The Amur Cork Tree
age unknownAmur Cork Treepin approximate
Which one is it? A tall tree with thick, deeply ridged bark, corky enough to give slightly under a thumb. The leaves are compound, in opposite pairs along the stalk.
Either Manchester has the tallest Amur cork tree in Britain, or somebody's tape was wrong. The council's tree survey calls this one a glorious specimen standing at 55 feet, which is 16.8 metres. The tallest Phellodendron amurense on the national record stands at Forde Abbey in Somerset and measures 14.90 metres. Both cannot be right, the two figures may simply have been taken in different ways, and nobody has been back to settle it, so this page states the disagreement rather than picking a winner. What is not in dispute is that the tree is a surprise on its own terms. Phellodendron amurense comes from northeast Asia, reached Britain in 1885, and is generally reckoned to need the south of England to do well. This one is in a Didsbury botanical garden, doing well. It is named for its bark, which is thick, deeply ridged and corky enough to give under a thumb. One caution. The council's survey is the only source we could find that names this tree, and it does not say where in Fletcher Moss it stands, so the pin is the garden rather than the spot. The garden is small, free and open in daylight, and a tree of that height in it is not hard to find.
The button above opens directions in your maps app. East Didsbury railway station, about a 10 minute walk; East Didsbury Metrolink stop, about a 15 minute walk
The pin marks the right spot roughly, not the tree itself. It stands here, but we have not confirmed the precise position on the ground yet. Know exactly where it is?
- Species
- Amur Cork Tree (Phellodendron amurense)
- Age estimate
- Location
- Fletcher Moss Botanical Garden, Stenner Lane, Didsbury, Manchester M20 2RQ (Didsbury)
- Access
- Free, in a public botanical garden open during daylight hours; exact spot within the garden not established this pass
- Getting there
- East Didsbury railway station, about a 10 minute walk; East Didsbury Metrolink stop, about a 15 minute walk
Trees nearby
Ticking this one off, walks past several more, and your collection growing city by city: that is the Ancient Trees app.
Get the appThis page was researched from a distance. If you know this tree, you know things we do not: the species, the age, the size, whether the photo shows the right tree, or that it is gone. Every field on this page can be corrected.
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