The answers to the daily quiz are posted here on the following day – see below.
Sunday 23rd May. We had saved the hardest clue until the last day. We think this is probably a variety of Purple Crab Apple (Malus x purpurea) but this might need to be confirmed if gets to the fruiting stage. It is the only specimen we have come across in Dorchester. There was a proposal last year to fell the tree to improve the pedestrian access to a new gym that was to open nearby.
Friday 21st May. This was a very difficult clue as you were only given the shape of the tree, and no details of the leaf, buds, bark or flowers – all additional clues that would have been helpful. It is a Hornbeam, Carpinus betulus ‘Fastigiata’, one of a pair planted on either side of Acland House. This particular tree is a great example of the lollipop trees I used to draw in my childhood.
Thursday 20th May. This is Bird Cherry (Prunus padus). Worth looking out for as its blossom has a wonderful scent.
Wednesday 19th May. I had this down as a Swedish Whitebeam (Sorbus intermedia) but I was wrong. It’s Hedlundia × thuringiaca (formerly Sorbus x thuringiaca), one of the many Rowan x Whitebeam apomictic hybrid-origin trees. the basal lobes of the leaf are separated as distinct leaflets; Swedish Whitebeam doesn’t do that, all its lobes are just lobes. The leaf is also longer and narrower than Swedish Whitebeam, compare here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sorb-int.jpg. Many thanks to Nicola for giving me the correct identification.
Tuesday 18th May. This is Aesculus x carnea (Red Horse Chestnut), a hybrid between A. hippocastanum (Common Horse Chestnut) and A. pavia (Red Buckeye). Described in the Collins Tree Guide as an “abundant plant of rather endearing ugliness”.
Monday 17th May. This is the Monkey Puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana), originally from Chile. The yellowish features at the tip of some of the branches are the male flowers. Congratulations to the two people with the correct answer.
Can bet there’s dozens of Purple Crab Apples hidden away out of sight in peoples’ back gardens, they’re cheap, popular, and widely available in garden centres. Also common in places like planting schemes around schools, hospitals, etc. They do tend to be fairly short-lived though, subject to a host of apple diseases.
Good point. The Purple Crab Apple is not a tree we would recommend here in Dorchester despite it being widely available. The native Crab Apple seems to do well here, and there are other attractive (and preferable) cultivars that seem to do well on our chalky soils.