Oak fact file
Quercus robur( pendunculate oak )  Quercus petraea ( sessile oak ) Duir ( Ogham name)

Higher than bushes is Oak.
Highest of bushes and a third.
Kneeling work, bright and shining work.
Craft work.
Book of Ballymote 1391 
 
 Oak is a tree that has survived well since it regenerated in early wildwood times. It was avoided by the first farmers and encouraged by the early carpenters; no other tree in Britain has captured the imagination and attention of mankind more than the oak. Its timber is durable and good to work with, it has many medicinal qualities and useful tannins, it supports countless wildlife and grows to impressive proportions, and can live for many hundreds of years. Its success is partly due to mankind’s love of its timber and its ability to capture the nation’s heart.
 
There are two species of Oak which were first recognized in 1586-7 although this was not really taken on board by British botanists until the 1790s.

​Quercus robur (pendunculate oak) is what we think of as the English Oak with its wide canopy and rustic appearance. It has a dense canopy and rough un-stalked leaves with stalked acorns.

Quercus petraea ( sessile oak) is often a taller more stately tree with a more open canopy and flat palmate leaves which are stalked and it bears un-stalked acorns. Both these trees can hybridise and cause even more confusion.
Both oaks are known to produce Lammas shoots which are healthy erect shoots that grow strongly in August at a time when other foliage maybe struggling in this sometimes dry time of year. There is a striking rare variety of Pendunculate oak which produces red Lammas shoots.
 
Sessile oak is more common in the west and north, most commonly growing in the Scottish highlands. Pure oak wood generally grows on the most acid of woodland soils although it is known to grow on calcareous soils in Scotland where it is much more widespread. Hatfield Forest in Essex is an exception as it comprises an ancient oakwood on calcareous soil. Oak is generally a first coloniser not growing well in shade. It is not so much birch and hawthorn grow first on oakwood regeneration sites but just quicker thus deceiving the avid naturalist who assumes they came first!

In the Doomsday Book woods were assessed by pannage although this practice died out soon after as farmers began to feed pigs in more conventional ways. Beech mast was also used for pannage.
 The Anglo- Saxon phrase ac means oak and can be noticed in many place names such as Accrington, Auckland and Acton.
 
The traditions of Oak are numerous; from Christian lore the tree has been used to preach under and a place where Angels have appeared. In Celtic lore it is the abode of strong male deities such as the Dagdha, Herne the Hunter, Cernunnos and the archetypal images of the spirit of the trees such as the Green Man or Green George.
It is said to be a channel for the might of the sky gods such as Taranis, Thunor, Esus and Thor as it attracts lightning.

Merlin and Robin Hood were said to have been protected under the oak’s canopy. St Brigit founded a retreat in Kildare called the Cell of Oak and it is said that the Nuns used acorns as fuel on their fires.

Charles the second hid in an oak after defeat at the battle of Worcester on the 29th May 1651 which is now known as Royal Oak Day. At one time Oak sprigs were collected for hats and door knockers which may well be a continuation of the Druidic Oak apple day still celebrated in Wiltshire. The Oak Man, Jack in the Green or the May King dance through the streets wreathed in oak and hawthorn to claim the May Queen. Traditionally the Oak King Giant fights the Holly King Giant at Midsummer making him the King of the waxing year and the two oak trees, Gog and Magog at Glastonbury are said to be the last two giants to have inhabited Britain.
 
Oak bark is used for diarrhea, piles, inflammations of the throat, chilblains and frost bite. As a powder it is used for nosebleeds and bedsores. Bruised oak leaves can be applied to wounds to ease inflammations and as a mild antiseptic.

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Hawthorn Crataegus monogyna (common hawthorn) Crataegus laevigata (midland hawthorn) Droiheann (old English) Hagaporn ( Anglo-Saxon) Huath ( ogham )

Huath is Whitethorn. A meet of hounds is White thorn, it is formidable owing to its thorns.
Pack of wolves.
A difficult night, Hawthorn.
Whitening of face.
 
Book of Ballymote 1391 
 
There are two types of Hawthorn known in this country. The first is common and widespread, the second (known as Midland or simply woodland Hawthorn) is restricted to the South and East and is an ancient woodland indicator, an uncommon sight. The latter has a bushy habit and shallowly lobed leaves, able to flower in the shade.
This distinction was first made in France in 1790.
 
Hawthorn, especially since the 1500s, has been an important underwood species grown for fuel and its bark used for ink. Before barbed wire hawthorn was our main fencing, and early forestry writers recommend hawthorn as a nurse tree when sowing a new plantation. However the tree can colonise chalk downland too effectively becoming a permanent habitat thus threatening the delicate balance of our Downs. This is known as being ‘bushed over’.
 
However the hawthorn is generally welcome, tolerating shade and grazing effectively (although new growth takes three weeks for the thorns to harden up and protect the plant from mammals like deer). The tree supports many insects, birds and mammals providing cover, nectar and fruit.
 
The Hawthorn has two sides to it. On one hand it is a healer of the heart, a tree of protection and supporter of life. A guardian of sacred wells (to which cloth is tied to), a love charm, helping cattle thrive and friendly to travellers as well as a food source for them, which is why it is known as the bread and cheese tree. This is the blossoming spring tree dedicated to the maiden goddes such as Olwen of the White Track.

​However as a tree that protects and harbours the elementals it can also have a sinister side to its nature. Stories of people trying to fell certain Hawthorn trees normally ends in tragedy, maybe the most famous being bulldozed by John Delorean in Ireland. This is the winter thorn standing in the thicket as a speared warrior dedicated to the powerful archetypal earth god such as Yspaddeden Pencawr which means giant hawthorn.
Huath, its Ogham name, means frightful or horrible, reminding us of the inevitable backlash our actions can bring.
It is said in the old stories devastating satire was pronounced whilst holding the thorn of the tree.
Maybe this is why there is a custom of adorning and worshipping Hawthorn known as ‘bawming the thorn’.
 
Hawthorn wood is hard wearing making it ideal for knife/dagger handles. Its root wood is also used to make beautiful small boxes and combs. It is also good firewood.

​As a herb its berries, leaves and flowers are great for heart problems, especially high blood pressure as well as being good for insomnia and helping one relax.

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              Rosebay willowherb                          Great willowherb                            Elephant hawk moth

Rosebay Willowherb (Epilobium angustifolium).
 
On the breeze my fluff is blown; So my airy seeds are sown.
Where the earth is burnt and sad, I will come to make it glad.
All forlorn and ruined places, All neglected open spaces,
I can cover- only think- With a mass of rosy pink.
Burst then, seed-pods; breezes, blow!
Far and wide my seeds shall go!
Cicely Mary Barker 1925
 
 Rosebay willowherb is the only species that is generally safe to use for food and medicinal uses. As a herb it is used dried for whooping cough and asthma. As a food plant the young shoots can be steamed and peeled and its pith is used to thicken soups. The leaves can be used as a garnish or dried for a tea.
 
This plant became well known during the war as it brightened up London bomb sites that it effectively colonized in World War Two.
 
Hoverflies, bees and the caterpillars of the elephant hawk moth are supported by this plant.
 
The Great Willowherb (E.hirsutum) has a local name of ‘codlins and cream.’ Some say codlin means cooking apples due to the smell of the plant undetectable by most people or maybe it refers to the seed capsule known as ‘Codde’. Hirsutum means hairy which the plant is and ‘Willowherb’ refers to its slender stems and leaves.

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​
Ash, a check on peace is Ash for of it are made spear shafts by which the piece is broken.
Checking of peace.
Flight of beauty, a weavers beam.
Flight of beauty.
 
Book of Ballymote 1391
 
Ash fact file
 
Fraxinus excelsior ( Latin). Nion (Ogham) Aesc( Anglo Saxon)
 
Ash established itself later than some tree species after the last ice age and especially increased when Elm declined in Neolithic times.
 
Ash timber as well as its wood has been sought after for centuries. It has been used to create early weapons such as bows and spears to the modern cavalry lance. Its other uses are diverse including tools, frames and shafts of vehicles both modern and ancient. It is the second most recorded timber tree in history and is the most commonly used plantation tree since the 17th Century.

Ash casts a light shade and is light-demanding, living no longer than 200 years in normal conditions. If it grows in infertile soils and is thus forced to grow slowly it will live longer and as a coppice stool indefinitely! The largest stool in Bradfield woods is 18.5 feet across and is at least 1000 years old and still has good vigour.
 
Traditionally Ash is the Warrior’s Tree, as it has been used for weaponry for thousands of years. In places such as Scandinavia and Denmark, its war-like qualities were emphasized through the war god Odin with his ashen spear.

The Vikings were often known as Aescling- Men of Ash. They also knew Ash as the World Tree, Askr Yggdrasill, the centre of the universe around which everything moves. Its roots are the Underworld guarded by a huge serpent, its the trunk the Middleworld; and its canopy the Upperworld upon which sits an eagle and goats browse on its leaves. The spring, at its base, is where the Norns reside, who rule over the destiny of us all. 
 
In Celtic/Irish lore Ash is also known as the warrior’s tree as an Ash spear is wielded by the solar hero Lugh Lamfada and the early race of men in Irish stories called the Fir bolgs ( men of spears) were also said to wield superior ash spears.

The spear and the sling were the only long range weapons used by the Irish Celts in the Bronze/Iron ages. There were said to be five sacred trees planted in Ireland and three of them were Ash for the warriors.
 
 Nion, the Ogham name for ash means, ‘a thing produced’ possibly implying a more subtle use of Ash, the spear ( especially when referred to as the weavers’ beam) is a magical tool to help heal and move people on in their lives.

Sick children have been passed through split ash for healing and it is said a shrew was sometimes buried in an ash tree to bring about healing e.g. ash by the church in Selborne in Hampshire.
Ash wood juice has been used to protect infants from harm. The bark helps ease fevers, the leaves for rheumatism and as a laxative/diuretic and its seeds were said to provoke lust and its decaying wood an active ingredient in an aphrodisiac powder. Ash crosses are made for sea protection and the Vikings were thought to use ash as a magical implement. In the past ash roots were carved into magical images.
 
Ash wood is known as the perfect fuel for the fire and was traditionally used as the Yule log burnt at the Winter Solstice to celebrate this time of year, the birth of the Sun God.
 
Many poems and songs have been written of Oak, Ash and Thorn giving these three trees a special place in our British traditions, and where the three grow together a magical place of wonderment.

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Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria)
 
'Queen of the meadow where small streams are flowing, what is your kingdom and whom do you rule? Mine are the places where small streams are flowing, mine are the people of marshland and pool.
Kingfisher courtiers, quick flashing, beautiful dragon flies, minnows are mine one and all.
Little frog servants who wait on me dutifully, hop on my errands and come when I call.
Little Queen meadowsweet served with such loyalty where is your crown then, no jewels to wear?
Nothing I need for a sign of my royalty, nothing I need but my own fluffy hair.' Cicely Mary Barker 1925
 
 
This beautiful waterside plant is referred to as the 'Queen of the meadow'. In Tudor times if one was expecting a visit from the Queen, meadowsweet flowers would have been strewn upon the floor to mask any unpleasant smells. Its Yorkshire name of courtship and matrimony regonises it has two scents, a sweet scent for courtship and a sharper scent for the reality of marriage!

A healing herb that induces sweating when used fresh and can help heal both internal and external wounds. Traditionally the water distilled from the flowers has been used for inflammations of the eyes and its astringent qualities can help diarrhea. As it contains methyl salicylate it can help ease rheumatism. Sometimes referred to as 'herbal bicarbonate of soda' it is useful in the treatment of dyspepsia. It's diuretic properties help to clear out excessive fluids which result in the swellings  of the limbs.

​Meadowsweet flowers follow on from Elderflowers and can be used to make syrups, sorbets, ice creams and champagne. The young leaves can be cooked or eaten raw in the spring.

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Nettle (Urtica diocia)
 
Tender handed touch a nettle and it will sting you for your pain, grasp it like a man of mettle and it soft as silk remains.
 
Nettle, despite it being a noxious weed everyone is trying to destroy, it is a ‘super’ plant that can be used for food, medicine and the making of cloth and cordage. Cordage making begins in the summer once the plant is more mature usually from June/July onwards. Remove the leaves, bash the stem and then open it up to remove the pith. The outer fibres can be plaited or twisted to make strong string or rope. I have found it as enduring as any plant fibre including deer sinew as cordage.

The leaves are full of minerals and vitamins especially A and C,  and have a 2.3% iron content and 5.5% protein content by weight. Nettle puree can be made by simmering the leaves for 5 minutes adding butter and seasoning with onion as a tasty alternative to spinach. You can simply boil and steam the vegetable if preferred.
To make nettle crisps just simply shallow fry the freshly picked nettle tops being careful not to burn them and then dab dry with an absorbent paper.
 
As a medicine nettle can be collected just before it flowers to relieve high blood pressure, cystitis, anaemia (due to mineral rich leaves) and can act as a diuretic. Use the leaves fresh or dry. The root can treat diarrhoea and dysentery and be made into a tincture for eczema.
 
The plant can also be used to weave cloth; a bronze age Dane was discovered wrapped in nettle fibres.
Only in the last century the plant was used to make table cloths and bed linen in Scotland.
​In world war two the plant was gathered to supply chlorophyll for medicines and dye for camouflage nets.

Nettles are also very important for wildlife they support the beautiful butterflies such as the comma, red admiral, peacock, painted lady and the small tortoiseshell. 

Keep a patch of nettles and look beyond its spiky appearance to its wealth of uses.
 
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Alder, the van of warrior bands for thereof are the shields.
Shield of warrior bands.
Protector of the heart, the shield.
Guarding of milk.
Book of Ballymote 1391

​
Alder fact file Alnus glutinosa (Latin)  Fearn (Ogham)  Aler (Anglo-Saxon) Elri (Norse) Gwernen (Welsh/Cornish)

The Alder can be a large canopy tree up to 70ft high laden with last year’s cones and reddish brown catkins at the same time fringing wetlands with a beautiful spring sight which is perhaps why the Norsemen called March  ‘Lenct’ ( to become Lent) which means ‘the lengthening month of the Alder’.

Alder is often thought of as a Faerie or Elemental tree, an axis from which the elements flow and form.

Water- forms a valuable habitat known as ‘Carr’ supporting much wildlife on wetlands or beside rivers and lakes.
Fire- Alder wood does not burn especially well but produces hot charcoal and gunpowder.
Earth- The tree roots into the ground fixing nitrogen salts therefore enriching the soil around it.
Air- It has ‘Royal’ purple buds, the colour of the Raven and therefore connects the tree to the raven-headed giant Bran who has oracular powers of prophecy and protects the land of Britain from invaders. The wood has also been used to make whistles and pipes.
 
Alder in Lore is considered to be the male counterpart to the Willow as they both preside over our waterways nourishing and supporting this vital system. The male aspect is further enforced in the trees association with warriors. The wood was used to make a shield, and a fiery red dye obtained from the bark called ‘roeim’ (that which reddens the face) may have been used like woad to strike fear into the enemy. In the Welsh triads they speak of crimson stained Warriors of the Alder Cult. Dyes can also be obtained from the flowers (green) and the twigs (brown).The war Goddess the Morrigawn also takes the form of the raven and therefore one could associate her with the Alder.
 
The latin ‘Alnus’ may have been derived from the phrase ‘Alor Amne’- I am nourished by the stream.
The tree can be used for healing. The leaves can help relieve weary feet and put into duvets and cushions etc they can be used to give rheumatic relief. The leaves can also be used to tan leather and the bark can be placed on burns and inflammations including the neck if inflamed.

Alder wood is not durable unless immersed in water so is an ideal wood for water pipes, troughs, canal lock gates etc. Much of Venice is built on Alder piles and the wood in Britain would have been used as foundations for ‘Crannogs’- round houses built on waterways in ancient times.
 
There are three main woodland types of Alder:

Fen- low level ground on floodplains of  rivers and streams.
Valley- Growing along narrow fringes to streams or climbing flushed slopes especially in Western Britain.
Plateau- level uplands often on a watershed. Alder generally will colonize new sites its seeds dispersed by water and to a lesser extent wind. It coppices well.
 
Alder doesn’t like stagnant anaerobic water or severe prolonged flooding but prefers moving oxygenated water and is associated with plants of fertile soil maybe due its nitrogen-fixing properties. In a mixed wood it associates itself with Lime, Birch, Chestnut and Hornbeam growing in soils varying from 3.3ph- 7.3ph. Local name indicators of Alder  include Cargate and Carrfell.

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​Willow, the colour of the lifeless one
owing to the resemblance of its colour to a dead person.
Hue of the lifeless.
Beginning of loss, willow.
Strength of bees.
 
Book of Ballymote 1391
 
 
Willow fact file
Salix species. 
 
Our largest willows are the white and crack willow that can reach 80ft in height. The willow species rather like the whitebeams consists of an array of specialist species some of which only grow in Scotland or in Northern areas of England.

The four main tree species are:

1/  Crack Willow (S.fragilis)
2/  White Willow (S.alba)
3/  Bay Willow (S.pentandra)
4/  Almond Willow (S.triandra)

The fourteen small tree/shrub species are:

1/   Sallow, Goat Willow (S.caprea)
2/   Grey Willow (S.cinerea)
3/   Purple Willow (S.purpurea)
4/   Common Osier (S.viminalis)
5/   Eared Willow (S.aurita)
6/   Tea-leaved Willow (S.phylicifolia)
7/   Dark-leaved Willow ( S.myrsinifolia)
8/   Creeping Willow ( S.repens)
9/   Downy Willow ( S.lapponum)
10/ Woolly Willow ( S.lanata)
11/ Whortle-leaved Willow ( S.myrsinites )
12/ Mountain Willow ( S.arbuscula)
13/ Net-leaved Willow ( S.reticulata)
14/ Dwarf Willow ( S.herbacea)


 
Celtic traditions sometimes encouraged trees to be planted at burial sites so the spirit of the corpse can rise into the sapling above, willow probably being a preferred choice as it is said to ease the passage of the soul at death. To wear willow is to grieve openly and the tree I suspect encourages us to be open to our deeper emotions.
 
Witches brooms may be bound with willow to dedicate the broom to the goddess and the moon. Its leaves, bark and wood maybe be burnt as incense for similar reasons.
 
Celtic lore speaks of willow connected to in-between states and otherworld experiences. Her connection with water enhances that as water represents that more fluid otherworldly state, the cycle of life and death and returning to the source.

​Gypsies cut willow on Green George day (23rd April) to propitiate water spirits, bless the crops, herds,pregnant women and heal the the sick or needy.
 
As a provider of early nectar the tree is associated with bees who the Celts regarded as perfect examples of community life all working together to achieve their goals, and as beings from the Other-lands.
 
The Sumerian goddess Belili rules over the moon, love and the underworld and therefore is connected to willow as are other powerful goddess archetypes such as Hecate and Cerridwen. Women were warriors and leaders in Celtic Society and often trained the young men in battle. The old adage of the Willow bending in the wind rather than resisting it comes to mind as we recognise the power of the feminine source.
 
Willow is a great medicinal healer containing Salicylic acid the main ingredient in asprin. Its leaves and especially its bark can be used to ease rheumatism, headaches and other inflammations in the body.
 
Its wood is light and tough and has been used for rafters and floors and a certain white willow species for cricket bats. The stems/branches are strong and very flexible making them ideal for weaving baskets, hats and making coracles.

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​Dandelion (Taraxacom officinale)
 
Here's the dandelion rhyme: see my leaves with tooth-like edges, blow my clocks to tell the time,
see me flaunting by the hedges, in the meadow, in the lane, pull me up- I grow again.
Asking neither leave nor pardon, sillies, what are you about with your spades and hoes of iron?
You can never drive me out- me, the dauntless dandelion!
Cicely Mary Barker 1925
 
The word dandelion is a corruption of the French ‘dent de lion’ which means ‘lions tooth’ referring to the shape of the leaf. Another common plant which is underrated. In medieval times it was grown as a vegetable cooked like spinach or added to salads. It is rich in vitamins A and C and is a superior diuretic as it replaces the potassium lost in the process.

The leaves are also a strong equivalent to frusemide and can be used for hypertension when dried.

The root can also be used as a vegetable sautéed in vegetable oil and is a powerful liver tonic and coffee substitute. Use the root dried or fresh.

To make coffee dig up your fresh roots, wash and dry them, then bake in the oven for about ten minutes on a low heat. Provided they are not burnt they taste delicious, just add hot water and according to preference some fresh milk.
If you wish to do it over an open fire chop the root up small and flash fry them with no oil.

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Burdock (Arctium Lappa/minus)
 
Wee little hooks on each brown little bur, (Mind where you’re going, O Madam and Sir!) How they will cling to your skirt-hem and stocking! Hear how the Burdock is laughing and mocking: Try to get rid of me, try as you will, Shake me and scold me, I'll stick to you still, I'll stick to you still!

Cicely Mary Barker 1925
 
This plant has a deep root that can be eaten fresh or dried as a blood purifier. In fact it is one of the finest and most effective blood purifiers in the medical world working with the kidneys to filter out all the impurities from the blood.


The fresh leaves can be applied to ulcers and sores as they are cooling and moderately drying.
 
As food the young stalks can be peeled and chopped to add to a meat broth or eaten with melted butter. The root as already mentioned can also be eaten by chopping it into rings and frying it. The sticky bur- like buds are very abrasive to the skin and have been named bachelor or sticky buttons.
 
Burdock is sometimes known as ‘wild rhubarb’ to which it resembles with its large leaves.

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