h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: University Project - The Kew Royal Botanical Gardens' Heritage and Historical Trees. - A79768921
Author: Gnomon - U151503

This is a Project by MMF on Important Trees in Kew Gardens.

There are 15 entries plus an overview page. All are original except for the Ginkgo entry which is an update of the existing Edited Entry. The entries have already been sub-edited.

Overview:

A80841413 Kew Gardens' Important Trees - Overview

Heritage Trees:

A80841440 English oak - Quercus robur
A80841459 Chestnut-leaved Oak - Quercus castaneifolia
A80841477 Holm oak - Quercus ilex
A80841495 The Lucombe oak - Quercus x hispanica 'lucombeana'
A80841503 Turner's oak - Quercus x turneri
A80841512 Indian horse chestnut - Aesculus indica - 'Sidney Pearce'
A80841530 Sweet chestnut - Castanea sativa
A80841549 Corsican pine - pinus nigra ssp laricio
A80841693 Stone pine - Pinus pinea
A80841576 North American tulip tree - Liriodendron tulipifera

A80841602 Caucasian elm - Zelkova carpinifolia
A80841611 False acacia - Robinia pseudoacacia
A80841620 Maidenhair tree - Ginkgo biloba (update of A80841620)
A80841657 Oriental plane - Platanus orientalis
A80841666 Pagoda tree - Styphnolobium japonicum

Please review and post any comments in this thread.

Eds, when this has completed its stay in Peer Review, please don't press the Accept button, as this is a Project and that's not how they're done.

Hi Gnomon,

If the individual Entries have already been subbed, what would you like us to do?

Review them, make suggestions about content. If you happen to see any mistakes, report them. That's the normal procedure for a project.

Standard PR review, got it. Sorry, as you mentioned they had already been subbed I wasn't sure.

I'll try to get through them over the next few days.

Do you prefer one longish posting when we're done, or several small ones whenever we've read a couple of pages?

hey! I have been looking forward to the arrival of this project Trees are something I know a bit about, so it is really pleasing to learn even more, from MMF. Thank you!

I like the tone of this very much, I guess if you had no prior knowledge of botany or silviculture, then this would be a great starting point. Likewise if you were intending to visit Kew. Sadly, I've never had the opportunity, so far. But if I was to visit, then I think I would print this out, because it covers both the dry botanic facts with interesting historical details. (Can you tell I love trees? )

and a mention of Britain's largest compost heap really does sell me on a visit one day.

just a few queries:

in English Oak:

>>>>The bark was reckoned to be good to relieve diarrhoea, rashes, frostbite and gastrointestinal catarrh

who reckoned this? and what on earth is gastrointestinal catarrh? or maybe don't explain as it sounds vile. But is it a real condition? or historical medical-speak for something?



in Sweet Chestnut:

>>>>(oblong-lanceolate toothed leaves as Alan Titchmarsh would call them)

I don't thin the Titchmarsh would actually say this, he is rather too lightweight for botanic nomenclature in my opinion. How about Monty Don ( his present TV series on Garden history is truly wonderful btw)

....all in all a marvellous project. Someone asked me recently where pine nuts came from, and having read this I can point at Umbrella pine trees or Stone Pine and say 'There!' So thank you both.

Pleased you like it, Lanza.

>>The bark was reckoned to be good to relieve diarrhoea, rashes, frostbite and gastrointestinal catarrh>>

gastrointestinal catarrh is also known as or related to gastric inflammation, stomach inflammation, gastritis/duodenitis, gastritis and other stomach disorders.

The remedy by using bark is one passed on from folklore, so no direct lineage.

>>(oblong-lanceolate toothed leaves as Alan Titchmarsh would call them)<<

(oblong-lanceolate toothed leaves as Tony Kirkham, famous from the BBC's A Year at Kew and Head of Kew's Arboretum, would call them)

Is that better?

MMF

yes, I do like it - it is a very worthwhile entry. Might there be any photos to go with it? I hope so.

I'll try to read all entries, but can't promise anything due to family commitments.

Starting with A80841440 English oak

*a couple of hundred different - I think that is a little clumsy (but maybe that's just me), wouldn't 'about 200' be better?

spirit of the Seas', which was bought down in a terrorist attack over Lockerbie in Scotland - brought down

This honorific came from - doesn't it need a subject?

*In lack of another tree smiley.

Nothing to comment on the chestnut oak. Next one:

A80841477 Holm Oak


The acorns are smaller than the English oak - well, I'd expect them to be smaller than an oak. Maybe 'smaller than those of...'?

London also suffers from Ectoedemia heringiella - it sounds a bit odd to me, as if the citizens suffer, not the oaks.

A80841495 The Lucombe oak

To quote an article from RBGK... 'showing that Lucombe knew more about growing trees than preserving them'. - who is RBGK?

from the German wagenschot - I've never heard of wagenschot, so I looked it up. Apparently, the word is Wagenschott, and it's probably written with a capital W.

As a footnote, the largest Lucombe oak in the world was in Phear Park in Devon - There are 'real' footnotes. Maybe say: 'As an aside'?

Unfortunately on February 2009 - shouldn't it be 'in' February (or 'on [insert date] February?

>>Might there be any photos to go with it?<<

Yes. I'm sorting through them to pick the best. The English oak is proving hardest as it is impossible to get a good photo due to it's location. I may have to rely on the Lockerbie bench instead, to link it to Kew, rather than a stock oak photo.

MMF

And thanks, B'El, errors noted:

English oak amendments:
>>supporting a couple of hundred different organisms<<
supporting as many as two hundred different organisms

>>'Spirit of the Seas', which was bought down in a terrorist attack over Lockerbie in Scotland.<<
'Spirit of the Seas', which was brought down in a terrorist attack over Lockerbie in Scotland.

>>This honorific came<<
The honorific, Gospel, came

Holm oak amendments:
>>The acorns are smaller than the English oak<<
The acorns are smaller than those of the English oak

>>London also suffers from Ectoedemia heringiella<<
London Holm oaks also suffer from Ectoedemia heringiella

Lucombe Oak amendments:
>>To quote an article from RBGK<<
To quote an article from Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew (apologies. RBGK had been quoted elsewhere in one of the entries)

Footnote 2: >>'Wainscot', from the German wagenschot<<
'Wainscot', from the German Wagenschott. (There was confusion in the writing of the entry, as a Dutch derivation was also suggested, but I'm happy to use Wagenschott.)

>>As a footnote, the largest Lucombe oak<<
As a point of interest, the largest Lucombe oak

>>Unfortunately on February 2009,<<
Unfortunately in February 2009,

Thanks for your help. These entries have had a lengthy gestation... I'm pleased to finally finish them...

Any more amendments needed?

MMF

It's way past my bedtime, I'll try to read the other entries later this week.

They are interesting, and I'm sorry that I don't have any knowledge of trees, so all I can do is to nitpick grammar or style.

B'El, that is what is needed. This entry has taken three years to germinate.

And you know, I prefer birds, not triffids.

Bitte sie Schlaf gut.

*Hope I have that right!*

MMF

I took the "wagenschot" from the Oxford English Dictionary, so I think it is probably right. It may be middle German as opposed to modern German. I'll check when I get home.

Superfrenchie, I don't mind whether you do one long posting or a load of short ones.

Will post when I'm done, then.

Schot is middle low German. Modern German is Schott.

No German dictionary (neither Duden nor Brockhaus) has wagenschot listed, so maybe specify that it comes from middle low German?
Then again, it doesn't really matter.

One note - usually Entry titles are capitalised. Most of these are not. If that's OK I don't mind, I just thought I would point it out in case it was an oversight.

They were done in reverse order in case I couldn't get to the end, so I didn't duplicate what others have written. I did all bar the English oak though, in the end, so I needn't have worried. Oh well!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Pagoda Tree
"The leaves are pinnate..."
What does pinnate mean?

"Kew's Pagoda Tree was originally classified as Sophora japonica, within the same family, the Fabaceae or legumes."
This took me five or six attempts to understand this (although now I've got it it seems weird that I couldn't). Perhaps something like:
Kew's Pagoda Tree was originally classified as Sophora japonica, putting it within the same family as the Fabaceae, also known as legumes.


Oriental Plane
No comments!


Maidenhair Tree
"It is a male tree, and is a true Lion."
--What makes it a 'truer' Lion than the other Lions? Is it that it is male? If that's the case, could I suggest:
It is a male tree, making it a true Lion.


False Acacia
Legume is capitalised here, but is not in the Pagoda tree Entry. Also legume is explained in that Entry but not in this. If I were to pick one, I'd put it on the first instance of the work (as most people read from top to bottom).


Caucasian Elm
No comments!


North American tulip tree
No comments!


Stone pine
In the Acacia Entry you put a disclaimer at the bottom about h2g2 not being a source of medical advice. Do we need that on this Entry too?
What's an embrocation?


Corsican pine
No comments!


Sweet chestnut
What does lanceolate mean?


Indian horse chestnut
No comments!


Turner's Oak
If the uprooting appeared to revive it, does that mean the tree was dying before this? It might be worth mentioning it as it takes the reader a little by surprise otherwise.

If it can only be propagated by grafting, how does it normally reproduce? Or is that because it's a cross so is infertile (or something)?


The Lucombe oak
No comments!


Holm oak
Has the Vista been planted with more Holm oaks or more trees in general?


Chestnut-leaved oak
water-lily house doesn't have capitals but the Palm House does - is this intentional?

~~~~~~~~~~~

I've not done the English Oak as it's a much longer Entry and I'll give it a post to itself.


Well done though; this is a good set of Entries.