Saxongirl
Devil's fingers
April 13: Came across this small budded twig near the Staithe at Bungay. Nothing special you might say...but this has fallen from a black poplar. And what's so special about this tree, you may ask? Well tree lovers speak about it in reverential tones: John Constable, the famous English landscape artist, immortalised it in many of his paintings of the Suffolk countryside. It's a majestic tree, which likes to grow near water and can reach heights of up to 100ft. But because of its quirky pollination habits, it's becoming quite rare.
Its timber was much prized pre-industrial revolution, providing wood for a range of essentials from matches and match boxes to wooden clogs and fruit boxes.
These buds fell from a tree, near the Riverside Centre, which must be 70ft tall, and is covered in ivy. The buds reveal that it's a male poplar with crimson catkins; green female catkins ripen on separate trees. The buds are sometimes known as devil's fingers...and it's said to be unlucky to pick up fallen twigs. Oooh, I'm not superstitious but I feel compelled to return the twig from whence it came. Mustn't tempt fate!
Devil's fingers
April 13: Came across this small budded twig near the Staithe at Bungay. Nothing special you might say...but this has fallen from a black poplar. And what's so special about this tree, you may ask? Well tree lovers speak about it in reverential tones: John Constable, the famous English landscape artist, immortalised it in many of his paintings of the Suffolk countryside. It's a majestic tree, which likes to grow near water and can reach heights of up to 100ft. But because of its quirky pollination habits, it's becoming quite rare.
Its timber was much prized pre-industrial revolution, providing wood for a range of essentials from matches and match boxes to wooden clogs and fruit boxes.
These buds fell from a tree, near the Riverside Centre, which must be 70ft tall, and is covered in ivy. The buds reveal that it's a male poplar with crimson catkins; green female catkins ripen on separate trees. The buds are sometimes known as devil's fingers...and it's said to be unlucky to pick up fallen twigs. Oooh, I'm not superstitious but I feel compelled to return the twig from whence it came. Mustn't tempt fate!