Trees - small families

Trees - Small Families

Plane Family - Platanaceae

Oriental Plane Platanus orientalis

Native through the eastern Mediterranean Region from Italy to the Caucasus and Iran. Common along shady watercourses, but also widely planted as a shade tree, especially in smaller towns and villages, where the species often features in town squares.


Leaves	Leaf	Flowers	Flowers

Fruit	Winter twig	Trunk

Mallow Family - Malvaceae

Silver Lime Tilia tomentosa

Native from Hungary and Ukraine south through the Balkan Peninsula to Turkey and Syria. Forms a large, non-suckering tree to 30m in height with a thick covering of slightly pendulous branches. Leaves relatively large (6-13cm in length and the same in width) with a dense covering of silvery hairs on the underside which flash white in the wind.


Habit	Leaves	Leaf underside	Leaf underside

Fruits	Summer twig	Winter twig	Bark

Elm Family - Ulmaceae

Small-leaved Elm Ulmus minor subsp. minor

Native throughout Europe to Central Asia and North-west Africa. Leaves relatively small, typically less than 10cm, smooth above (though with some hairs at first), slightly asymmetrical at the base, or more or less symmetrical; relatively narrow and long-tipped, though often broader and more rounded on sucker growths. Winged fruits smooth. Winter buds with simple, whitish hairs.


Habit	Sucker leaves	Leaves	Leaf

Flowers	Fruit	Winter bud	Bark

Hemp Family - Cannabaceae

Southern Nettle Tree Celtis australis

Native to the Mediterranean Region, eastwards to Iran. Frequent in wooded places and also regularly planted as a street tree.


Leaves	Leaf	Leaf

Fruit and leaves	Fruit	Fruit	Bark

Mulberry Family - Moraceae

White Mulberry Morus alba

Native to central China and widely naturalised through much of the world and cultivated for its fruit and as a source of food for silkworms. Leaves hairless and often shiny above, hairy only on the veins beneath; typically unlobed on older plants but may be deeply 3- to 5-lobed on young plants or on vigorous regrowth after pruning. Fruits are typically white but may darken to pink or purple when mature and best told from those of Black Mulberry by their longer stalks.


Leaves	Leaf	Leaf underside	Male flowers

Female flowers	Fruit	Winter twig	Bark

Walnut Family - Juglandaceae

White Walnut Juglans regia

(Common Walnut) native from North-east Turkey and the Caucasus to Lebanon and Pakistan. Commonly planted for its edible nuts.


Leaf	Spring leaves	Male flowers	Female flowers

Fruit	Winter twig	Bark

Willow Family - Salicaceae

White Poplar Populus alba

Native throughout most of Europe and the Mediterranean region, eastwards to Central Asia. Naturally a plant of fertile river floodplains but often planted elsewhere. A tree to 28m with a broadly spreading crown when mature. Suckers freely, especially in coastal situations where the height is reduced by winds, to produce dense thickets. Leaves and first-year growth densely covered in persistent, white hairs; leaves of vigorous shoots and suckers are deeply lobed, like maple leaves. Bark pale, studded with dark, diamond-shaped marks; often craggy and deeply ridged at the base.


Habit	Female flowers	Female flowers	Crown leaves

Sucker leaves	Winter twig of young growth	Winter twig of older growth	Bark

Afghan Poplar Populus nigra 'Afghanica'

A cultivated form, probably originating from Central Asia but parentage uncertain; widely planted from the Balkans and Turkey to Central Asia. Resembles Lombardy Poplar but has distinctly pale bark and branches.


Habit	Habit	Leaves	Leaf

Leaf	Female carkins	Branches	Bark

White Willow Salix alba

Native throughout much of the temperate Old World. Flowers April to May. A large tree to over 30m. Winter twigs hairless, slightly glossy, olive- to reddish-brown or slightly yellowish. Twigs pliant, not easily snapped off, olive-brown to greenish-brown; current year's growth densely hairy. Leaves 5-11cm in length, becoming glossy green above, paler, slightly glaucous below and tapered at the base; silver-grey with dense hairs at first with the hairs persistent in some forms but eventually dropping in others. Leaf stipules very small, sharply pointed but soon falling. Catkins relatively long and narrow, each male flower with 2 stamens. Bark craggy and deeply fissured.


Habit	Habit	Leaves

Leaves	Leaf hairs	Winter twig	Bark

Quassia Family - Simaroubaceae

Tree-of-heaven Ailanthus altissima

Native to China. Planted as a shade tree but can become invasive, both through seed dispersal and suckering root systems. Flowers June to July. A deciduous, suckering tree to 30m in height. Late coming into leaf in the spring, the young growths purple in colour. Leaves large (to 60cm in length, occasionally 90cm on suckers) with up to 12 pairs of leaflets, the leaflets typically with one or two pairs of blunt teeth near the base of each leaflet. The musky, 'skunky' smell of the leaves is distinctive.


Habit	Leaf	Leaflet	Spring leaves

Flowers	Fruits	Winter buds	Bark

Mahogany Family - Meliaceae

Indian Bead-tree Melia azedarach

(Persian Lilac, Chinaberry) Native from India and southern China to northern and eastern Australia.


Habit	Leaves	Flowers	Flower

Fruit	Winter twig	Bark	Bark

Foxglove-tree Paulownia tomentosa

Native to China and Korea and experimentally being introduced as a fast-growing timber tree, such as at Faneromeni. A deciduous tree to 25m in height. In cultivation, plants are sometimes regularly cut down, resulting in strong, suckering growth that can produce leaves up to a metre across, though 30cm is more usual on established trees.