Trees and Shrubs

The definition of a tree is a woody, perennial plant that can reach more than six metres on a single stem. A shrub is a woody, perennial plant under six metres with a framework of branches and little or no central stem.
Since trees take many years to reach maturity, many may never reach the height of six metres because of human interference, such as coppicing and pollarding.
Many trees have been introduced for ornamental purposes, especially in cities and parks, while there have been several species of conifer introduced for commercial purposes. Many trees that are familiar are not locally native to this region and may not even be native to Britain. Only 35 species are native to the British Isles. Species such as Beech are native in the south of England but not in Northumberland. Other species such as Scot’s pine raise numerous discussions as to whether we can consider them locally native or not, since the majority of specimens in Northumberland are planted, but we do border Scotland, where the species is definitely in its natural range. Sycamore again is regarded as non-native and possibly imported by the Romans.
We have four main woodland types in Northumberland, upland oak, upland mixed ash, lowland mixed broadleaved and wet (carr) woodland. More information on these can be found on the Northumberland Biodiversity Action Plan Website (http://www.northumberlandbiodiversity.org.uk/ )

Below are links to species that are native to Northumberland

Alder

Ash

Bramble or Blackberry

Broom

Crab apple

Downy birch

Elder