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| Any ideas? This fruit was found on the pavement near Sloane Street, central London. It comes from a row of street trees which were about the same habit and height as the nearby young plane trees. But the bark was different: uniform grey with gentle ridges somewhere between a Tilia and a young Quercus. The fruit above my head vaguely resembled the balls of a plane tree but as you can see were much spikier. They were closely attached to the twigs without long stems. This is the only one I could find and I think it has been stepped on. There are cup shaped depressions where a seed or nut appears to have fallen out. The nearest I can find is Liquidambar sp but the ribbon-like parts seem too long. The fruit is softly stiff, like a dried cobnut husk, not hard and spiky like a conker. It reminds me very vaguely of a rambutan. Sorry, no leaves in February and no dried leaves since this was on a street. This is not a British native, nor a common street tree. I could not find it on the Kew tree id app. Since it was in Central London, which has a warmer micro climate, it might not be hardy in most of the UK. No camera with me at the time so, sadly, no further pictures available.
Cup shaped depression:
Short stem:
'Back' ? of fruit cluster:
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Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by georgeinbandonoregon z9 OR (My Page) on Tue, Mar 6, 12 at 13:15
| turkish hazel---corylus colurna? |
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| Ding, ding, ding, I think we have a winner. I think it definitely could be the fruit of Turkish Hazel. I did a google search, clicked on images, and I see quite a few of the fruiting clusters that look about like the above, albeit a little less weather beaten. There does seem to be some variability in the number of "spikes" coming out. But, in the first image Flora posted, you can clearly see where a nut was attached, IMHO. I would have posted a link to the search result, but there were some rather strange images brought up that appeared to have more to do with the human trafficking industry, perhaps, than with botany, so I'll just post this one link, it's easy to do a search for more results. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Image of a ripe fruiting body of Turkish Tree Hazel
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| Brilliant George! I thought of cobnuts but just couldn't square a Corylus tree of that size. I can't understand why they are not more widely grown. Maybe they need more summer heat than we can give them to fruit reliably. They were very shapely balanced trees and they must be a picture with their long catkins. There is also a red bracted form, Corylus colurna 'Te-Terra Red'. I wonder if that is what these were. I'll have to look if I'm ever on that street again. Thanks for solving the mystery so fast. I've found a link to a mention of them in London. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Corylus colurna
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| Yep, Turkish Hazel, very distinctive. "... but just couldn't square a Corylus tree of that size. I can't understand why they are not more widely grown. Maybe they need more summer heat than we can give them to fruit reliably" It can reach 30 metres tall, with a trunk a metre or more in diameter. It used to be rare, but has become very widely planted in the last 10-20 years or so in city centre planting schemes. It regularly produces fruit up here in northeastern England, so summer heat isn't restrictive, though I haven't yet succeeded in germinating a locally grown nut. Fruit in late summer before maturity: Resin |
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| Flora, could you tell us what kind of lens you used for your pics? |
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| sam_md it's just an old Canon Ixus digital camera set to Macro. ie I know to click on the flower symbol and try to hold it steady. I know nothing at all about photography. As you can see the focus is rubbish mostly due to my awful eyesight. Resin - thanks for the extra info. I emailed the tree people at Kensington and Chelsea planning department who told me "All of the street trees on Sloane Street from Brompton Road in the north to Sloane Square in the south are Turkish Hazel, Corylus colurna." I must visit again when they are in leaf. The road goes towards the venue for the Chelsea Flower Show so it's fitting that there are interesting trees. I have never seen one in my neck of the woods but maybe I have just been unobservant. |
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