On:
In: art

The authors are keen to include some drawings of the feathers of British woodland birds in The New Sylva. Can you help by providing a beautiful feather from a jay or tawny owl, a woodcock or perhaps a great spotted woodpecker? We are looking for the attractive feathers of oneContinue Reading

On:
In: book development

This week we held our first full editorial meeting with editors from Bloomsbury. It is still two years until The New Sylva is published, and probably nine months before the editorial, design and marketing teams ‘launch’ the book within Bloomsbury. Between now and then some critical decisions need to beContinue Reading

On:
In: black poplar, photo

Black poplar Populus nigra (subspecies betulifolia) is a tree native to Britain and well-adapted to our floodplains. The species is widespread across the country but never common. Black poplars often lean, and when in leaf their characteristic diamond-shaped leaves (cuneate leaf-bases) also help in identification. Female trees are very rareContinue Reading

On:
In: art, photo

This is the latest in my Elm series; my last image being Ghost elm. I captured the shadow of a very large and healthy Cornish elm Ulmus minor subsp. angustifolia growing in East Sussex. It is one of the last large elm trees remaining alive in England, following the spreadContinue Reading

On:
In: art, woodland visit

The authors visited Devon recently on the search for a number of trees and forestscapes for The New Sylva. Followers of The New Sylva on Twitter (@newsylva) will know that our first stop was the ancient oaks of Wistman’s Wood on Dartmoor, followed by a successful search for one ofContinue Reading

On:
In: art

In a recent post we wrote about Sarah Simblet’s work in progress, drawing an enlarged alder catkin (see post). Here is a sneak preview of the finished drawing. Far right of the photograph of the drawing (out of focus) is the female flower of Alnus glutinosa.Continue Reading

On:
In: photo

High up in a Dartmoor valley, at the upper limit of tree life, I discovered these two rowan trees clinging to the granite clitter (the debris below a tor). They were among a group of scattered rowan trees growing in one of my favourite places, known as Tavy Cleave. IContinue Reading

On:
In: forestry, health

The fungus that wiped out 3.5 billion chestnut trees in the USA has been found for the first time in Britain. Chestnut blight, caused by the fungus Cryphonectria parasitica (C. parasitica), has been confirmed by Forest Research scientists on trees in two small orchards of European sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa).Continue Reading

On:
In: Uncategorised

“In Scotland, by tying the young shoots with bands of hay, they make the stems grow so very close together, as that it encloseth rabbets in warrens instead of pales: And for this robust use we shall prefer the blackthorn; the extravagant suckers which are apt to rise at distanceContinue Reading

On:
In: art

Spring is fast approaching and our attention is beginning to shift to emerging tree flowers. Among the first to appear are the many wind-pollinated species. Trees such as birches, hazel, oaks and willows have beautiful pendulous male catkins, or inflorescences, containing many scaly bracts (flowers) in place of petals seenContinue Reading