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PINE - PINO
Pinus Pinaster

FAMILY:
Pinaceae

DESCRIPTION:
It is a medium-size tree, reaching 20-35 m tall and with a trunk diameter of up to 1.2 m, exceptionally 1.8 m.
The bark is orange-red, thick and deeply fissured at the base of the trunk, somewhat thinner in the upper crown.
The leaves ('needles') are in pairs, very stout (2 mm broad), 12-22 cm long, and bluish-green to distinctly yellowish-green.
The cones are conic, 10-20 cm long and 4-6 cm broad at the base when closed, green at first, ripening glossy red-brown when 24 months old. They open slowly over the next few years, or after being heated by a forest fire, to release the seeds, that are 8-10 mm long, with a 20-25 mm wing, and are wind-dispersed.

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION :
The range extends from Portugal and Spain (except Huesca, Logroño and Palma de Mallorca)north to southern and western France, east to western Italy, and south to northern Morocco, with small outlying populations in Algeria and Malta (possibly introduced by man). It generally occurs at low to moderate altitudes, mostly from sea level to 600 m, but up to 2000 m in the south of its range in Morocco.

 

 

BLUE GUM - EUCALIPTO
Eucalyptus globulus

FAMILY:
Mirtaceae

DESCRIPTION: Evergreen tree that typically grow from 30 to 55 m (98 to 180 ft) tall, and with bark taht shreds often, peeling in large strips. The broad juvenile leaves are born in opposite pairs on square stems, they are about 6 to 15 cm long and covered with a blue-grey, waxy bloom, which is the origin of the common name "blue gum".
The mature leaves are narrow, sickle-shaped and dark shining green, and they are arranged alternately on rounded stems and range from 15 to 35 cm in length.
The buds are top-shaped, ribbed and warty and have a flattened operculum (cap on the flower bud) bearing a central knob. The cream-colored flowers are borne singly in the leaf axils and produce copious nectar that yields a strongly flavored honey. The fruits are woody and range from 1.5 to 2.5 cm in diameter, and contain numerous small seeds, that are shed through valves (numbering between 3 and 6 per fruit) which open on the top of the fruit. It produces roots throughout the soil profile, rooting several feet deep in some soils.

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION : The natural distribution of the species includes Tasmania and southern Victoria, and there are also isolated occurrences on King Island and Flinders Island in Bass Strait and on the summit of the You Yangs. Blue gum is renown as a fast growing timber tree. The tree is widely cultivated elsewhere in the world. It is primarily planted as a pulpwood, and also as the primary source of global eucalyptus oil production in many countries. It has poor lumber qualities due to growth stress problems, but can be used in construction, fence posts and poles.

 

PEDUNCULATE OAK - CARBALLO
Quercus robur L.

FAMILY:
Fagaceae

 

DESCRIPTION: Q. robur is a large deciduous tree 25–35 m tall (exceptionally to 50 m), with lobed and nearly sessile (very short-stalked) leaves 7–14 cm long. Flowering takes place in mid spring, and their fruit, called acorns, ripen by the following autumn. The acorns are 2–2.5 cm long, pedunculate (having a peduncle or acorn-stalk, 3–7 cm long) with one to four acorns on each peduncle.
It is a long-lived tree, with a large widespreading head of rugged branches. While it may naturally live to an age of a few centuries, many of the oldest trees are pollarded or coppiced, both pruning techniques that extend the tree's potential lifespan, if not its health.

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION : It is native to most of Europe, and to Asia Minor to the Caucasus, and also to parts of North Africa. A number of cultivars are grown in arboreta and in parks and gardens.

 

WHITE WILLOW - SALGUEIRO
Salix alba

FAMILY:
Salicaceae

 

DESCRIPTION: It is a medium-sized to large deciduous tree growing up to 10-30 m tall, with a trunk up to 1 m diameter and an irregular, often leaning crown. The bark is grey-brown, deeply fissured in older trees. The shoots in the typical species are grey-brown to green-brown and the leaves are paler than most other willows, due to a covering of very fine silky white hairs, particularly on the underside; they are 5-10 cm long and 0.5-1.5 cm wide. The flowers are produced in catkins in early spring, and pollinated by insects. It is dioecious, with male and female catkins on separate trees; the male catkins are 4–5 cm long, the female catkins 3–4 cm long at pollination, lengthening as the fruit matures. When mature in mid summer, the female catkins comprise numerous small (4 mm) capsules each containing numerous minute seeds embedded in white down which aids wind dispersal.

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION :Is a species of willow native to Europe and western and central Asia, that appears near rivers, lakes and wetlands.

 

STRAWBERRY TREE - MADROÑO
Arbutus unedo

FAMILY:
Ericaceae

DESCRIPTIÓN: The Strawberry Tree grows to 5-10 m tall, rarely up to 15 m, with a trunk diameter of up to 80 cm.
The leaves are dark green and glossy, 5-10 cm long and 2-3 cm broad, with a serrated margin.
The hermaphrodite flowers are white (rarely pale pink), bell-shaped, 4-6 mm diameter, produced panicles of 10-30 together in autumn. They are pollinated by bees.
The fruit is a red aggregate drupe 1-2 cm diameter, sometimes called arbutus-berry, with a rough surface, maturing 12 months at the same time as the next flowering. The fruit is edible, though many people find it bland and mealy; the name 'unedo' is explained by Pliny the Elder as being derived from unum edo "I eat one",which may seem an apt response to the flavour.

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION: is an evergreen shrub or small tree in the family Ericaceae, native to the Mediterranean region and western Europe north to western France and Ireland. Due to its presence in South West Ireland, it is also known as Irish strawberry tree, and Killarney strawberry tree.

 

 

CORK OAK - SOBREIRA
Quercus suber

FAMILY:
Fagaceae

DESCRIPTIÓN: It grows to up to 20 m, although it is typically more stunted in its native environment. The leaves are 4 to 7 cm long, weakly lobed or coarsely toothed, dark green above, paler beneath, with the leaf margins often downcurved. The acorns are 2 to 3 cm long, in a deep cup fringed with elongated scales.
The tree forms a thick, rugged and corky bark, and over time this bark can develop considerable thickness and this can be harvested every 10 to 12 years as cork.

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION : The harvesting of cork does not harm the tree and a new layer of cork regrows, making it a renewable resource. The tree is widely cultivated in Spain, Portugal, Algeria, Morocco, France, Italy and Tunisia. Cork Oak forests cover approximately 25,000 square kilometres in those countries. Cork Oaks live about 150 to 250 years.

 

 

EUROPEAN ASH - FRESNO
Fraxinus excelsior

FAMILY:
Oleaceae

DESCRIPTION:It is a large deciduous tree growing to 20-35 m (exceptionally to 46 m) tall with a trunk up to 2 m (exceptionally to 3.5 m) diameter, with a tall, domed crown. The bark is smooth and pale grey on young trees, becoming thick and vertically fissured on old trees. The shoots are stout, greenish-grey, with jet black buds. The leaves are 20-35 cm long, pinnate compound, with 7-13 leaflets, the leaflets 3–12 cm long and 0.8–3 cm broad, sessile on the leaf rachis, and with a serrated margin. The leaves are often among the last to open in spring, and the first to fall in autumn if an early frost strikes; they have no marked autumn colour, often falling dull green. The flowers open before the leaves, the female flowers being somewhat longer than the male flowers; they are dark purple, and without petals, and are wind-pollinated. Both male and female flowers can occur on the same tree, but it is more common to find all male and all female trees; a tree that is all male one year can produce female flowers the next, and similarly a female tree can become male. The fruit is a samara 2.5-4.5 cm long and 5–8 mm broad, often hanging in bunches through the winter; they are often called 'ash keys'.
It is readily distinguished from other species of ash in that it has black buds, unlike the brown or grey buds of most other ashes.

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION: is a species of Fraxinus native to most of Europe with the exception of northern Scandinavia and southern Iberia, and also southwestern Asia from northern Turkey east to the Caucasus and Alborz mountains.