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Writer's pictureHarris Brooker

Conifers of Speyside and the Cairngorms

Conifers have a special significance with wildlife and culture and in Scotland the ancient Caledonian Pine Forest will come to many people’s minds when they think about Scottish trees. As the year comes to an end and most deciduous trees lose their leaves, conifers are evergreen and are at their best at all times of the year. There are only three native conifers in the UK, which is a result of having been cut off from mainland Europe since the end of the last Ice Age. Others species have been introduced and are mainly used for timber.


Scot’s Pine (Pinus Sylvestris)

One of our most iconic native trees, the Scot’s Pine makes up the majority of the Caledonian Pine Forest. Indeed, the name Caledonia was given to the area by the Romans meaning ‘high wood’. It is the tree that provides a habitat for our most special wildlife such as Red Squirrel, Crossbill and the Capercaillie. The Scot’s Pine can grow to between 20 and 36 metres in height and has thick, fissured bark with a mauve tinge. This colour then changes to orange in the crown of the tree where the bark is less thick. The needles are set in pairs, which is one of the distinguishing features of pines in general. The needles are long and have a bluish colour on the underside. They produce cones which are about 5-6 centimetres, are broad bodied and the seeds inside them are orange and papery. Birds such as Crossbills are able to extract the seeds by using their crossed bills to prize apart the cone segments and use their forked tongues to eat the seeds. Capercaillie are capable of eating the pine needles, one of the few animals that can do so.


In this image there is a Scot's Pine tree dominating the image
Scot's Pine (Photo Credit: Harris Brooker)

In this image there is a Scot's Pine dominating the image
Scot's Pine (Photo Credit: Harris Brooker)

In this image there is a branch of Scot's Pine needles
Scot's Pine needles (Photo Credit: Harris Brooker)

In this image there is a Scot's Pine cone
Scot's Pine cone (Photo Credit: Harris Brooker)

These trees can live for up to 500 years but the problem we have today is that the Caledonian Pine Forest is lacking young trees to replace the old ones. These individuals are sometimes called ‘Granny Pines’. This is due to overgrazing by large numbers of deer which have reached high numbers due to a lack of predators such as wolves, lynxes and bears which were made extinct in earlier centuries. These predators not only ate the deer but kept them on the move, not allowing them to stay in one place long enough to do anywhere significant damage. The Cairngorms Connect Project is a long-term habitat restoration project that aims to replant the Caledonian Pine Forest and join fragments together where they can, to create a bigger habitat. This is important because a bigger forest means more space for wildlife and increases its resilience to climate change.




Juniper (Juniperus Communis)

This is another native conifer to Britain and grows to a maximum height of 10 metres and lives for up to 200 years. They are squat, prickly trees with green needles that are bluish on the underside. Juniper is dioecious, which means that male and female structures grow on different trees. They produce red berries that can be used to make gin and makes a good habitat for nesting birds.


In this image there are some juniper bushes in a woodland
Juniper (Photo Credit: Harris Brooker)


In this image there are Juniper needles which are green and prickly
Juniper needles (Photo Credit: Harris Brooker)


Yew (Taxus Baccata)

This is another native conifer to Britain. It can grow from 10 to 20 metres in height and has fissured, brown bark. The wood itself is very elastic and has been used to make English longbows. It is considered to have the longest lifespan of any tree species in Northern Europe. It takes nine hundred years for a Yew tree to be considered ancient, with ten that predate the tenth century. There’s one in Perthshire that is approx. three thousand years old. The needles are dark green and they produce red berries that have a hole in the middle. The technical name for a berry like this is an ‘aril’. At the bottom there is a hole contain the seeds, which are very poisonous.


In this image there is a Yew tree with a huge tree trunk surrounded by leaf litter
Yew Tree (Photo Credit: Imordaf from Pixabay)

In this image there are the dark green needles and red berries of the Yew tree
European Yew (Photo Credit: Nennieinszweidrei from Pixabay)


Sitka Spruce (Picea Sitchensis)

This is a conifer from North America, that in its native range lives from California to Alaska. It was introduced to Britain during the inter-war period, to provide Britain with faster growing trees that would make good timber. They take around 40 years to mature and can grow in more nutrient-poor land than most other native trees. They can grow to 55 metres with some reaching 100 metres in height and have prickly, dark green needles with bluish undersides. The bark is greyish and rough. The cones are pear-shaped and orange. Sitka Spruce can support a more limited number of wildlife than Scot’s Pine and is suitable for birds like Chaffinches, Coal Tits and Common Crossbills.


In this image there is a tree trunk of a Sitka Spruce
Sitka Spruce (Photo Credit: Harris Brooker)


Sitka Spruce needles (Photo Credit: Harris Brooker)

In this image there is a Sitka Spruce cone
Sitka Spruce cone (Photo Credit: Harris Brooker)


Norway Spruce (Picea Abies)

An introduced species from mainland Europe and is a big part of the forests in Scandinavia. It was once a native tree to Britain with it growing in the interglacial period, and then reintroduced again in 1548. Then it had a more permanent introduction in the 1800s for timber. They can grow up to 40 metres and live for up to 1000 years. The trees themselves are tall and straight with a triangular crown. The cones are long and drooping with jagged scales.


In this image there is a Norway Spruce in the centre of the image
Norway Spruce (Photo Credit: Harris Brooker)

In this image there are Norway Spruce branches with needles
Norway Spruce needles (Photo Credit: Harris Brooker)


In this image there is a Norway Spruce cone hanging from a branch
Norway Spruce cone (Photo Credit: Harris Brooker)


Western Hemlock (Tsuga Heterophylla)

This is another introduced tree species from North America in the 1800s, that has drooping branches and soft needles. It casts a heavy shade which means not much can live underneath it. They can grow to a height of 45 metres and have long drooping branch tips. The bark is dark brown with rugged ridges. The needles have two white stripes underneath them and the cones are small and have no stalks.


In this image there is a tree trunk of a Western Hemlock in the centre of the image
Western Hemlock tree trunk (Photo Credit: Harris Brooker)

In this image there are branches from a Western Hemlock
Western Hemlock branches (Photo Credit: Harris Brooker)

In this image there is a cone and needles from a Western Hemlock
Western Hemlock cone (Photo Credit: Harris Brooker)


If you would like a chance to see any of these trees you might like to book a Guided Day Out with one of our guides http://bit.ly/sw_DG

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