Journal

Key findings Not everything in the record was definitely there. For example, pine trees have highly mobile pollen and can sometimes be overrepresented in the pollen record. Not everything absent from the pollen record was absent on the ground. For example, insect-pollinated plants are often absent, or under-represented in the pollen record. The most important data you can collect is direct observation. Evidence in the Dartmoor pollen record It was amazing how many little nuances I bumped into when I was reading the research papers. For example, one of the first reports from the 1960s identified pollen from pine trees...

The history of plants on Dartmoor is known from only a handful of studies which have been conducted on Dartmoor. Each of the studies has taken a sliver of dirt, and then examined it under a microscope to find the pollen from the plants that have grown here over time. Interestingly, these studies have shown that Dartmoor has been shaped by humans for as long as they've lived here. The pollen record shows variation of plants at different locations studied. This makes sense: the plants in my backyard are not the same as what grown on the open moor a...

Identification A small tree with thorns, white flowers, and pink anthers. Annual fruit, haws, are red berries. Flowers share a smelly chemical, trimethylamine, with that of decaying flesh. Botany Hawthorns will grow hundreds of years but, seeds take two winters to germinate. Leaves are edible. Lore Seen as both a protective and dangerous tree; the May tree was once a central part of the spring festivities. It symbolises rebirth and fertility; but also evokes death. Also known as pixie pears, due to the haws, the hawthorn tree is thought to be a spiritual tree of the faeries. How to make...

Identification Large tree with distinctive lobed leaves. Also, commonly appears in hedgerows. The two varieties of oak that are native to the UK can be distinguished their acorns. The fruit, acorns, appear in mast years, occurring every 3-10 years. Sessile oak Quercus petraea. aka Cornish, Welsh, or Irish oakAcorn has: bumpy cap, short stem Pedunculate oak Quercus robur. aka English oak.Acorn has: bumpy cap, long stem Hairy oak A third species is also needed for the marble galls that we use in our practice. This was imported to the UK in 1735: the hairy oak. Quercus cerris. aka Turkey or...