Giles Hill

Is there a bonus point for the venue? Abbey Gardens in Bury St Eds?

I'll go for Turkish hazel for the second one.

Thanks Monkeyd & Bundle 2. In this context it's about passing an exam question and it won't hurt to make as many justifiable and relevant points as you can, even if they're not all proven, so long as they're not patently false, they might score an extra point or two.

I got the impression that the concept of brackets inreasing water loss - as a method of making a more favourable environment - was quite a recent idea, rather than an established 'fact'? I was also thinking that brackets of some species are ephemeral features, but the fungus still manages to rot the tree when the brackets aren't there. The idea that brackets help dry wood to improve conditions for fungal decay sounds feasible, but I'm not sure it's something the examiners would expect you to come up with. I've had (am having) difficulty with the wording in some of the previous Tech cert exam questions, but if I had to answer the above question now, I'd be thinking along the lines of how water is an essential part of photosynthesis and therefore the tree needs water to generate new material to compartmentalise decay, form adaptive growth and generally be in a healthy enough condition to deal with the decay / respond to it quickly. I'd include a note about brackets being a possible enhancer of dehydration, but I'd make it clear that it was an idea I'd heard at a David Lonsdale talk and to the best of my knowledge, it's expert speculation rather than accepted fact. I don't know if I'd pass on this basis...

Ash before oak... that's a joke. Ash is never before oak and we always get a soak.

I'll be there Steve, so if you fancy a drinking competition the night before... I've read all the stuff apart from the last booklet. I feel like I've learnt a fair bit, but I'm not sure if it's enough - I'll be testing myself with a few written papers. In the past I've found it useful to practice the following approach: Read through paper and choose questions to answer. Write very brief notes on what you want to say in your answer. Write the answer neatly. I found that I had time to spare doing this, wheras if I launch straight into question answering, I'd have difficulty finishing. My worry is that I may not have had a enough time to dedicate to reading through and learning, because work has been really busy - I'll try not to loose too much sleep though - there will be oppurtunities to sit the exam again.

Rather than gang warfare, it could be that the stump and cut section provide different habitat conditions, that suit one rather than other species - the cut section might be dryer and the stump damper. It would tie in with what that Lonsdale character was talking about.

I am an Ent. You look like an Orc. Go away NOW, or I'll kill you.

It looks like Phellinus igniarius to me - I am a fungal novice, so feel free to accuse me of talking nonsense.

Woohoo indeed. I've just looked it up. Do you know if it's a boy or a girl? My prediction is that it will have axillary racemes of small, petalless, deep purple-pink male or green female flowers in late spring to early summer.

Drimys sp.?

Thanks YM, I had come across CAS before, but it was through internet searching, rather than recommendation. On the face of it they do seem appropriate for me, I'll look into them a bit more now you've mentioned them.

Is it intended solely for proper arborists or is there any room for land-lubbing surveying types? Do you need to be proficient with a chainsaw, or is a clipboard ok?

Monkey is that some kind of Cornus florida?

The next tree in the line has a bit of a lean-on. Fell it, before it pulverises a deer.

Failing that, a hybrid larch with the wrong bark and foliage, or a fir with everything wrong - I think that's covered most plantation conifers - apart from pine...

Phew, if you give enough random plant names, you're bound to be right at some point. I'd guessed the same as Tony for the other one - Atlas cedar, hemlock or Douglas fir. If it's none of those, how about a Sitka spruce? (with the wrong bark)

At the risk of futher humiliation, I'll guess Cryptomeria japonica for Tommer's first pic.

Is Andy's an apple tree?

Thanks for the tip Rod, firs aren't my strong point - I was secretly relieved to get the genus right! As for the current one, I don't have any idea...

Abies x mastree:001_smile:

Abies grandis?

This is the 3rd thread of yours that I've posted on today - at the risk of becoming a stalker, I'll be coming along to this. You don't need to call the Police, I did book on yesterday morning before reading this, honest.

Assuming it's some kind of saprophyte and given the previous failures, I'd reason that it's a symptom of decline, rather than the cause. The only parasitic orangey coloured bracket / lump I can think of is Laetiporus - I've not seen these in real life, but they're seasonal and I'm guessing there wouldn't be much left to identify at this time of year, certainly nothing that's orangey? I'd appreciate any comments from anyone who's familiar with Laetiporus.

With all that soil erosion, those two oaks look like they were about to die in the 1880's - reducing soil levels by that amount just dosen't work if you apply BS5837! The surface level seems to have risen a fair bit since then - or am I not looking at the pics properly? Amazing they can survive with the ground levels going up and down around their base - I guess they adapt if the process is not too rapid.