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Trees woods and wildlife
Shaggy parasol
Elegant and shabby-chic. Good to eat – unless you’re one of the one in 25 people whose stomach can’t tolerate it.
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Trees woods and wildlife
Velvet shank
A burst of sunshine in wintry woods, the bright orange of velvet shank fungus is a treat for the eyes on a dark day. Not only are they a cheery sight but they are also edible.
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Trees woods and wildlife
Wood blewit
Pastel-toned and edible with a magical twist. Wood blewit has a blue to violet-tinged cap and gills when young, with pale pink spores. It sometimes grows in circles called ‘fairy rings’, which can appear overnight and were once thought to indicate that magic was at work.
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Trees woods and wildlife
Dothistroma needle blight
This fungal disease can have a serious impact on our native Scots pines. It could spell trouble for our rare, ecologically invaluable Caledonian pine forests.
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Trees woods and wildlife
Elm zig-zag sawfly
The newest threat to our already damaged elm populations, the larvae of the elm zig-zag sawfly can defoliate whole trees.
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Trees woods and wildlife
Emerald ash borer
The emerald ash borer has killed billions of ash trees in the US. If it gets here, it will do the same to our already vulnerable ash populations.
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Trees woods and wildlife
Horse chestnut leaf miner
The larvae of the horse chestnut leaf miner bores within horse chestnut leaves, eventually causing them to drop and harming the tree and leaving it vulnerable.
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Trees woods and wildlife
Pine processionary moth
Feeding on the needles of pine trees, the pine processionary moth is seriously destructive. They can rapidly strip trees of their needles in forests in Asia, Africa and southern Europe, leaving them vulnerable. Now, there are fears it’s heading north to the UK.
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Trees woods and wildlife
Red-necked longhorn beetle
The red-necked longhorn beetle is native to eastern Asia and is a serious threat to trees in the genus Prunus like cherries and plums. Its larvae tunnel and feed under the bark and in the wood causing low fruit yield and possible death.
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Protecting trees and woods
The Green Recovery Challenge Fund
In March 2022, we completed a 15-month project with the National Trust to restore damaged woods and conserve neglected ancient trees thanks to funding from Defra.