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Captured by John Constable in one of his most celebrated paintings, the black poplar tree was once as common as oak and beech in Britain.
Now the rarest and most threatened native species in the country, the National Trust is creating a living gene bank of the black poplar to ensure Constable’s The Hay Wain does not become a tribute to an extinct breed.
The conservation charity has planted a new breeding population of male and female black poplar trees on a restored area of floodplain at Killerton estate in east Devon.
Working in partnership with Forest Research and other community groups to locate and collect a diverse selection of cuttings, a total of 80 trees have been planted along the River Culm floodplain with hopes that cuttings will go to planting projects across Britain.
Fi Hailstone, a National Trust ecologist at Killerton, said: “We want to establish a naturally reproducing population of black poplar on the stretch of river we have relinked to the floodplain, the tree’s favoured habitat.
“Black poplars need male and female trees within 200 metres of each other to pollinate each other. With numbers in huge decline this is not something likely to happen in the wild, which is why we are stepping in to create a new breeding population.
“The trees can live for over 200 years and can grow to 30 metres in height. Once established, cuttings can be taken from the trees and spread to planting projects elsewhere, acting as a living gene bank, bolstering the resilience of the declining species and boosting its chances of survival.”
Land drainage and the demand for faster and straighter growing non-native trees for timber contributed to the decline of the species and of an estimated 7,000 black poplar trees left growing wild in Britain, only about 150 of those that have been tested are genetically unique.
Many are also male, as historically they were favoured aesthetically over the female trees which produce large amounts of white fluffy seed in spring.
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Tom Shuttleworth, a tree and woodland adviser for the National Trust, said: “The native black poplar is an iconic tree in the British landscape; arguably our tallest native broadleaf, it features famously in John Constable’s landscape The Hay Wain.
“Slower growing than hybrids and American poplars, it was a useful timber tree, its wood being strong under flex and temperature and used for cartwheels, brakes and in mantlepieces.
“It has important biodiversity value to numerous species including the poplar hawk moth, hornets, figure of eight moths and aphids, which in turn support wood ant species.”
At the trust’s plant conservation centre in Devon, breeding of native black poplars is under way and will be expanded using cuttings from the trees at Killerton once they have established.
Further initiatives to halt the decline of the black poplar are happening across National Trust land including the establishment of 16 trees in restored wood pasture on the Oxburgh estate in Norfolk. At Quarry Bank, rangers have been working with Chester zoo, which runs a breeding programme to produce new black poplars, to plant trees on the Cheshire estate.
Killerton is one of six nature super sites identified by the trust for their potential to restore nature across whole landscapes through activities such as tree planting and river restoration.
