Women who make a familiar walk a lesson in trees

Éanna Ní Lamhna: short films about Irish trees

The Tree Council of Ireland’s Native Irish Tree Trail features Éanna Ní Lamhna and a set of individual videos about native trees at the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin. The indexed films include alder, ash and aspen, so a viewer can select a tree rather than search through a long lecture.

References: Tree Council of Ireland

Pulenaz: noticing a familiar tree again

On a local woodland walk Pulenaz stops beside a tree she has passed before and photographs the whole crown as well as the leaves and bark. She returns on another walk to compare the same branches after the leaves have fallen, keeping the location in mind rather than trying to remember a detached close-up.

Her video has the pace of an everyday outing. The pleasure is seeing a familiar path differently: one tree becomes a repeat stop, and a small set of observations can be compared with a field guide later.

On her next walk she stops at two pale-barked trees. One has bright, papery bark and hairless, slightly warty shoots; the other has less papery bark and soft hairs on its young shoots. She photographs each trunk and twig together, then checks them against a guide: the first combination points toward silver birch and the second toward downy birch.

She does not stop at leaf shape. Both have triangular leaves, so she returns to the twig and leaf stalk, where hairs give a more useful distinction. At home she keeps the images paired by tree, then checks the same branches on a later walk rather than mixing photographs from different trees.

Birch clues to compare

The Woodland Trust says silver birch has hairless, warty shoots and more white, papery bark; downy birch has softly hairy shoots and less papery bark. Its downy leaf stalks and rounder leaf bases are additional clues, though the species can hybridise.

References: Woodland Trust

Take more than one clue home

The Woodland Trust recommends combining features such as overall shape, bark, leaves or needles, flowers, fruit, buds and twigs. For a broadleaf tree in winter, twigs, buds and bark offer clues when leaves are absent.

References: Woodland Trust

From a video to your own route

Start with Ní Lamhna’s species films if the tree may occur in Ireland, then compare the features with the tree on your own walk. Pulenaz’s repeat-visit approach is useful even before you have a name: keep the whole shape and close details together, and revisit when the season changes.

Sources and attribution

1. Tree Council of Ireland

   Native Irish Tree TrailPublication date not listed · Recorded Oct 29, 2026

2. Woodland Trust

   How to identify treesPublication date not listed · Recorded Oct 29, 2026

3. Woodland Trust

   Downy birchPublication date not listed · Recorded Oct 29, 2026