Britain's Rarest Tree

Here is a fabulous Black Poplar, reckoned to be our rarest native tree. It wasn't so very long ago that there were real fears for its long-term future, fears that it might even become extinct. And yet it was once such a characteristic feature of the English countryside that it appears, identifiably, in John Constable's archetypal rural idyll, 'The Hay Wain'. This one is in Roud, in the upper reaches of the East Yar valley and was photographed by Rowan Adams on her Rambling Rivers walk for the 2007 Walking Festival . Rowan is gallantly guiding the fit and adventurous along successive sections of our Source to Sea long-distance trail (you can see it marked as the ' Yar River Trail' on the OL29 Ordnance Survey Explorer Map for the Island) throughout the Festival and on into the IWC Countryside Summer Walks programme. There are just a handful of Black Poplars left on the Island (maybe 3, maybe 5); all male and so trapped in hopeless chastity. Fortunately, thanks to the generosity of the Environment Agency and the great horticultural skills of the Isle of Wight College we are now able to collect cuttings from these trees and propagate them. In this way we will build up a stock of new saplings (all clones of the originals of course) ready for planting out and so ensure that this beautiful tree will grace the Island's river valleys and wetlands for many years to come. But, if there any female Black Poplars out there looking to relocate, please do send your age and measurements to: desperatetrees@island2000.org.uk