Conifer Workshop

Conifer Workshop

Speaker: Bruce Brown

Wednesday 8th February 2023

During this evening meeting Bruce Brown shared with us with his expertise in conifers. He started by giving us a slide show explaining the main identification features of conifer leaves and cones. He described nearby Otley Chevin as a great place for seeing a good variety of conifers, including giant fir (Abies grandis).

Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), juniper (Juniperus communis) and yew (Taxus baccata) are the three native UK conifer species. He told us that yew has yellow/green round buds whereas the other ‘yew lookalikes’ such as hemlock (Tsuga spp.) have brown buds.

Particularly interesting was seeing cross sections of leaves showing the resin ducts and whether these were medial or marginal resin ducts.

He also reminded us that swamp cypress (Taxodium distichum) has alternate leaves rather than opposite ones like the dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides).

We then had 14 different leaves and 14 different cones to match to each other in an allotted time.

It was a very enjoyable meeting with lots of discussion and fun.

Text by Kay

Photos by Ian D