Treespotting - Autumn Colour: Part 1
So it's Fall, the leaves are changing colour on the trees and you're strolling down the boulevard in the late afternoon sunshine enjoying the display but wondering what the trees are.
Here's part one of my run down of the commonly seen trees of the Lower Mainland - featuring the Common Horse Chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum), the Oak (Quercus spp.), the Mountain Ash (Sorbus aucuparia) and the American Ash (Fraxinus americana). Stay tuned for part two!
1. COMMON HORSE CHESTNUT / CONKER TREE
Aesculus hippocastanum
The fully shelled conker (left), leaf (middle) and fruit (right) of the Horse Chestnut
“For luck you carried a horse chestnut and a rabbit's foot in your right pocket. The fur had been worn off the rabbit's foot long ago and the bones and the sinews were polished by the wear. The claws scratched in the lining of your pocket and you knew your luck was still there.” -- Ernest Hemmingway
Perhaps most commonly known for its conkers - joy of kids everywhere - the Common Horse Chestnut, or Conker Tree as it was affectionately called by my friends growing up, is a common sight in parks around Mainland Vancouver. Whilst the conkers may be coveted by the squirrels that dash around the trees this time of year, they contain the toxic glucoside aesculin and are therefore not for human consumption. There are a few theories surrounding why the horse chestnut is named as such: one of them is that the base of the leaf stalk, when detatched carefully from the point at which it meets the branch, looks very much alike to a horses hoof and shoe.
In homeopathic medicine, uses for this tree include "treating feelings of physical tiredness and heaviness in the body... (as well as) all types of physical pain... swelling in the legs...." as an extract, treatment of skin conditions,rheumatic pains, coughs and diarrhea. In superstition, conkers are reported to keep spiders away if kept in the corners of the room.
On the online Druid Horoscope, a person of Horse Chestnut temprament has a "...well developed sense of justice. He's sensitive and might be lack of confidence. He may be tolerant, but not stubborn, and can be very causious and polite.
Moral means much to him, and is somewhat puritant even for of his certain polity"
2. OAK TREE
Quercus spp.
Leaf (left) and acorn (right) of the Red Oak or Quercus rubra
"Every oak tree started out as a couple of ntus who decided to stand their ground." -- Unknown
Another well known tree in the parks and avenues of the Lower Mainland, the Oak is a regal beauty with a long history of folklore in Europe. There are quite a few different types of oaks to be found about: the Swamp Oak, the English Oak and the Fastigiate Oak to name a few - but to make things simple, if it has an acorn and that familiar looking pinnate leaf - it's an Oak! Whilst edible, acorns can be a little bitter, but in Korea, they make an edible jelly from them called dotorimuk and apparantly they are fairly nutritious...
Acorns have uses in love magic and divination and were revered by the Druids as well as the Romans, who both made necklaces out of the hard brown nut. An old British superstition states that carrying an acorn around in one's pocket can help to prevent old age (cheaper than skin cream!). Regarded by Socrates as an oracle tree, the Oak also has ties to Christianity and Freemasonry, as well as - some say - offering protection from magic (tying two twigs of the oak tree together with red thread into an even armed cross is said to be a potent protection charm).
Oaks can live for 200 years or more - kind of makes you feel small when you plant that acorn!
3. MOUNTAIN ASH / ROWAN
Sorbus aucuparia
"Oh the Oak and the Ash and the Bonny Ivy tree / They florish at home in my own country" -- Old English Melody
A member of the rose family (Rosaceae) these relatively small, often gnarly looking trees bear bright red fruit this time of year - this fruit will ferment on the tree and provide a sweet treat for birds in the winter months (some birds actually appear to be flying drunk after consuming a few of the berries!). The leaves of this tree are small and compound with thirteen to seventeen leaflets on each leaf. In Newfoundland, popular folklore states that a heavy crop of berries on the Mountain Ash means a harsh winter ahead.
Mountain Ash berries - when eaten off the tree - taste very bitter (almost too bitter to be palatable) and really shouldn't be eaten as such as they contain parasorbic acid which can cause indigestion as well as kidney damage. Still, the berries of this tree are used in cooking and alcohol making as well as flavouring and bizzarely enough - as a substitute for coffee beans.
The Rowan also has a history in magic and folklore as a protective tree - one that protects the user from enchantment and witchcraft. Also suitable for carving, the wood of the Mountain Ash is said to make good walking sticks, and has also been used for divining.
4. AMERICAN ASH
Fraxinus americana
"Oh the Oak and the Ash and the Bonny Ivy tree / They florish at home in my own country" -- Old English Melody
Similar to the Mountain Ash in its compound leaves, the American Ash is nonetheless unrelated - as it is in the Oleaceae (Olive!) family rather than the Rosaceae family. Compared to its Mountain companion, the American Ash is a far taller tree with longer, bigger, broader and pointier leaflets that turn a wonderful buttery yellow in the Fall.
Whilst not necessarily having the long history of magic that the Mountain Ash does, the American Ash is a useful tree and is used to make baseball bats, flooring and furniature among other products - it also just looks dazzlingly beautiful on a sunny day this time of year.