Number of 'iconic' black poplar trees planted in Herefordshire in bid to stop decline
Over the last 30 years, just 150 Native Black Poplars have been identified in the county
The Herefordshire Wildlife Trust say they are working to stop the numbers of a rare iconic tree declining in the county.
A collection of 27 Herefordshire native black poplars have been planted at Herefordshire Wildlife Trust’s Oak Tree Farm Nature Reserve in the Lugg Valley.
Numbers of the iconic tree specie have seriously declined in Herefordshire, with over the last 30 years just 150 Native Black Poplars being identified in the county through the Black Poplar project.
Over the last 20 years, 30 of them have been lost as old trees have collapsed and died.
In a recent national survey, its estimated there are only 7,000 black poplars in England, Wales and Ireland, of which just 600 are female.
To reproduce its numbers, the male and female black poplars need to be sited close to each other and the fertilised seeds need to fall on damp ground, making river valleys perfect places for this species.
Black poplars are dioecious, meaning that they are either male or female, but only five female trees have been identified in Herefordshire.
Sarah King is the nature recovery manager at the charity, she says the tree can be really important for species in the area.
"There's a whole range of caterpillars and certain moths that really like the black poplar and without it, species may decline further," she said.
"The only way to reproduce these trees is through taking a cutting of the existing trees and planting it, so what we're trying to do in Herefordshire is make sure that we're maximising the variety of genetic diversity within the trees, so we've planted 27 trees for 9 different clones.
"Herefordshire's Black Poplar project has been running for around 30 years, looking to restore black poplars within Herefordshire, so far we've planted trees on over 200 farms in the county and we've also been working to identify veteran and ancient trees across the region."
The collection at Oak Tree Farm has been planted from cuttings and truncheons (an extra-large ‘cutting’ several feet long) taken from existing Herefordshire trees and are known as 'clones' of these older versions.