OakEuro
pean
Larch
Beech
Douglas
Fir
Sycamore
Lodg
epole
Pine
Sitka S
pruce
Sweet C
hestn
ut
Scots P
ine
ElmAlde
rAsh
Hazel
Birch
Holly
1916 - Easter Rising put down,followed by martial law and execution of 15 rebel leaders.
1665 - English scientist IsaacNewton discovered gravity.
1541 - Henry VIII declared “Kingof Ireland”. His forestry policy, continued by Elizabeth I, assisted inthe destruction of Irish forests.
1492 - Columbus arrived in America.
1969 -Neil Armstrong was the firstman on the moon.
1789 - French Revolution followedby Napoleon’s emergence as aleading military figure until 1815.
NATIVE SPECIES INTRODUCED SPECIES
1928 - Walt Disney’s first majorcartoon, Steamboat Willie featuredMickey Mouse.
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Tree
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and
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1900
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1700
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Bark protects the tree.
Inner bark or phloem carriesfood for the tree.
Cambium produces wood cellsor xylem.
Cross-section of oak showing annual growth rings
2000
1000
Norway
Spruce
Heartwood which is dead, givesthe tree strength and rigidity.
Sapwood, which is the livingpart of the tree, stores andtransports nutrients.
1014 - Brian Ború, King of Ireland,was killed as his army defeated theVikings at the Battle of Clontarf.
1903 - In the United States, theWright brothers made the firstpowered aircraft flight.
1845 - Blight in potato harvestmarked the beginning of the GreatFamine in Ireland.
1347 - Black Death reached Europefrom China. Almost one third ofEurope’s population wiped out.
Trees are easily the biggest and oldest of livingthings. A Douglas fir growing in the PowerscourtEstate, Co. Wicklow, is 57 metres in height and isIreland’s tallest tree. However, it is little over halfthe height of the giant redwood which is almost thelength of a football pitch.
Oak and yew trees can live for 1,000 years, butthese are mere teenagers compared to thebristlecone pines of California which are over 4,700years old. We can accurately measure the age oftrees, because as they grow, they add additionallayers of wood or annual rings. In fast growingconiferous trees, there may be over a centimetrebetween rings, while in mature slow growing oaksthere may be up to 15 rings to each centimetre. Thebristlecone pine is so slow growing that there arenearly 100 rings to the centimetre.
In this illustration, we trace some of the events thattook place during the life of this 1,000 year-old oak,which has lived through many changes in climate andthrough centuries of great historical events.
1,1,000 years of history in a tree000 years of history in a tree
Yew
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