Oxalis tuberosa - Oca

Latin plant name Oxalis tuberosa Common plant name Oca Plant type Perennial herbaceous plant Size (meters) < 1m Distinguishing features The plant is not known in the wild, but populations of wild Oxalis species that bear smaller tubers are known from four areas of the central Andean region. Oca was introduced to Europe in 1830 as a competitor to the potato. Oca is cultivated primarily for its edible stem tuber, but the leaves and young shoots can be eaten as a green vegetable also. Andean communities have various methods to process and prepare tubers, and in Mexico oca is eaten raw with salt, lemon, and hot pepper. Oca is fairly high in oxalates, concentrated in the skin, and the bioavailability of oxalate appears to be similar to spinach. Oca is one of the important staple crops of the Andean highlands, due to its easy propagation, and tolerance for poor soil, high altitude and harsh climates. Oca needs a long growing season, and is day length dependent, forming tubers when the day length shortens in autumn (around March in the Andes). In addition, oca requires climates with average temperatures of approximately 10 to 12°C (range: 4°C to17°C) and average precipitation of 700 to 885 millimeters per year. In areas with harsh winter climates, early frosts may cut back the foliage before the tubers have a chance to form. In tropical areas where the days are unchanging in length, oca will not set a crop successfully.

Oaks

An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus, of which about 600 species exist.  The genus is native to the Northern Hemisphere, and includes deciduous and evergreen species extending from cool temperate to tropical latitudes in Asia and the Americas.

Oaks have spirally arranged leaves, with lobed margins in many species; some have serrated leaves or entire leaves with smooth margins. Many deciduous species are marcescent, not dropping dead leaves until spring. The flowers are catkins, produced in spring. The fruit is a nut called an acorn, borne in a cup-like structure known as a cupule; each acorn contains one seed (rarely two or three) and takes 6–18 months to mature, depending on species.

In Ireland the most common oaks are:

Sessile - Quercus Petraea

Peduncular Oak (Irish) - Quercus robus

The oaks are one of the most valuable biodiversity plants. They can support over 300 species of wild life (insects and birds mainly).

Pines can also support a handful.

Ash - Fraxinus

Latin plant name Fraxinus Common plant name Ash (fresno) Plant type Tree Size (meters) <10-45 m Distinguishing features Both names, Latin and English, have the same meaning, spear. The leaves are opposite (rarely in whorls of three), and mostly pinnately compound, simple in a few species. The seeds, popularly known as keys or helicopter seeds, are a type of fruit known as a samara. Ash is a hardwood. Extensively used for making bows, tool handles, baseball bats, hurleys and other uses demanding high strength and resilience. There is a severe pest attacking the ashes all over Europe. Chalara dieback of ash is a serious disease of ash trees caused by a fungus called Chalara fraxinea (C. fraxinea). The disease causes leaf loss and crown dieback in affected trees, and usually leads to tree death.

Beech

		Autumn	Spring
	Copper/Purple beech	Rusty brown leaves	Purple leaves
	Common/Green beech	Rusty brown leaves. They can keep the leaves better during winter	Green leaves

The beech as the oak can make a nice bush. (haya)

The beech as a bush needs shelter from:

• Wind
• Animals (rabbits and goats)

Identifying nearby plant

We collected branches from trees near our homes to identify them in the classroom

Silver maple

Pine tree

Ash

Rhus - Sumac

Latin plant name Rhus Common plant name Sumac Plant type Flowering shrub Size (meters) <1 - 10 m Distinguishing features The leaves are spirally arranged. Rhus chinensis compounds possess strong antiviral, antibacterial, anticancer, hepatoprotective, antidiarrheal and antioxidant activities.

Salix - Willow

Latin plant name Salix Common plant name Willow Plant type Tree Size (meters) <5-15 m Distinguishing features Found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. They came to Ireland right after the melting of the ice age thanks to their light seeds that can be blown by the wind, along with the grasses and the beerchs. Willows all have abundant watery bark sap, which is heavily charged with salicylic acid, soft usually pliant tough wood, slender branches and large fibrous often stoloniferous roots. The roots are remarkable for their toughness, size, and tenacity to life, and roots readily grow from aerial parts of the plant. The leaves are typically elongated, but may also be round to oval, frequently with a serrated margin. Most species are deciduous; semievergreen willows. Willows are dioecious, with male and female flowers appearing as catkins on different plants; the catkins are produced early in the spring, often before the leaves, or as the new leaves open. Basic crafts, such as baskets, fish traps, wattle fences and wattle and daub, house walls, were often woven from osiers. Willow wood is also used in the manufacture of boxes, brooms, cricket bats (grown from certain strains of white willow), cradle boards, chairs and other furniture, dolls, flutes, poles, sweat lodges, toys, turnery, tool handles, veneer, wands and whistles.

Alnus - Alder

Latin plant name Alnus Common plant name Alder (alisos) Plant type Tree Size (meters) <20-40 m Distinguishing features With a few exceptions, alders are deciduous, and the leaves are alternate, simple, and serrated. The flowers are catkins with elongate male catkins on the same plant as shorter female catkins, These trees differ from the birches (Betula, the other genus in the family) in that the female catkins are woody and do not disintegrate at maturity, opening to release the seeds in a similar manner to many conifer cones. Alder leaves and sometimes catkins are used as food by numerous butterflies and moths. Alder bark contains the anti-inflammatory salicin, which is metabolized into salicylic acid in the body. As a hardwood, alder is used in making furniture and cabinets and other woodworking products.

Acer - Maple

Latin plant name Acer Common plant name Maple Plant type Tree Size (meters) <10-45 m Distinguishing features The word Acer derives from a Latin word meaning "sharp" (compare "acerbic"), referring to the characteristic points on maple leaves. Most species are deciduous, but a few in southern Asia and the Mediterranean region are evergreen. Most are shade-tolerant Maples are distinguished by opposite leaf arrangement. The leaves in most species are palmate veined and lobed. A maple leaf is on the coat of arms of Canada, and is on the Canadian flag. The maple is a common symbol of strength and endurance and has been chosen as the national tree of many countries including Canada. Maples are planted as ornamental trees Some of the larger maple species have valuable timber. Maple is considered a tonewood, or a wood that carries sound waves well, and is used in numerous musical instruments

Ginkgo biloba

Latin plant name Ginkgo biloba Common plant name Ginkgo Plant type Tree Size (meters) <20- 30 m Distinguishing features The ginkgo is a living fossil, as a unique species recognisably similar to fossils dating back 270 million years. Native to China, the tree is widely cultivated and introduced early in human history, and has various uses as a food and in traditional medicine. The tree has an angular crown and long, somewhat erratic branches, and is usually deep rooted and resistant to wind and snow damage. During autumn, the leaves turn a bright yellow, then fall, sometimes within a short space of time (one to 15 days). A combination of resistance to disease, insect-resistant wood and the ability to form aerial roots and sprouts makes ginkgos long-lived, with some specimens claimed to be more than 2,500 years old. Ginkgo is a relatively shade-intolerant species that (at least in cultivation) grows best in environments that are well-watered and well-drained. The leaves are unique among seed plants, being fan-shaped with veins radiating out into the leaf blade. Ginkgos are dioecious, with separate sexes, some trees being female and others being male. Male plants produce small pollen cones with sporophylls, each bearing two microsporangia spirally arranged around a central axis. Female plants do not produce cones. Two ovules are formed at the end of a stalk, and after pollination, one or both develop into seeds.

Araucaria - Monkey puzzle

Latin plant name Araucaria Common plant name Monkey puzzle Plant type Conifer evergreen tree Size (meters) < 40 m Distinguishing features Because of the species' great age it is sometimes described as a living fossil. Araucaria araucana is the national tree of Chile. The leaves are thick, tough and scale-like, triangular, 3–4 cm long, 1–3 cm broad at the base, and with sharp edges and tip. They persist for 10–15 years or more, so cover most of the tree except for the older branches. It is usually dioecious, with the male and female cones on separate trees, though occasional individuals bear cones of both sexes. The male (pollen) cones are oblong and cucumber-shaped, 4 cm long at first, expanding to 8–12 cm long by 5–6 cm broad at pollen release. The tree is wind pollinated. The female (seed) cones, which mature in autumn about 18 months after pollination, are globose.

Leylandis

Latin plant name Cupressus x leylandii Common plant name Leylandii Plant type Coniferous evergreen tree Size (meters) < 15 m Distinguishing features Rapid and thick growing. Leyland Cypress is light-demanding but is tolerant of high levels of pollution and salt spray. A hardy, fast-growing natural hybrid, it thrives on a variety of soils and sites are commonly planted in gardens to provide a quick boundary or shelter hedge, because of their rapid growth. Although widely used for screening, it has not been planted much for forestry purposes.

Sequoia - Redwood

Latin plant name Sequoioideae Common plant name Redwood Plant type Conifer tree Size (meters) They are the tallest trees in the world. Distinguishing features The entire subfamily is endangered. They are also used in educational projects recreating the look of the megaflora of the Pleistocene landscape.

Myrthus - Myrtle

Latin plant name Myrtus Common plant name Myrtle Plant type Evergreen shrub Size (meters) <1,5 - 3 m Distinguishing features The leaf is entire, 3–5 cm long, with a fragrant essential oil. The star-like flower has five petals and sepals, and numerous stamens. Petals usually are white. The fruit is a round berry containing several seeds, most commonly blue-black in colour. A variety with yellow-amber berries is also present. The flower is pollinated by insects, and the seeds are dispersed by birds that eat the berries. It flowers in the late summer. It is used in the islands of Sardinia and Corsica to produce an aromatic liqueur called "Mirto".

Arbutus unedo - Strawberry tree

Latin plant name Arbutus unedo Common plant name Strawberry tree Plant type Evergreen shrub Size (meters) < 5 - 10 m Distinguishing features The leaves are dark green and glossy. The hermaphrodite flowers are white (rarely pale pink) The fruit is a red berry, 1–2 cm diameter, with a rough surface, maturing 12 months at the same time as the next flowering. The fruit is edible, though many people find it bland and meally; Grows well in limy soils. Arbutus unedo is widespread in the Mediterranean region, western France, western Ireland, southern Portugal and western Turkey. Its disjunct distribution, with an isolated relict population in southwestern Ireland, notably in Killarney, is a remnant of former broader distribution during the milder climate of the Atlantic period It is the symbol of Madrid city. It is the only plant that is native (it survived the ice age) to Ireland and not to the UK.

Berberis

Latin plant name Berberis Common plant name Plant type Evergreen shrub Size (meters) <1,5 - 3 m Distinguishing features Many deciduous species are noted for their attractive pink or red autumn colour. In some evergreen species from China the leaves are brilliant white beneath, a feature valued horticulturally. The flowers are produced singly or in racemes of up to 20 on a single flower-head. They are yellow or orange, 3-6 mm long. The fruit is a small berry 5-15 mm long. They work very good for hedging. Very thorny.

Buddleja - Butterfly bush

Latin plant name Buddleja Common plant name Butterfly bush Plant type Herbaceous perennial plant Size (meters) < 5 m Distinguishing features The leaves are lanceolate in most species, and arranged in opposite pairs on the stems. The flowers are produced in dense panicles 10–50 cm long; each individual flower is tubular, about 1 cm long, with the corolla divided into four spreading lobes. Flower colour varies widely, with white, pink, red, purple, orange or yellow. They grow a lot, sometimes it's conisdered invassive.

Magnolia

Latin plant name Magnolia Common plant name Magnolia Plant type Flowering plant Size (meters) < 2 m Distinguishing features The flowers evolved to encourage pollination by beetles. To avoid damage from pollinating beetles, the carpels of Magnolia flowers are extremely tough. It is a suitable plant for schools gardens.

Digitalis - Foxglove

Latin plant name Digitalis Common plant name Foxglove Plant type Herbaceous perennial shrub Size (meters) <50-255 cm Distinguishing features The scientific name means "finger-like" and refers to the ease with which a flower of Digitalis purpurea can be fitted over a human fingertip. The flowers are produced on a tall spike, are tubular, and vary in colour with species, from purple to pink, white, and yellow. A group of medicines extracted from foxglove plants are called Digitalin. Digitalis toxicity (Digitalis intoxication) results from an overdose of digitalis and causes anorexia, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea, as well as sometimes resulting in xanthopsia (jaundiced or yellow vision) and the appearance of blurred outlines (halos). Bradycardia also occurs. Because a frequent side effect of digitalis is reduction of appetite, some individuals have used the drug as a weight-loss aid.

Laburnum - Golden chain

Latin plant name Laburnum Common plant name Golden chain Plant type Decidious tree Size (meters) < 2 m Distinguishing features All parts of the plant are poisonous, and can be lethal if consumed in excess. Symptoms of laburnum poisoning may include intense sleepiness, vomiting, convulsive movements, coma, slight frothing at the mouth and unequally dilated pupils. In some cases, diarrhea is very severe, and at times the convulsions are markedly tetanic. The main toxin in the plant is cytisine, a nicotinic receptor agonist. They have yellow pea-flowers in pendulous racemes 10–30 cm (4–12 in) long in spring, which makes them very popular garden trees.