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Scotland's Native Trees and Shrubs
Collecting seed
In view of the increasing demand for trees of Scottish provenance it is anticipated that the tree seed collecting industry will expand and growers will collect their own seed. It is important that a strict code of conduct is adopted and maintained to establish credibility in the process from the beginning. The basic principles of seed collection are described in a number of authoritative publications - 'Forestry Commission Practice Note 8: Using Local Stock for Planting Native Trees and Shrubs', 'Flora Locale's Technical Note 8: Code of Practice for Collectors Growers and Suppliers of Native Plants and Seed' (February 2000) and the advice produced by the Horticultural Trades Association.
The Forestry Commission administer the statutory controls contained in 'The Marketing of Forest Reproductive Material Regulations' 1997. Few of our native tree species come within these regulations but, in 1999, the Forestry Commission introduced a voluntary control system for native tree species and also for native shrubs. A new EC Directive on the marketing of forest reproductive material was published in January 2000. The Forestry Commission is responsible for implementing the Directive in the UK and after a full consultation period will be transposing it into national law and regulations by 1st January 2003. It should be noted that the Directive is primarily aimed at the commercial forestry sector and as such it only proposes to regulate the marketing of eight Scottish native species for forestry purposes. In the meantime, it is recommended that the voluntary system guidance set out in The Forestry Commission Practice Note 'Using Local Stock for Planting Native Trees and Shrubs' is followed.
The male and female flowers grow on different yew trees. The chance of fertilisation and fruit forming is, therefore, increased if trees are planted in clumps. The female flowers of yew are inconspicuous. After fertilisation, conspicuous red appetizing fruit develops to attract the birds to disperse the seed.
Male flowers grow on the underside of the shoots and shower pollen in February.
The Horticultural Trades Association and Flora Locale are also working to promote a voluntary system of control for amenity stock. In the meantime, The Scottish Executive require suppliers of native stock to possess credible evidence of seed origin or provenance together with a signed Certificate of Provenance. (An example of a Provenance Certificate for a Design and Build form of contract is included in the Appendix.)
When selecting native trees from which to collect seed for amenity use, as opposed to commercial crop production, it is important not to adopt the quality criteria for trees grown for timber. Uniformity and maximum growth rate are not normally the prime characteristics for amenity trees (an exception being trees and shrubs for formal design). Variability and natural characteristics are more likely to be appropriate quality criteria for amenity use. It might be that where perpetuation of local character is a prime design objective, trees and shrubs grown from a representative sample of seed collected from a local woodland would be appropriate. This is another subject which designers and growers need to discuss. The nursery trade may well have to adjust their quality criteria and substitute natural characteristics for uniformity in relation to some stock for amenity use. Ironically, a proportion of such stock grows naturally in any batch of seed collected from the wild but the non-uniform specimens are presently graded-out and rejected!
Yew seed collected,extracted and cleaned.
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