Trees of the Botanic Garden

The Indian Horse Chestnut is a spectacular sight in early summer. The flowers have yellow centres until they have been pollinated, at which point they turn pink. Pollinating bees carry off its brick red pollen on their hind legs.

The silver lime from south-east Europe has flowers with rich nectar and honeybees make a pale green honey from it in summer. Spectacular autumn colour is revealed as the days get shorter.

Leaves of all Tilia species are heart-shaped and asymmetrical at the base. Pea-like fruit hang from a green ribbon-like bract. The leaves of this Silver Lime from south-east Europe, rustle in the wind, revealing their silvery undersides putting on a magical show.

The Caucasian Elm is an elegant tree valued for its goblet shape and attractive leaves, which are elegantly and regularly toothed. The foliage turns a rich copper colour in autumn. Zelkova trees are often more resistant to Dutch Elm Disease than the native Elm species.

The Osage Orange is one of the most unusual members of this family. The tree bears strange orange-sized fruit, a lurid neon green in colour, high up in the tree.

In autumn the ground below this tree becomes littered with these large, green, deeply wrinkled tennis balls.

Our horticultural staff's affectionate label. Perhaps you can come up with another name?

Green ash grows quickly and tolerates pollution and road salt so it used to be a popular street tree in North America. However it is susceptible to damage from the Emerald Ash borer beetle and its planting across the USA, assisted in the spread of this pest species.

This Persian Ironwood displays ornately tangled branches, some of which have fused together over time to create an intricate lattice. It grows slowly- this specimen was planted in the 1880s- and its wood is so dense that it sinks in water.

In addition to spectacular autumn colour before the leaves are lost, this tree produces these beautifully delicate flowers in late winter, early spring, sure to cheer the spirits when it is cold and dark.

Our bricked up Wild Pear looks lovely in spring when in full blossom. The tree is gradually growing around the bricks and encasing them. This treatment for branch loss is no longer recommended.

Despite being the same species, Black pines from warm climates hold their branches erect, while those from cold areas have sloping branches to allow snow to fall off. This limits the load on their branches and ensures the leaves are free to photosynthesise.

This spectacular Cork Oak remains evergreen throughout all but the coldest of Cambridge winters, despite its reputation for poor growth in England.

The bark of the cork oak is remarkable. It is thick and spongy and slow to burn, making it ideally adapted to its fire prone native range. It also has the unusual property of not expanding sideways when squashed, making it easy to push a wine cork into a bottle.

The flowers of this family appear in fossils dating back to 95 million years ago, which predates the evolution of bees. The flowers are thought to have evolved to encourage pollination by beetles, while the fleshy , brightly coloured seeds are dispersed by birds.