Tree in leaf

“A few weeks ago the Craigie column carried a photograph of schoolchildren on Spittalfield Green,” emails Jim Black.

“Present-day villagers were puzzled to note that a tree that still stands in the corner of the Green bore no leaves. As the tree is an evergreen holm oak, which within living memory has never been known to lose all its foliage, some questioned whether the existing tree is indeed the one in the old photograph.

“However, postcards dating from various decades feature the tree and from its size, structure and position there seems no doubt that it is the same. I wondered whether loss of foliage might have been caused by intensely cold weather; the Tay froze over at nearby Delvine in 1895 and the winter of 1901/02 was again severe.

“I put this theory to the Royal Horticultural Society’s advice service and received an informative reply to the effect that the leaves of Quercus ilex, the evergreen oak, last for around one to three years.

“As the evergreen canopy is made up of leaves of different ages the tree is not normally bare. However, excessive heat, drought, or a severe winter may cause leaves to be shed in greater numbers and this is probably why the tree is without foliage in some of the early 20th Century photographs.

“In the postcard on the left from 1905, the tree’s foliage is happily restored.”