The top of the Lombardy poplar in Victoria Park against cold clouds
It has been a cold week with some light snow and sleet but I think I chose the best day, on Wednesday, to visit the tree I am following this year. It’s a Lombardy poplar (Populus nigra ‘Italica’) in Cardiff’s Victoria Park.
On a sunny morning I set off in my new padded jacket, which kept me very snug as snow flurried in the icy air.
Here are my snaps – mostly concentrating on the bark of the tree before my attention is taken later in the year by leafiness, I hope.
The poplar from a distance
The sinewy north side of the poplar trunk
A closer look
The tree has grown around a strut of the railings around the park – must be old railings…
Moss at the bottom of the north side of the tree
A lumpy part of the trunk facing east
The south side of the trunk
Moss on the bark – there are a few wiry sporophytes in the middle but they are hard to see in this picture
Lichen
orange-brown remains of old shoots
Very textured bark
Although this looks like a pale and dusty lichen I think it might be the application of some fungicide by the park arborists, perhaps?
There doesn’t seem to be any change in the buds since January
The whole tree in sunshine
It will soon be Spring! See you again in March…
You can see other posts mentioning this tree here.
Interesting pictures of the bark on the lower truck showing such variations. xx
Thanks – yes – very characterful!
Take care 🙂
I love this tree, especially as it is in the process of eating a fence! I think the way trees and other plants interact with human made artefacts, like walls and railings, is really interesting.
The shape of the tree is itself really sculptural, and the texture fascinating.
Thank you for your comments. I recall seeing somewhere that a tree had eaten a whole postbox…
All the best 🙂
Fascinating pictures – there’s so much going on with the shape and structure of the tree. I particularly like where it has grown around the fence strut!
Thank you – I am wondering how old the fence is. Maybe I should look at some old pictures, as I had a suspicion that lots of fences were taken away to be melted down for the war effort in World War II. we shall see.
All the best 🙂