Wyre Forest Callow Hill area Wimperhill Key Wood Parking 110 rook National Cycle Network s B 45 Information le y w a o ilw D ra d Toilets se su di All access 70 Cafe Play area 90 Picnic area 90 Horse riding New Parks Buzzard Trail Woodpecker 110 Trail 110 7 Black Wren Trail Gate 8 Family 6 Mountain Bike New Parks Park Brook Bench Trail Corner 9 National 120 Cycle Route 6 Public footpaths Key to trees Arboretum 5 4 Public 1 European Larch 8 7 bridleways 3 2 Holly Bore 10 Park 1 Emergency Hole 3 Pool 3 Douglas Fir 9 numbered 3 4 Oak Callow 13 5 Silver Birch posts 13 Hill 6 Wild Service 140 3 0 100 200m 2 7 True Service (Whitty Pear) 16 3 3 8 Ash 9 Scots Pine 2 11 10 Corsican Pine 11 Alder Buckthorn 9 10 5 Doghanging 5 12 Hazel Coppice Woodland 13 Hawthorn Giants 11 NB: Some numbers relate to 15 4 individual trees and some to 13 140 plantations of a single species. 5 1 10 12 10 4 As you learn the trees see if 9 you can spot them at other 12 1 Albert’s Oak locations around the route. 8 150 170 14 (Eg silver birch is very common 3 just about everywhere!) Discovery 160 You will also come across Centre 1 2 different tree species on this Bewdley route - look at their leaves, buds and bark and see if you Hazel Wyre Visitor Centre can identify what they are by Tenbury Wells using a book or the internet. A456 0 scale ok 500m Use this map to find an example of this tree when you next visit Wyre. Alternatively, to print a bigger version click here. Hazel - identification Hazel - Corylus avellana * Flowers and seed Male and female flowres are found on the same tree. Male flowers are long catkins, female flowers are small and bud-like.Hazels flower in mid Folklore February to mid April. Its seeds (or What’s in a name? Hazelnuts) appear in autumn and start Hazel has a reputation as a green then ripen to brown. They are magical tree. A hazel rod is dispersed by wildlife. supposed to protect against evil spirits, as well as being used for water-divining or wands. In some parts of England, hazel nuts were carried as charms and/or held to ward off rheumatism. In Ireland, hazel was known as the ‘Tree of Knowledge’ and in medieval times it was a symbol of fertility. Sitting under a Hazel tree is said to dispel ‘creative block’ in artists. The name Corylus comes The Hazel is a very common woodland tree or shrub from the Greek ‘horys’ that grows under the canopy of other woodland trees. meaning helmet which refers to the ragged-edged calyx on Its history is intertwined to ours through the multitude * Leaves the nut. of uses of its wood. The leaves are round in shape, but with a sudden sharp point at the end. The edges are doubly serrated. To It is a member of the Birch family and is a broadleaved the touch they are scrubby, hairy deciduous tree. It can grow as a small tree, but is more and quite floppy. frequently found as a multi-stemmed shrub due to having been coppiced. Size Age * Bark 12-15m tall. Up to 80 years old or The bark is bronze in colour and much older if coppiced finely peeling when young. Older www.foresteducation.org/ stems are pale brown with shallow search/learning_results/ ridges. Hazel - associated fungi and lichens * Lactarius pyrogalus A mycorrhizal fungus. * Russula aurea Often found under Hazel. * Hypoxylon fuscum A saprophytic fungus. Hazel - associated wildlife (insects) Hazel - associated wildlife (mammals) The act of coppicing opens up areas of woodland floor enabling sunlight to reach it, which encourages a Wildlife Spotter Wildlife Spotter whole range of woodland flora to grow. In turn these To download an insect To download an animal flowers attract many different invertebrate species. spotter chart click here * Dormouse clues spotter chart click here Dormice enjoy hazelnuts amongst other foods. A host of insects, including flies and butterflies are attracted to Hazel for food, shelter or prey. * Ladybird Ladybirds patrol the leaves for aphids, etc. They also like to rest inside the ragged outer husks of the hazelnuts in autumn and can often be found hibernating in the sheltered bases of the hazel during the winter. * Hazel Leaf-roller Weevil - Apoderus coryli Hazel - timber properties Hazel - uses past and present Hazel is a fairly brittle wood especially if grown in light free-draining soils. The Hazel was crucially important in the past as a source of wood and stems are prone to snapping at the base in windy conditions. had many uses. Hazel really needs to be grown in as sheltered a spot as possible if to be used for woodturning. Constant twisting around in the wind seems to cause the grain of Coppicing Hazel provides a continuous supply of small diameter, the wood to become distorted and more difficult to split (or cleave). flexible stems which could be twisted and even knotted. Uses include thatching spars, net stakes, water divining sticks, hurdles, furniture, firewood and wattle (for wattle and daub). Hazel poles have 2 invaluable properties - they can be split lengthways, and twisted and bent at sharp angles without breaking. The hazel nuts were once a prized food source but now, grey squirrels strip the trees before the nuts can be harvested..