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The Nowton Park Arboretum Fact Sheet
The Nowton Park Arboretum exhibits a fantastic variety of trees from around the world. This
factsheet highlights a number of the species you can see and provides information on their
traditional uses.
North America
The Nowton Park totem pole stands 35.4 feet (10.8m) tall near the centre of the North American
region. It is carved from a western red cedar that was one of the original Victorian plantings. This is
the species traditionally favoured by Native Americans for their totem poles. This tree was storm
damaged and dying. Rather than removing it, it was decided to have it carved in the style of a west
coast totem pole. The designs are a mixture of classic features and representations of local history.
From top to bottom they are: Wailing Man, Raven, Grizzly Bear of the Sea, White Wolf with St
Edmund's Head and Eagle.
Western red cedar - Thuja plicata
It was the cornerstone of Native American culture. Timber was used for house planks and
dugout canoes. Bark was used to pad babies cradles, as tinder for fires and slow burning
torches. Limbs were twisted into rope, and many parts of the tree was used for medicinal cures
Coast Redwood – Sequoia sempervirens
It is probably the tallest tree on earth. In native California redwoods are known to be over
110m tall. The genus is named after Sequoyah, inventor and publisher of the Cherokee
alphabet.
Kentucky Coffee Tree – Gymnocladus dioicus
Named from Greek gymno - naked and cladus – branch, as the tree is leafless for almost half
the year. The seeds were used to make a coffee substitute by early settlers in Kentucky.
Tulip Tree – Liriodendron tulipifera
Named from Greek leiron - lily and dendron - tree and Latin tulipifera - tulip bearing, as the tree
bears tulip like flowers in spring with greenish white petals.
Yellow Buckeye – Aesculus octandra
The large fruits which are similar to conkers contain poisonous glucosides and are not eaten by
animals. The native Americans used to roast them amongst hot stones and then peel and mash
them. They were then leached with water for several days before they were safe to it eat.
South America
This area does not include the trees of the tropical rain forest, but two tree species which occur
as post-fire stands in south central Chile and Argentina.
Monkey Puzzle - Araucaria araucana.
Spiritually the tree holds the centrepiece in the altar of the harvest and fertility ceremonies of
the Pehuenche people of Chile. Historically the tall straight trunks were used as masts for
sailing ships. The species has international protection, but is still threatened as populations are
fragmented and the trees are felled illegally, even within national parks. It was introduced to
Britain in 1795 by Archibald Menzies, who saved the seeds served to him as a dessert and
planted them on board the ship he was travelling on – the Discovery.
Southern Beech – Northofagus antartica.
A dense deciduous shrub forming the understory below monkey puzzle
Mediterranean and Southern Europe
Medlar – Mespilus germanica
It is a spiny shrub up to 5m high. The fruit pulp becomes soft and edible after a frost, with an
agreeable acid taste, and is often used in preserves. The fruit was eaten by Greeks and Romans.
An unusual dish is "medlar cheese", which is similar to lemon curd, being made with the fruit
pulp, eggs, and butter.
Judas Tree – Cercis siliquastrum
Native to the eastern Mediterranean, it has been in cultivation in Europe and Asia since ancient
times. It is so named because of the legend that upon this tree Judas hanged himself after
betraying Christ; since then the flowers have been a deep rosy red.
Umbrella Pine – Pinus pinea
The two umbrella or stone pine will eventually become 20 metres tall with umbrella shaped
crowns and orange plated bark. This tree was the first pine tree to be used and cultivated by
man. Its nuts (pine nuts) have been harvested for half a million years or more. The richly
flavoured seeds are essential for many Portuguese, Spanish and Italian recipes.
Caucasus and West Asia
Walnut – Juglans regia
A wide spreading tree with deeply fissured grey bark. The timber is hard and used in furniture
making. It was regarded as the royal nut of Jove by the Romans, who carried the nuts for food and
cooking oil. As the nuts looked like a human brain they were used as a medieval cure for mental
disorders.
Black Mulberry – Morus nigra
The black mulberry is widely grown in southern Europe for the sweet fruit. It was often planted in
prison exercise yards – hence popular Victorian nursery rhyme and game ‘here we go round the
mulberry bush’.
Persian Ironwood- Parrotia persica
This tree has beautiful autumn colour and an attractive peeling bark, and very hard timber. It is
Native to Iran and Iraq.
India and Burma
Bhutan Pine – Pinus wallichiana
Native to Nepal, it has long, blue/green needles and long banana shaped cones. The wood, hard and
durable, is used for tea chests and building work. Oil extracted from the roots is used as an insect
repellent.
Indian Horse chestnut – Aesculus indica
Native to the SW Himalayas, it has more delicate leaves and flowers than the European horse
chestnut and bears smaller conkers carried in spineless husks. This species is also resistant to the leaf
miner disease which attacks other horse chestnuts.
Himalayan Birch – Betula utilis
The birch has a strikingly white bark; the flowers are in separate female and male catkins
China
A giant panda sculpture was carved in 1998 and placed in the China region along with its food plant
bamboo to add to the vision of this geographical are
Weeping Willow – Salix babylonica
Native to western China, it was taken abroad in the form of baskets and thus established along the
silk route.
White Mulberry – Morus alba
A native of China, it has been cultivated in Europe for the last four centuries. The leaves are used as
food for silkworms.
Golden Raintree – Koelreuteria paniculata
This deciduous tree has a rounded outline, with spreading and ascending branches and a reddishcopper foliage. Its yellow flowers, borne in clusters, are used to make black and yellow dyes. The
seeds are green, yellow and pale brown papery capsules and are strung together to make necklaces.
Southeast Asia
A dragon overlooks the south-east Asia regions of the arboretum. The dragon was carved from a
cedar tree that was growing in the park but was struck by lightning
Maidenhair tree – Gingko biloba
It is the only survivor of an ancient dynasty of trees from the Jurassic period. The fan shaped leaves
have parallel veins and turn butter yellow in the Autumn; the outer flesh of the seed is removed and
the inner seed can be eaten and is roasted or added to birds’ nest soup.
Pere David’s Maple – Acer davidii
It is one of several Acer species known as a stripebark or snakebark maple for the patterning of the
bark. Golden red/orange autumn leaves.
Japanese Maple – Acer palmatum
This multi-trunked deciduous tree is variable in leaf and plant habit. It is often used as bonsai.
Katsura Tree – Cercidiphyllum japonicum
This is a rare forest tree of Japan and China. Its leaves have a soft apricot-orange colour, while its
seed pods smell of toffee. It was an important timber tree in Japan.
Australasia
The genus Eucalyptus is an extremely diverse group, containing 500 hardwood evergreen trees and
shrubs, mainly native to Australia. There are many examples of temperate Eucalyptus species in the
Arboretum, many of them showing a change in foliage between young and adult plants.