2 BRITISH FOREST TREES 



When one considers the unnatural difficulty about 

 producing germinable seed freely in England, there seems 

 little doubt that the chestnut, English elm, lime and poplar 

 were not indigenous to Britain, but were introduced by the 

 Romans along with a number of ornamental and fruiting 

 trees, which never developed into trees of true forest growth, 

 such as the plane, walnut, mulberry, service, hazel, box, 

 medlar, apple, pear, prune, cherry, peach, apricot, quince, 

 and rose. Many of these established themselves, and 

 were regarded as indigenous by the monkish historians of 

 the Norman Conquest, but some died out, and had to 

 be re-introduced at later periods. 1 



The chronology of our forest trees appears to be as 

 follows : 



Indigenous in prehistoric times : Oak, beech, 2 Scots pine, birch, ash, 

 mountain ash, Scots elm, sallow (saugh), aspen, alder, yew, haw- 

 thorn. 



Introduced by the Romans : Plane, chestnut, walnut, English elm, lime, 

 alder, poplar, box, together with many ornamental and fruit-trees 

 that have never attained true forest growth. 



Introduced before the end of the fifteenth century : Hornbeam, syca- 

 more, willows (white and crack), poplars (white and grey). 



Introduced during the sixteenth century : Spruce, walnut, laburnum, 

 juniper, holly, holm oak, stone or cluster pine, alderberry, vibur- 

 num, mulberry. 



Introduced during the seventeenth century : Silver fir, maple, plane, 

 horse-chestnut, larch (England, 1629), robinia, buckthorn. 



Introduced during the eighteenth century : Weymouth, maritime, 

 cembran, and pitch pines, larch (Scotland, 1727), service, cedar. 



Introduced during the nineteenth century : Austrian, yellow, and 

 Jeffrey pines, Nordmann's and Douglas firs, deodar, eucalyptus. 



1 Some interesting details concerning the above matters may be found 

 in Loudon's Arboretum ct Fruticetum firitanniciun, 1838, vol. i. p. 15 

 et seq. 



2 Caesar states that he did not find the Fagiis in England, but he 

 probably meant the chestnut (Castancavesca\ or Fagus casfanea, as it is 

 absolutely certain that the beech was indigenous to central England, 



