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Summary (with a few additions)
of |
Ken Walters |
"Trees used
for Historical Re-enactor Woodworkers and other Craftspeople,
100-1700AD" |
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Brit intro? |
Food/drink |
Remedies |
Colour |
Dyeing |
Firewood |
Working |
Made into |
Spiritual |
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heart |
sap |
bark |
fruit |
leaf |
shoots |
root |
wood |
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| Alder |
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ancient |
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paCr; worked green
RBr>O; seasoned>Y |
R tawny |
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Gn |
Y |
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Pi |
not best |
nice to carve/turn |
broom handles, soles, clogs.Viking: bowls, cups |
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| Alder buckthorn |
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YBr |
G-BuGn |
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Gunpowder, skewers, peasticks, butcher's dogs |
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| Apple |
common |
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apples! |
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brY |
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well if dry |
nice to carve/turn |
furniture |
Celts: disaster(execute)if cut down |
| Apple |
crab |
Ice age |
jellies, jams, wine |
fermented "Verjuice": sprains
& scalds |
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Hosts mistletoe |
| Ash |
common |
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bark: malaria pre-quinine;
leaves: purgative/diuretic |
paCrW, marked rings |
brY |
Excellent - burns green |
wide rings tougher |
spear shafts; axe, mace &
tool handles; child & training swords; oars, hockey sticks, waggon
felloes (rims), furniture (steam bent for chairs) |
Burning drives bad spirits from room. Sacred
to Norse (Yggdrasil: Odin carved 1st man from it) |
| Ash |
manna |
1700 |
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gum: mild laxative |
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| Aspen |
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| Barberry |
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| Beech |
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nuts, edible oil |
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Cr ltBr, prominent
rays |
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burns hot |
nice to carve/turn |
absorbs shocks: chair legs,
mallet heads, chopping blocks, spoons, plane bodies |
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| Birch |
silver |
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ferment sap with honey |
cf Sycamore |
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bright flame |
short lengths ok to carve/turn |
twigs: besom broom; coppiced
poles; peel & dry bark: 'bentwood' boxes (cf Shaker style), canoes &
shelters (Canadian); paper (Viking); sap: soap; bark oil: insect repellant,
scent; plywood (Scandanavia) |
Sacred powers of renewal
(Celts, Druids, Germanic): ritual sweep spirits from old year, birch
insane/criminal to expel evil |
| Blackthorn |
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Sloe gin,wine,jam |
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Br |
Y |
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dense, tough, polishes nicely |
small items: rake teeth, walking sticks,
marquetry (recent), Irish shillelagh |
| Box |
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Cr - Br |
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dense, hard grained, nice to carve/turn, sinks
when green |
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| Buckthorn |
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bitter berries |
berries+bark>"cascara"purgative |
RBr |
Y |
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charcoal for centuries |
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walking sticks today |
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| Cedar |
common |
1664 |
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oil in soaps & perfumes |
R-ish |
W |
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sharpens easily, no splinters |
aroma resists insects: chest/wardbrobe liner, pencils |
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| Cedar |
white |
1560s |
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fragrant |
ltBr |
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| Cherry |
bird |
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brandy/wine flavour,
inedible-bitter tannin |
bark: tea stomach tonic,
plague protector |
RBr |
W |
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| Cherry |
cornelian |
16C |
jellies, jams |
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Persian,Greek, Roman: javelin, spear, arrow shafts |
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| Cherry |
wild |
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cherries: wild
inedible, cultiv'd edible raw or cooked; pulp: distilled; bark gum: cider
flavour |
paBr |
paler; worked green>O/RBr, distinctive rings |
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turning |
furniture, mallet heads, tool/knife handles, tobacco pipes |
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| Chestnut |
horse |
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conkers animal not human feed |
stalks: tonic; cherries: cough
syrup flavour |
paCrBr |
brY |
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dries to light weight, no
strength or durability |
turned/carved decorative
objects, toys, false limbs, fruit trays/boxes |
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| Chestnut |
sweet (unrelated) |
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edible nuts (roasted),
ground>pollenta (Roman), stuffing |
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cf Oak but less
visible rays |
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seasoned: lighter & less
strong than oak, shakes when planked, ok when cleaved, holds size |
housing beams, staves for
palings, furniture, coppiced for hop poles or walking sticks |
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| Damson |
Cherry plum/blackthorn cross.
Varieties: plum, greengage |
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jellies, jams, wine |
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RBr |
paBr |
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Dense, hard, nice to carve/turn |
furniture |
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| Dogwood |
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can charcoal |
tough |
butchers' dogs, goads, pestles, wheel spokes,
berries: lamp oil |
| Elder |
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fruit, flowers: wine, jam,
cordial. Flowers flavour vinegar, lemonade, rhubarb; Fruits: champagne, dried
in cakes |
tea: coughs(vit C); bark:
purgative; flowers: face lotion |
YW |
Bk |
Bu-Li (hair) |
dull Gn |
Bu (flower) |
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hard |
small items: spoons, toys, combs, peashooters, whistles |
Grow beside door to ward off witches |
| Elm |
English |
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leaves: animal (esp goat)
fodder |
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Br irreg. grain |
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saw not cleave |
furniture, esp. seats, stools, waggon hubs |
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| Elm |
wych |
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RBr |
Y-ish |
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turnable, cleavable
(straighter grain) |
furniture, water pipes, boat
keels, groynes, chair seats, wheel hubs, coffins; tough inner bark/bast:
ropes (cf lime); pollards: peasticks (EAng) |
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| Fig |
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16C |
brandy, rarely ripens in
Britain |
fruit: laxative; leaf juice:
warts |
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| Foxglove tree |
17C |
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Chinese: infusion of fruit & leaves prevented
skin/hair aging |
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| Gum |
sweet (satin wood - America) |
1681 |
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wood: no use |
gum: adhesives, salves, perfumes, incense |
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| Hawthorn |
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pa |
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close grained |
poles, walking sticks, layered for hedging |
maypoles, facemask of Green Man |
| Hazel |
common |
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cob nuts, edible oil |
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straight coppice sticks |
walking sticks, thatching spars, timber frame buildings,
wattling |
Water divine with forked twig |
| Hazel |
wych |
1879 |
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bark, leaf, twig+alcolhol> controls
inflammation/bruising/bleeding |
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| Hazel |
cob |
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round nuts |
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dense, hard, nice
to carve, bends for weaving or shaping a frame |
staves, hurdles,
frames for baskets, coracles, etc, heatherings for hedging |
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| Hazel |
filbert |
not native |
longer nuts |
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| Holly |
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W |
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dense, close grained; nice to carve/turn
like Box |
tool handles, inlay work,
woodcuts, finely carved/turned items |
Pagan: symbol of everlasting
life and ward against evil, Christian Xmas. Unlucky to cut down |
| Hornbeam |
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layered for hedging, butcher's blocks, mallets,
balls, skittles, spokes, cogs, ramrods |
| Juniper |
common |
pre Medieval |
ham smoking, gin flavour |
berries poison antidote incl
wild animal bites. Keep away plague, ease dropsy |
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Br |
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coppiced for faggots, firewood
(good when seasoned), charcoal |
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bean sticks |
Medieval burnt branch/leaf
against evil. Egyptian embalming oils from leaf |
| Lilac |
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1621 |
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Pu |
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| Lime |
(Linden, Basswood(US)) |
ancient |
2700BC: Lime flower honey |
flowers: soothing tea |
PaCrW |
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soft to carve with great deal
of detail |
some musical linstruments,
shields, tough inner bark/bast: ropes (cf wych elm) |
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| Maple |
field |
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nice to carve/turn |
cups, bowls, spoons |
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| Maple |
Box elder |
Late 17C |
sugary sap |
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CrW |
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small carvings |
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| Maidenhair tree |
18C |
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Japan: roasted fruits cure
hangovers |
ltY |
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soft, no strength |
no usable wood |
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| Mulberry |
black |
1550 |
bittersweet raw or jam berry |
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Housing silk worms from 17C (white better, but not Brit) |
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| Medlar |
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Saxon known |
fruit edible when over-ripe |
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short lengths only |
As most fruit woods |
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| Oak |
English |
ancient |
pigs: acorns |
galls: burn ointment; Agaric
fungus: strips stop bleeding |
dkBr |
Cr, lt ray flecks, rings |
bark: wool, linen,
tanning leather, ink (with iron salts), Br with alum, Pu,Bk,Y with metal
salts; galls: ink |
good if dry, can charcoal |
preserves well |
building
houses/bridges/seige engines, boats, barrels, wedges, furniture, panelling,
swill baskets, fencing, waggons, some tool/knife handles |
Sacred to Druids, esp. mistletoe |
| Oak |
holm (holly/live) |
14C |
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good charcoal |
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| Oak |
sessile |
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bark: tanning leather |
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hi quality charcoal |
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| Pear |
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ancient but not native |
fruit raw or
stewed, fermented>perry(Norman) |
paPiBr |
brY |
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nice to carve/turn |
veneers, musical instruments |
Hosts mistletoe |
| Privet |
oval leafed (OE: prim,
primprint) |
ancient |
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1597: gargle to combat mouth/
throat swellings, abscesses & ulcers |
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Bu/Bk |
Y |
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| Plane |
London |
ancient |
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grain delicate tracery "Lacewood" |
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dense & fine-grained; nice to carve/turn |
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| Poplar |
common |
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v light when seasoned |
matches, pallets |
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| Poplar |
lombardy |
18C |
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no commercial use |
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| Rowan |
(Mountain ash) |
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berries: red jelly |
drink preventing scurvy (vitC) |
YGr |
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Bk-ish |
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strong, flexible |
longbows (Yew stronger),
small carved items, tool handles |
Planted or staff added to
thatch or child's cot to ward off witchcraft |
| Service tree |
wild (rare) |
pre-Roman |
berries: binding against colic & dysentery |
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can charcoal |
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| Spindle |
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bark&fruit: emetic;
leaf/seed against lice |
W-ish |
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berries: R from Pi,
Y from O, Gn if boil with alum |
today:hi-grade charcoal |
dense, tough |
spindles, skewers, clothing pegs |
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| Sumac |
stag's horn |
1629 |
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root extract: fever |
O |
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light, soft |
toys, hollowed stems: tabacco pipes & tapping
Maple sap (N.America) |
| Sycamore |
("Gt Maple" since
Romans) |
inter-glacial evidence |
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v.paCrW, cf birch,
ash; hardly grained |
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shredded dried bark for tinder |
nice to turn & with hand
tools, no tase or smell, natural bactericide |
rare Fiddleback ripple for
violin backs & veneers; kitchen/dairyware |
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| Tamarisk |
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1582 |
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rheumatism, bruising; medicines (MidEast) |
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branches would be suitable for broom |
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| Tulip tree |
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1656 |
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bark: bitter quinine properties |
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whitewood furniture, 20 people canoe (N.Am) |
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| Walnut |
black |
1709 |
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veneers, gunstocks |
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| Walnut |
common |
Romans?(AngSax=foreign nut) |
nuts, nut oil |
nut: mental disorders (cf
brain signature) |
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Br (no mordant),
suntan, hair, floor stain |
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furniture, nut oil: soap (19C); leaves: slug killer (19C) |
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| Wayfaring tree |
(Hoarwithy) |
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berries: Bk ink |
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pliant twigs: string round
faggots, stock driving switches; hardwood: mouthpieces for tobacco pipes |
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| Whitebeam |
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AngSax named |
over-ripe berries: jelly with
venison |
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tough, hardwearing |
cogs |
Boundary marker (AngSax) |
| Willow |
common |
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bark: Aspirin -
sedative |
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PuR |
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fine charcoal |
v light when seasoned |
cleft for gate hurdles, hay rakes, cricket bats,
coppiced for basketwork |
| Willow |
goat (pussy) |
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Br |
YW |
bark: PiBr-Pu, tanning leather |
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clothes pegs, rake teeth, knife/hatchet handles |
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| Willow |
osier |
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GnBr |
buff |
tannin |
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coppiced for withies: basket work, chair seats |
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| Yew |
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bark/leaves/berries: poisonous |
dpRBr |
pale |
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wavy grain hard to split,
good for steam bending |
bows for Windsor chairs, longbows |
Holy long before Christians |
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