Natives and invaders at Nedd
My well-wooded garden ground at Nedd (NC1331; photo 1) had, when we arrived in 1991, many well-established native trees, including downy birch, hazel (26 old stools) and rowan. Further natives have found their own way here since, including aspen, grey willow, and oak.
We planted alder, bird cherry, dogwood, goat willow, holly and wych elm, all of which have thrived. The alders are huge and the goat willows have grown too large for their own good, since they are liable to serious wind damage, resulting in broken and shed branches, often large ones, and are now being pollarded. We also planted a variety of ‘exotics’, some of which are now quite large.
Invaders
Over the years the ground has also been ‘invaded’ by trees and shrubs found elsewhere in the village, including hawthorn, rhododendron, sitka spruce and sycamore, some more welcome than others.
Recently I noticed a new invader, which appeared in the shrub border at the back (photo 2). Now standing 2m high, it appeared to be a conifer, although quite unlike any of the familiar species, with narrow, flat leaves up to 7cm long, often with a slight curve on them (photo 3). In February I collected a specimen and set about identifying it.
Using a combination of old books and the internet, I arrived at a species of Podocarpus. This is a large genus, mainly from the tropical and temperate southern hemisphere, but it does extend north into the Himalayas and Japan. One species P. latifolius is the ‘chief source of timber’ in South Africa and the largest from New Zealand, P. dacrydioides, can grow up to 200ft. The fruits are purple or red berries in which a nut is embedded, not unlike that of our native yew (photo 4).
Expert help
At this point I sought expert help, in the person of Cameron S. Crooke, the B.S.B.I. referee on conifers, to whom I sent photographs, notes and, later, a specimen. After some consideration he identified it as the bigleaf podocarp or Buddhist pine P. macrophyllus, a species that occurs widely in eastern Asia, from Myanmar through China to Japan. It is described as ‘fairly hardy in southern England’, where it is widely, but not commonly, grown in large gardens and arboreta, and is available from specialist suppliers.
I have not yet located any information about its occurrence in Scotland. It was certainly not planted by us at Nedd, and I have checked with those responsible for the gardens at Ardvar and Kerrachar not far away. There are no Podocarpus at Ardvar, just a couple of New Zealand species at Kerrachar and, so far as I know, no other likely local sources. It looks as if it may have been bird-sown from a site with mature fruiting trees rather further afield.
There appear to be no records of this species seeding itself ‘in the wild’ (albeit in a garden) anywhere in the British Isles, so this may be a first.
Ian M. Evans