Penmoelallt... a woodland lost in time.
TREE LEAVES
1
Way Station 12
www.merthyrnats.org.uk
GPS location: N 51°46.24
W 003°25.39
O.S. Co-ordinates: SO 019 089
4
2
3
Which trees did these leaves come from?
Write the number of the leaf
next to the name of the tree.
If you make a „LEAF RING‟ it will
help you to identify each leaf.
5
How many of these leaves
can you find in Penmoelallt Wood?
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TOP TIP! Look at trees by the
Stony Road and Zigzag Path first!
8
Look carefully at each leaf.
How would
YOU
sort these
leaves into
groups?
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12
10
9
Holly.....
Hazel.....
Oak..... Sycamore.....
Rowan..... Willow.....
11
Field Maple..... Hawthorn.....
Larch..... Beech..... Ash.....
13
Birch.....
Alder.....
Thank you to all our dedicated volunteers, without whose help, the Penmoelallt Woodland Project would not have been possible.
LEAF RING
You will need:
scissors
sharp pencil
paper fastener
Poin
ter
How to make a Leaf Ring.
1. Cut round both rings.
2. Make a small hole with a pencil
through the centre of both rings.
3. Push the closed paper fastener through
the hole of the small ring then the large ring.
4. Open the paper fastener and press both pieces
flat.
5. Turn the small ring to point
at a leaf.
6. Read the name of
the tree in the
gap in the
small ring.
Birc
h
Be
ak
h
ec
low
Wil
O
rn
Hawtho
Ald
Field
Maple
Holly
er
el
As
h
z
Ha
Ro
wa
n
Sycamore
rc
La
ENJOY
using your
Leaf Ring!
You can
keep your
Leaf Ring
to use in
other
woodlands,
parks or
anywhere
you spot a
tree.
h
Remember to keep
the countryside code!
TREES: some information
An OAK TREE (Quercus) can live for up to 1000 years!
Much of England and Wales was covered by oak forests before modern farming took over the land. The
last extensive Oak woodlands were cut down to build ships for the Royal Navy in the 18th century.
All Oak trees have large seeds called acorns. Most Oak trees lose all their leaves in autumn.
Oak is strong, hard and survives well in damp conditions. When cut in different directions and polished,
the surface of Oak is beautiful to look at and touch.
Oak leaves and acorns in large quantities are poisonous to sheep, horses, cattle and goats .
The ASH TREE (Fraxinus excelsior) can grow to 40 metres high, but does not live longer than
200 years. Some Ashes are evergreen, but most are deciduous – they loose their leaves in
Autumn. The seeds, are commonly known as „keys‟.
Ash wood is used to make tool handles. Ash wood is also perfect material to use for old
fashioned shafts of bows and arrows and furniture. It makes very good firewood.
Cattle and horses love to eat Ash leaves.
The WILLOW TREE (salix) likes to grow in damp soils.
The Pussy Willow or Goat Willow, is the most well known because of the small soft, grey, round
coats that hide its flowers which appear before the leaves in early Spring.
There are male and female Pussy Willow trees. Insects feed from the open flowers on the
male trees and pollinate the female flowers in return.
The wood from Cricket Bat Willow is flexible. The best cricket bats were made from this wood.
The BEECH TREE (Fagus Sylvatica) is called “Mother of Forests”. Its leaves, when rotted down,
nourish the other trees and plants.
In Spring, the female flowers open and „Mast‟ flutters to the ground. Mast is good food for deer,
badgers, squirrels and dormice.
If a wood or forest isn‟t taken care of/managed, Beech trees will take over. Large Beech trees give a
lot of shade in summer so other trees and plants don‟t have enough light to survive. A good example of
this is the out-door classroom in Penmoelallt Woodland.
An old Beech‟s tree-trunk can measure as much as 6 metres round!
The HOLLY TREE (Ilex) is one of our smallest trees, It has shiny, leathery, spiky, evergreen
leaves. The berries are poisonous for us to eat, but not for birds. Holly berries are part of a
wild bird‟s food in winter.
Holly wood is very hard and white and has been used by workers in wood as a contrast colour
to other darker woods.
The ROWAN TREE (Sorbus aucuparia) also known as MOUNTAIN ASH, can grow at the
edges of steep cliffs, or with other trees in a wood or garden.
Even though the leaves are similar to Ash tree leaves, the trees are not related in any way.
Rowan /Mountain Ash leaves have zigzagged edges; Ash tree leaves do not.
Birds and animals eat the red and brown berries of the Rowan from August onward.
Rowan is a Sorbus, so it is a close relative to Sorbus Leyana. The Sorbus Leyana tree is very
rare and was discovered growing in Penmoelallt Wood in 1958.
The HAZEL TREE (Corylus avellana) can grow to nearly 10 metres high but is usually much smaller.
The Hazel is often cut at ground level so that lots of thin stems grow from the base of the tree.
This is called coppicing. The long thin stems are called hurdles and will bend without breaking. They
can be woven to make fence panels.
Before the leaves grow, catkins or lambs-tails appear. These are male flowers. The female flowers
are much more difficult to spot.
The hazelnut produced by the Hazel tree is delicious for to humans and wild animals to eat.
The words in brackets are the Latin names for the trees.
Remember to keep the Countryside Code!
Be Safe - plan ahead and follow any signs.
Leave gates and property as you find them.
Leave machinery and livestock alone.
Protect plants and animals and take your litter home.
Keep dogs under close control.
You want to know more?
Visit these websites:
www.naturedetectives.org.uk
www.ecofriendlykids.co.uk
www.wikipedia.org