Spring on the Southwell Trail - Part 8 (April 2018)

At this time of year I tend to include all white/pink flowers on trees into the broad category of blossom. This avoids the need to distinguish between the various types of tree and reduces the possibility of making identification errors.

This year I decided to be more precise and had a go at putting names to the different types of flowers. Initially this was not easy as I tended to treat each tree in isolation which caused some confusion. Eventually, I started to recognise the difference and similarities identifying several types of flowers*:

Blackthorn Blossom

There are many blackthorn trees along the trail although some do not appear to have the characteristic thorns. This made me wonder whether there were Damson (wild plum) trees mixed in with the blackthorn. I am not totally sure but I am happy that the following photographs are blackthorn flowers:

Cherry Blossom

There are several varieties of cherry tree including: wild cherry; sour cherry; bird cherry; and plum cherry. The flowers look very similar but I am reasonably certain that the trees on the Southwell Trail are wild cherries particularly now I have seen the early stages of the fruit forming:

This group of flowers looked slightly different and might be cherry plum blossom:

Pear Blossom

The following flowers are wild pear. The leaves are different shape to the cherry tree leaves:

Apple Blossom

I am fairly sure these flowers are apple blossom, possibly crab apple:

*As always I try to be as accurate as possible with my identifications but mistakes are possible. I am happy to receive any corrections via the comments section.