Now that it is easy to see the wood from the trees, it is well worth taking a walk to check out how beautiful tree bark can be.
The colourful layers of Calocedrus decurrens (The Incense Cedar) look a bit like stacked tissue paper
Glowing white bark, with ‘morse code’ lenticels, on Betula utilis var. Jacquemontii (Himalayan Birch)
A jigsaw of irregular plates of coloured bark on Pinus nigra ssp. pallasiana (Crimean Pine)
The shiny ribbon bark on Prunus serrula – The Tibetan Cherry (this example is from the Winter Walk at Anglesey Abbey)
Smoke signals rise up the green trunk of Rhus potaninii – The Potanin Sumac
Peeling metallic sections on Parrotia persica (Persian Ironwood)
Acer davidii ssp. grosseri – One of the beautiful snake bark maples, with diamond markings
Plaited iron-grey furrows of Maclura pomifera (Osage Orange)
Eruptions and wrinkles on the bark of Prunus serrulata alba plena (Japanese Cherry)
The lava-like flows on a Cluster Pine (Pinus pinaster)
My friend giving Betula albosinensis (Chinese Red birch) the compulsory rub
These pictures were taken in Cambridge Botanical Gardens.
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Simply Gorgeous-thank you.
Anytime. I love sharing the beauty of trees! BTW I’ve just discovered that I am not seeing your posts in my feed. No idea why, but sorry not to have commented for a while.
Gorgeous! One of the compensations for winter is being able to enjoy bare trees in all their barky glory. One of my favourite trees at the far end of the winter garden at Cambridge is Betula albosinensis ‘ Septentrionalis’. Do you know that one?
Yes, but I don’t seem to have any pictures of it. It is close to the Acer davidii var. grosseri that I like so much. I love having the Botanics so close.
All gorgeous but my favourites are Betula utilis var. J (we had one in our old garden – it glowed in the gloaming) and Prunus serula (so glossy!). Trees are flipping wonderful.
Yeap,wonderful. I have a multi-stemmed B. utilis var J., which is just coming into its own glow-wise. It took a few years to really whiten up.
Great post! One of my favorites is Stewartia pseudocamellia.
I’ve not seen that here and googling hasn’t so far revealed where I might see one in its glory, but the pictures do look gorgeous.
It’s lovely to be able to compare the barks this way. Some were very familiar but others I hadn’t seen (or noticed) before.
Thanks. That is the beauty of having a botanical garden close by (‘cos they are conveniently labelled there). The main thing, of course, is to take the time to stop and enjoy them.
Fabulous images and descriptions, I want all of them for Christmas (but might need a much bigger garden).
Me too and I have missed quite a few! So it is great to have visiting options on some mature examples close by.
Those bark photos should be framed and grouped. They are lovely. I wish I could touch those different textures.
You are very kind. I do sometimes create photo collages, so it might happen at some point. I agree that alot of their attraction is tactile though, so I will have to keep visiting.
What a great post! Such gorgeous photos and beautiful tree bark(s). I like FlowerAlley’s suggestion–what a beautiful photo vignette that would be in your home.
Thanks Tina. I am getting inspired to do just that. There are a few obvious missing examples I should photograph first though.
Such a lovely and diverse array. Wonderfully taken!
Thank you, such a nice thing to say!
I love looking at bark and your selection here is absolutely beautiful!!
Thanks Eliza. It is one of the bonuses of winter that we get to enjoy the diversity of tree barks so readily.
Thank you for that selection, and for identifying them all. There are a couple that I have never seen before.
You are welcome. I am lucky to now have such good (labelled) examples close to home.
Wonderful photographs, especially the Pinus nigra and P. pinaster.
Thanks. I have to admit that the pines were a revelation, especially the P. nigra.
Trees do come into their own with bark like these. Lovely
Definitely!
What a lovely post. I adore trees. We have a lot here but the bark of many are hidden by shrubs and other leafery so I’ve only ever managed to photograph a few from time to time.
I’m curous about the Tibetan Cherry. There was a cherry tree in my childhood garden that had bark like that. The cherries never ripened properly… I wonder if it was one of these.
Thank you. There are some splendid tree barks around which are pointed out for winter interest, but I have always been a bit obsessed with the texture and patterns on a wider selection. I also like to see mosses and lichen growing on bark. Prunus serrula is a fantastic tree, but I can’t honestly remember ever seeing set cherries on them. Maybe England/Wales doesn’t have quite the right climate. I’ll have to check.
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