two

Episode 17 part 2 of the wildlife and photography podcast “Trees, myths legends and the science”. We continue where Episode 16 left off with another five tree species, facts, and recent scientific findings, about how woodlands and the trees in them work together.

Trees and the products we make from them have been part of our world and homes, for tens of thousands of years. We understand how important wood is when we look for furniture to make life comfortable. We burn wood to keep us warm in the cold or cook our food on. But we don’t really have a deep understanding of how a tree and woodland work. We have lived side by side for 3 mega-annum, but it is perhaps only in the last 100 years that we have begun to understand, just what a complex organism a tree is.

Chapter timings

Hazel                                     09:10

Horse Chestnut              16:30

Oak                                        22:48

Rowan                                  29:31

Scots Pine                          35:14

Organisations

Trees for life - https://treesforlife.org.uk/

Woodland Trust - https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/

American Forests - https://www.americanforests.org/

The World Wildlife Fund - https://www.wwf.org.uk/

Wildlife Conservation Society - https://www.wcs.org/

Social media 

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/MarkandJackyBloomfield/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/mandjbloomfield

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mandjbloomfield/

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/m&j-bloomfield/

Buzzsprout - https://wildlifeandphotography.buzzsprout.com/1491085

Donation

We have a dear friend who's husband passed away. In his memory, a grove of trees is being planted here in the highlands. If you would like to help with the planting of new trees you can make a donation here - https://treesforlife.org.uk/groves/g5891/

Transcript

0:11

Welcome. You're listening to Mark and Jacky's Wildlife and photography podcast. Explore and learn about the natural world and how to take pictures. This episode is all about wildlife and nature, understanding the natural world is important. It's what makes life on this planet possible. A podcast gives you insights into just how complicated and fascinating that world is. Episode 17 Trees, Myths, Legends and the Science part two. Welcome to Episode 17. This is part two of Our Trees Myth, Legend and Science Mini Series. This episode continues where Episode 16 left off. If you haven't listened to Episode 16 and you don't have time now, don't worry. It's not going to spoil this podcast for you. But why not catch up with the episode 16 later? Highly recommend. A great listening experience. Lots of information. We could of course, be just slightly biased as to its greatness. It's up to you. Okay. That's the plug for episode 16. Coming up, a lot more interesting things you didn't know about trees and about Hazel. Horse. Chestnut, Oak. Rowan and Scotts Pines. Lots of facts, myths about how and why they grow here in the UK. For many of us, a woodland or a forest is a great place for quiet contemplation, surrounded by the tranquility of the cathedral like trees. A place to relax. Take a gentle stroll, enjoy being outside, immersed in nature and the natural world. For a tree, it's a battle zone. A place of friends and enemies. A fight every day just to survive. You make allies to help you in times of hardship. And to be able to give one of your offspring a helping branch. To get them out of trouble and together to defeat a marauding enemy intent on eating your precious chemical factories, that give you food and life. It's been a hot, dry summer. More and more will occur due to climate change. You as a tree, are under stress, lack of water is threatening to leave you in a weakened state when the onslaught of winter comes to the wood. Your only option is to put out a call for help from the trees around you. Yes, trees can and do communicate with one another. Mostly via their roots. If a neighbor's roots touch yours, you can send them a direct message. Trees closest to you may be able to help you out. Although it's more common for a mother tree to help out one of her saplings. Records, however, show that unrelated trees will help each other out in hard times. Communicating with tree further away. Who's roots don't touch yours. Could be a problem. But for long distance communication you need a different system. Able to cover large areas. Mycorrhizal is an association between plant roots and beneficial fungi. Mycorrhizal fungi have a symbiotic relationship with trees. The trees provide food for the fungi. In return, one of the services the fungi provides is a communications pathway intertwined with the roots the fungal pathway is used by one tree to communicate to other trees. This wood wide web stretches for hundreds of meters throughout the wood. Recent research believes it may stretch for many kilometers. In fact, connecting a majority of the trees in a wood This linking helps trees to grow and prosper in the harsh environment that is a woodland. When attacked by a predator, using this comms channel can warn other trees to defend themselves. The defense is normally in the form of producing noxious substances in their leaves This makes them less palatable for insects or animals to eat. It isn't the only defense system, however. Current thinking is mast years where trees produce an abundance of edible seeds. A coordinated using this system. All connected trees produce a glut of fruit the following year. The glut overwhelms animals and insects that feed on them. With such numbers of seeds being produced in a small area. The chances are that a few of the precious seeds will get to make it to a sapling. A seed drops to the ground If the conditions are right and luck is on its side, it will have found a productive patch to call its own. The seed case will split and the roots and shoots will appear. It's now a seedling. The beginning of hopefully a long but perilous life. Seedlings with their nice fresh leaves provide a welcome meal for both animal and insect. But the sudden glut of food will have attracted grazers into the area as the amount of food reduces by the time the saplings start to appear. Lack of food is encouraging them to move off in search richer pickings. It's this time the seedlings will break ground and start growing leaves. The tree strategy is one of plenty and famine. If it works, there should be fewer mouths to feed at the right time. With luck, the seedling will make it through its first winter and in the spring become a sapling. It will continue to grow for ten, maybe 20 years or even more. It will then stop growing. The lack of light will restrict its growth The mature trees surrounding the sapling block out its light. Its growth is now restricted by the light levels. It has reached balance between growth and the amount of food it can produce. So there will sit growing only millimeters each year until one day disaster strikes. Perhaps a storm, fire or old age will overtake one of the mature trees surrounding the sapling. Down it will come crashing to the floor, its demise has produced a large hole in the canopy of leaves. Daylight is flooding in through the hole and onto the wooden floor below. This is the very chance everybody has been waiting years for. Mature trees take this opportunity to grow bigger. Branches will extend into the hole to find more light for the tree. The extra energy they provide enables the tree to grow bigger and stronger. But far below young saplings are in a race of their own. Basking, growing in the sunlight they now have a few years of growth. Each sapling competing to grow quickly upwards, to steal as much light as possible, and to shade out its competitors As the years pass, all will be plunged into shade again. The mature tree branches have closed the hole left by the fallen family member. For the lucky one or two saplings who have grown higher than the others. They'll be able to catch a little bit more light. It's a chance to cast a shadow on rivals starving them of daylight. The chance to get rid of the competition. Our saplings is now a semi mature tree. It will now have to sit, only growing very slowly in the gloom in the woodland floor, just waiting for disaster before one of the great trees surrounding it. Perhaps next time it'll be a chance to grow into a mature tree. The wood will now return to a period of stability. It could last for decades. Or it could be the next winter storm, which will bring another tree crashing to the ground. Out of perhaps millions of seeds. Perhaps only one or two make it to fully mature trees. The rest will have fallen by the wayside in the race to the sky. So on to the species in this episode. I'm going to start with Hazel. It's Hazel or Common Hazel Corylus avellana. Hazel has sort of snuck into this podcast on trees. At around 20 meters of height. They're almost tall enough to be a tree, Although; most examples you find are only about half that height. Trees are normally classified as having a single woody main stem with no branches on the lower levels. Also, a tree trunk is mainly dead tissue. It's just there to support the weight of the canopy above. So Hazel is not really a tree in the true sense. It managed to be included in this tree podcast because it has friends in high places as it's a member of the Birch family and a very important member. It was only right that he got included. Hazel is found throughout Europe. Its southern limit is Morocco in northern Africa, His yellow catkins are a sign that winter is coming to an end and woods is starting to awaken, as Hazel are one of the first trees into flower. Normally, by late February, in the southern UK. This tree has both male and female flowers. The pale yellow skins are about five centimeters in length and easy to spot. The female flowers, however, are not. They consist of tiny red strands, less than ten millimeters in length, which grow out of swellings on the twigs. If you're trying to get a photograph of a female hazel flower it's so easy to miss. You have to get very close to the branches to even see them. Wind pollinated hazel is self incompatible, which means they're unable to pollinate themselves. Female flowers require pollen from another unrelated tree to land on them for pollination, to occur. But once pollination has taken place, the female flower can start to mature. They grow to form hazelnuts or cobnuts, as they're also known. A pollinated flower will produce a cluster of hazelnuts containing three or four typically in a good year or maybe one, only in a poor year. They will be ripe and ready to eat by September or October. It would be unusual to find a woodland consisting only of Hazel unless it's been planted. You do find orchards of Hazel because we've been eating hazelnuts for a long time. Empty Hazel shows have been found in the fire harths of camps occupied by our Palaeolithic and Mesolithic ancestors. They must have valued the hazelnut as a valuable source of food indeed, as we still do today. Hazel was grown commercially for its nuts, up until the early 1900s here in the UK. Remnants of that farming practice still survive to the present day in Kent, in the south east corner of the UK. But sadly today, most all of that hazel or cob nuts, consumed in the UK are imported from Europe. Hazel supports so much wildlife as they also enjoy the flavor, the hazelnut. Our local red squirrel population has learnt the value of cracking the hard outer shell to get to the nuts inside. As a bit of an aside. There are no hazel trees local to us. When we put up the feeders. The local squirrel population had to learn to how to open this unfamiliar food packaging and after a few false starts and many slow but successful attempts, they started to get the hang of it. So much so that they can open a hazel nut using paws and teeth quicker than I can with a nutcracker. No, Hazel grows in our woodland, but with a bit of luck, that's all about to change. You see, red squirrels eat nuts but in early autumn and winter, but they also cash or bury the nuts. They have very good memories. And remember where they bury the nuts, but inevitably, some are forgotten. Being buried by a squirrel to hide its prize from others is a lucky break for the hazelnut. It's been planted next spring, or maybe the spring after the small hazel sapling may start to grow. Fingers crossed. And with the help of the red squirrels, we will have hazel growing wood in the near future. Hazel is short lived, reaching, perhaps 50 to 70 years of age. But as with trees that would tolerate pollarding, once pollarded, it can live much longer. Hazel timber has been used for many years. Thin branches can be twisted, which breaks down the fiber, allowing it to be bent easily. Small diameter branches can be used much like string.Twisting the twig allows you to tie a knot. Although we have no real proof I think it's been used as a binding for thousands of years. In the past into the present day, many thatched roofs, rely on Hazel's ability to be twisted and knotted. The cross bars which hold the reeds the straw are held in place by a staple formed traditionally from a hazel pole. As well as the roof. Hazel has been used for thousands of years in the construction of buildings, walls, using wattle and daub. Now wattle and daub is a method of making walls. By driving long poles close together into the ground. You weave thiner material in and out between the upright poles. You end up with a panel that looks like a like a woven basket. To make the walls wind and watertight. You use mud, clay or any other material that is squishy when wet and could be pushed in between the woven stakes. When dry mud or clay sets into a hard resistant wall. Buildings using wattle and daub are still being built, to this day. It remains an important construction method in many parts of the world. Some 6000 years after the first signs of its use were detected here in the UK. Hazelwood is a favorite for making staffs, whether for ritual self-defense, catching a sheep, or as a simple walking aid, easily bent or twisted by steam. Or its being coppiced you can encourage the growing stems to bend to form the tops of such things as walking sticks or shepherd's crook. Hazel plays an important role in Woodland. it may not be one of the tall, majestic trees reaching for the sky that we all see. Its small inconspicuous, hiding in the shadow of others. It's important nonetheless. It provides an underlayer, an understory that supports so many species with both a home and a food source. Horse. Chestnut, Aesculus hippocastanum. Or the European horse chestnut. Probably a well known tree to a lot of people. His large white and pink pyramids of flowers cover the whole tree in spring are an easy method of identification. He's also loved by small children in the UK. The seeds it produces in autumn. Horse chestnuts are a native tree to the Balkan Peninsular. The geology of the peninsular is one of mountain ranges. This altitude keeps things on the cool side for most of the year. This means that horse chestnut is at its happiest in a cool to moderate climate. It was introduced from Turkey into the UK in the 16th century. It was a favorite tree in parklands surrounding large houses. The colorful flowering habit made it a spectacular addition to many a large house. It didn't stay in the parklands, of the rich and influential for long. The colorful nature of the tree found it being planted in municipal parks and gardens. It became a favorite tree to be planted on village greens or in open spaces in our cities. Still, to this day, it's possible when you see some older trees and know the history of the area to predict where a large house once stood. Even if the structure of the house has long ago disappeared. Another popular fashion was to plant horse chestnut on both sides of a drive leading to an important building. These avenues of trees leave a hint of what may once have been. Not surprising then that it was taken by immigrating people to other parts of the world, planted to remind people of the old country prehaps. Today it's found in parks and gardens in the cool region of the Americas, Australia and New Zealand. A long live tree with examples reaching 300 years or more. A good specimen reaching 40 meters in height. But spring is when the tree shows its flamboyant side. The whole tree is covered in pyramid spikes of white and cream flowers. The flowers are a great source of nectar for insects who in turn pollinate the trees. All that pollination is turned into seed. Each pollinated flower will produce one seed. Come the autumn, the trees are covered in green, spiky balls about two to three centimeters in diameter on a longish stalk. The green spiky husk, is there to allow the seed to develop inside and to protect the seed. But as the seed gets to maturity, long stalks detach from the tree and the husk falls to the ground. If the fall doesn't crack, the husk being separated from nourishment from the tree will cause the husk to split open, revealing a dark brown glossy seed with a creamy top about two centimeters in diameter. The fabled conker. Loved by so many children. The game of conkers originated in the middle of the 18th century. As a child's game, children would go out and collect conkers form a hole from the top to the bottom of the conker. Through the hole a piece of string 30 to 40 centimeters long would be threaded. Conkers is a game for two players. The contestants stand facing each other. One holds their conker by the end of the string at arm's length. The second contestant also holding the end of their string in one hand, and conker in the other takes aim at the suspended conker. A quick downward swinging motion and with, skill and a lot of luck, the conquers strike each other. The contestants then reverse roles. The object of the game is to break your opponent's conker. Each contestant taking turns, until the winner emerges. This provides many happy hours of fun and a certain amount of controversy. As well as providing small children with hours of fun. Conkers have been used for other things. The inner creamy seed can be ground to make flower used by the poor in years gone by when flour was an expensive commodity. Cordite used in munitions was needed in vast quantities to supply colonial troops during the First World War. Conkers do contain a major ingredient needed in the manufacture of cordite, namely acetone. Factories were built conkers gathered to aid the war effort. For a time, horse chestnut became an important part of the war effort. Until it was found that the amount of acetone being produced was not enough to supply the ever increasing demand for bullets and shells. And then when maize and potatoes were found to produce greater amounts of acetone far easier, the horse chestnut was dropped as part of the war effort. However, it appears in the Second World War, the horse chestnut was once again considered for use in producing acetone. But as before, the idea was abandoned, and the horse chestnut went back to its role of entertaining young children. Today, as with many trees in the UK, disease is threatening the future of the horse chestnut tree. A moth called Cameraria ohridella, or the horse Chestnut Leaf Miner is endangering tree populations. Adult months lay their eggs in newly opened leaves. As the leaves develop, they feed on the inside of the leaf. By late summer most of the leaves, in infected trees will be brown and no longer able to photosynthesis food for the tree. It looks for all the world as though autumn has come early to the trees. Although the moth doesn't kill the tree outright. What it does do is to weaken the tree as the years pass. The tree becomes undernourished and susceptible to infections or wind damage in the high winds of winter. Oak, English, Quercus robur. The king of the UK's Woodland Or is it Cessile Oak, Quercus petraeal?. Yes, we are blessed with two species of oak here in the UK. If you want to tell the difference between the two species, you have to look at how the leaves. And later in the year the acorns are attached to the tree. English oak or pedunculate oak has leaves that have little or no visible stalk attaching them to the tree. Sessile Oak, on the other hand. The leaves are attached by a longer stalk. In the autumn, when the trees set seed and produce acorns, it's the other way round The acorns in the English oak appear on stalks, but the acorns of the Sessile Oak have very short or no stalks The other difference is that Sessile Oak tends to grow in cooler areas. Normally you find them on higher ground thats a bit cooler than the surrounding countryside. Both species are deciduous and very long lived. Trees in Lithuania and Bulgaria that have been Pollarded are estimated to be 1500 years old. The oldest maiden tree, or one that has not been pollarded is in Germany its about 700 to 800 years old. The Bowthrope and knightwood oaks in the UK are estimated to be about a thousand years old. English Oak is native to most of western Europe and Russia. Again, it's been introduced into South Africa, Western Canada, New Zealand and a few states in the United States of America. Oak is wind pollinated in early spring, long yellow calkins releasing pollen into the air once the acorns are ripe in autumn they fall to the ground. It's only a mature tree that produces acorns. A tree may be 50 or more years old before it produces its first acorn. And as the tree ages, it may give up producing acorns altogether. Most acorns that fall to the ground are eaten. Pannage is an old tradition where pigs were released into woodland in autumn. This is to find the fallen acorns, to fatten them up for Christmas. Oaks support an amazing diversity of plant and animal life, supporting the greatest number of species of any tree. It seems strange that all the food the trees produce in the form of acorns. Few, if any of the fallen ones, will actually become mature trees. The main way oak distributes seed is providing food for jays and squirrels. Jay's are members of the crod family. These brightly colored birds pick acorns from the trees and take them away to bury. Squirrels also take acorns and bury them. They are creating a store of food to last them through the winter. Fortunately for the tree, the Jays and squirrels forget or are unable to use their carefully gathered stash. Buried in good soil some distance away from the parent tree. It is the best way of ensuring the next generation of woodland. The second part of the English oak scientific name robur means strength in Latin. The timber from oak trees is renowned for its strength. It was the timber of choice for the building of houses and ships and to meet this demand. Tens of thousands of oaks had to be felled each year in the UK. It wasn't until the 19th century when iron became the preferred shipbuilding material and bricks became more affordable. Our need for oak diminished. Great forests of oak were planted to meet these ship and house building needs. When you think that it takes about 150 years before an oak is really usable, it certainly was a long term project. As well as timber for construction, oak was used in the tanning industry. His bark used for the curing of raw leather to make it pliable and usable. A small wasp lays its eggs on an oak tree. These eggs cause the tree in irritation and the tree forms a gall to surround the egg. Up until just recently, the British Acts of Parliament were printed on vellum. The prepared calfskin probably tanned using oak bark. The writing on the vellum would have been in black ink made from the galls collected from oak trees. It goes back even further. Oak inks have been used since at least the time of the Roman Empire, and it was the meaning used for writing any document in the Western world. The Oak Apple day apples, or another word for galls was a public holiday on the 29th May. It commemorate the restoration of the English monarchy in May 1660 the day marked when villagers could collect dead and fallen wood and also greenwood as long as it was no bigger than a man's forearm. Mythology and the oak seemed to go hand in hand since the time of the Druids, who performed spiritual rituals in oak groves and revered the mistletoe that would grow from an oak. Farward to kings and Roman emperors, all who wore crowns of Oak leaves. As a spiritual tree in history, couples would wed under an oak to ensure a happy and fruitful marriage. Later on, bows of oak were hung in church porches when a wedding was to take place. The Yule log burned at Christmas or Yuletide as it was known before Christianity was it traditionally an oak log. The remains of the log would be kept in the dwelling until next year's celebration of the Midwinter Solstice. To this day were still reliant on oak. Houses are still framed using oak as they have been for centuries, and whiskey is still matured in oak barrels, as are many of the spirits we consume. English, oak, a king of our lands. Rowan Sorbus aucuparia, can also be called the Mountain Ash, Rowan Berry. A small tree growing between five and 50 meters in height there're one of the shortest lived trees in our temperate climate. It is unusual to find a specimen over 80 or so years of age. There are true pioneering species, fast growing and able to grow in some very remote precarious places. Native to the UK Rowan grows in most parts of the UK. It is, however, more common in the north and west of England and of course throughout Scotland. It's also found in most parts of Europe, North Africa to the east. Its range extend to Asia and northern China. Rowan, is one of the last trees in the tree line. A tree line is an imaginary line above which you don't find trees growing. The tree line varies in height due to ambient weather and temperatures. On mountains here in Scotland, the tree line is about a thousand meters above sea level. When you look at a rocky mountain slope, and you spot a tree growing halfway up a cliff or on the steep sides of a stream, chances are you looking at a Rowan. Rowan have found a way of keeping out to reach the likes of red deer and sheep by going in places where the juicy leaves are out of reach to these grazing mammals. Rowan's deciduous growing fresh leaves, every spring. After the leaves have appeared, small, creamy white flowers grow in large clusters each flower is about one centimeter across clusters can contain up to 250 individual flowers. It's about 15 years before a tree becomes mature enough to start producing these flowers, and then the berries. The flowers have a very strong, sweet smell. This strong smell attracts flying insects. They come to the flowers to gather nectar while the insects gather the nectar, they also get pollen stuck to them. When the insect visits another flower to collect more nectar, it'll be in position to transfer some of the hitchhiking pollen to another tree. In this way, individual trees become pollinated. Each fertilize flower in late summer produces a bright red berry, about ten millimeters in diameter, and each berry contains between two and eight seeds. The berries can and do fall from the trees, but this is unusual. It is most common for berries to be eaten by birds. Members of the thrush family love the berries and perform some amazing acrobatics trying to reach the end of the branches. Once eaten, the berries pass through the bird's stomach and the skin in the pulp surrounding the seeds dissolve, providing the birds with a rich source of food. However the seeds themselves are not affected by the stomach acids. In time they pass through the bird to be deposited in bird droppings, in another location. Deposited seeds lay for a winter or two before germinating. They need cold and freezing weather to break down the hard seed coat that protected the seeds in the bird stomach. Rowan are another tree that has mast years. This is when trees in a location provide heavier than normal crops of berries. In the years between mast events, seed production tends to be light, if any produced at all. One thing in the Rowan's armory, this is very tolerant to shade it's able to grow under most trees as witness in our wood. The understory of Rowan saplings growing under birch trees. Rowan can carve a place to grow in many different environments, which all goes towards making a successful pioneer tree species. Birds love the autumn, glut of Rowan berries, as do people. They have been rich source of vitamin C if a somewhat sour one. Picked berries can also be made into jam. The addition of lots of sugar tends to counteract the sourness of the berries. I should explain. I call it jam. Always been jam to me. You may know it as fruit preserves or jelly. Yes, I know there is a technical difference between jam fruit preserves and jelly, but it's always been jam to me since I was a kid. Rowan Timber is not highly prized for commercial use. It's been used in making of walking sticks and turning small items. It is never been an important commercial timber crop. Rowan, however, is steeped in mythology and has a rich history. In Norse Mythology. The first woman was made from Rowan. The first man was made from Ash. The red color of the berries was believed protection against magic. Its white flowers also showing it was a tree of the goddes Faerie. People used to carry small round twigs to ward off witchcraft. In the highlands there are strong taboos surrounding Rowan. It is unlucky to chop down a Rowan or to use any part of the tree except the berries. Trees were planted close to dwellings, protecting them from evil and witchcraft. its still possible to see to this day the influence Rowan has had in the Highlands. The Gaelic name for Rowan, his choroon. It's a name that crops up in many place names here in the Highlands. Scots Pine Pinus sylvestris is our last tree, but perhaps one closest to our hearts. The Scots pine, here in the UK, it's a native species. Pollen has been found that dates the trees presents back to the last ice age. In modern day UK is now only native to Scotland, has been planted as a commercial timber crop in Scotland and in other parts of the UK. But naturally occurring forests of Scots pine are now only found in Scotland and are very rare. Whilst in other parts of the world you find Scots pines northwards to above the Arctic Circle, southwards to southern Spain, westwards on the western edges of Scotland and to the east in eastern Siberia. It's found in one third of the boreal forest circling the globe. Scots Pine is an evergreen conifer it has needle like leaves instead of the large flat leaves of abroad leaf. These leaves are able to stand the rigors of winter and the majority remain on the tree all year round. This classifies the tree as an evergreen. In Europe, growing up to 36 meters in height. Whilst here in Scotland, 20 to 25 meters is much more the norml. The remaining natural Scots pine forest in Scotland are collectively known as the Caledonian Forest. The pines are a keystone species for this type of forest. The Caledonian Forest once covered most of Scotland, perhaps one and a half million hectares. By some estimates. Some 6000 years ago, it would have been at its greatest extent since those times the forest has been in retreat. Today it's just over 1% or 17,000 hectares. That remains of the Caledonian Forest. Its survival is constantly under threat because of the fragmented nature of its habitat. Around 30 to 40 pockets of forest remain going to make up the 1%. Fragmentation is the biggest challenge facing the Caledonian Forest today. Human activity has left us with pockets that are not large enough to remain sustainable for natural regeneration. If the area is too small, it cannot support the wide range of flora and fauna that rely on the forest for food and shelter. The tide is turning, however, in Scotland. Currently there are a number of ongoing schemes, all with a purpose to link up areas of the Caledonian Forest and to protect what is currently left with replanting and management. Maybe in a couple of lifetimes, our descendants may be able to enjoy the forest, that it's getting back to its former health. Living naturally between 250 to 300 years old. Some specimens have been known to live for over 500 years. The specimen in Finland has been dated to over 800 years old. When we visit the Caledonian Forest we see what are called Granny Pines, the oldest trees in the forest. It's humbling to think perhaps they were saplings at the time of the Jacobite rising in the battle of Culloden. Male and female flowers grow on the same tree. Appearing in late spring, the female flowers in the higher branches the male flowers tend to be on the lower branches just below the female flowers. Pollination is by wind. The female flowers will transform into fully grown cones over the next two years. It can be sometimes confusing when looking at a Scots pine as a single tree can have cones different ages all on the same tree. By April any ripe cones still on the tree, will open on a humid day. Tiny wing seeds released from perhaps 2000 or 3000 cones per tree. Carried by the wind they disperse over a wide area. Scots pine seeds need a lot of light to germinate so only the seeds that have traveled away from the mother tree will grow into seedlings. It has mycorrhizal association with fungi. The fungi and the tree are able to help each other, the fungi taking carbohydrates and sugar from the trees. While in turn, the trees get nutrients and minerals from the fungi to help them grow. Being around for a long time allows other wildlife to evolve and exploit the riches the trees bring. Red squirrels, crested tents, tree creepers and woods ants all make use of the trees. Species such as the capCappercaillie and black grouse live in open pine forests, feeding on new buds and shoots of the pine. Scottish cross bills found nowhere else in the world confined themselves to pine woods. It has a specially adapted to beak to open the scales of pine cones to access the seeds inside. When all ships were made of wood the tall straight flexible trunks were used in the making of masts and spars. Having a high sap content like most pines do, Scots pines is slow to decay. Having your ship water tight is a very im a very important asset and the pine resin was used as chalking. Chalking is any substance pushed in between planks of wood to seal the cracks and make you watertight. Druids in the past believe that Scots Pines was a symbol of immortality. Lighting large bonfires constructed of pine, at this winter solstice, Glades of Scotts Pines were decorated with lights and shiny objects, a representation of divine light. Perhaps these customs have given rise to the current Christmas tree decorations. Towering above most other trees. The Scotts Pines has been used by Highlanders as a marker. At one time they marked the burial of a chieftain. In parts where Scots pine was an uncommon tree. They were used to mark ancient tracks and crossroads. If all goes well with rewilding and we keep disease away from these trees, the future is looking a lot better for the Scots pine. Long may they stand over the Highlands. We're coming to the end of these episodes about trees. Don't forget, if you haven't listened to episode 16, give it a go, it has lots of information. One of the great things about doing a podcast is you get to find out a lot of new things in the research and checking our facts for these two episodes. We've learned so much. Some of what we know and have learned has been included in these episodes, but there's a whole lot more that we could have included but didn't have the space to do so. Our hope is that you've learned something, too. They have a better understanding of forests and woodlands and what a dynamic environment they truly are. Our aim, as always, is to take you on a journey to discover facts that you may have forgotten or didn't know. If we've managed that, then we'll be very happy. When you next visit a place of trees take time to look about, to see what's there and the different species of tree, that call, the place you're visiting home. Yes, they are just trees. But look beyond and see a world we know so little about, although we think we know everything. Every day, scientists are making major discoveries, about trees and their environment. It boggles the mind, to wonder what discoveries they will make in just the lifetime of one tree. Our tree based habitats are one of the best known, but least known parts of our world. We need to promote the care and refurbishment of established areas. We need to restore landscapes that once, or could now sustain tree populations. Not only because trees are good for the planet, taking in carbon and giving back oxygen we breathe. They also sustain vast amounts of biodiversity and natural richness, which is a driving engine for our planet's biosphere. We ignore the loss of trees and the reduction in biodiversity at the risk of our own demise. If you would like to know more, there's lots of additional information in the show notes about where you can start to learn more about trees and some of the organizations we support who help to maintain and increase our woodlands and forests. If you would like to get in contact with us, please reach out to us on social media. The links are also in the show notes. Thank you for your time and for listening to our podcast. My name is Mark Bloomfield. You've been listening to a Wildlife and photography podcast produced by M and J Bloomfield for more information, details about us and our work, visit our website and enjoy mandjbloomfield dot com. Thank you for listening and we hope you join us again soon. Chun an sin, mar sin leat.