The park is a unique monument of European nature history. The park territory covers 16 ha, distributed in 19 floristic areas. Maximilian von Sivers (1857-1919), the owner of the Skriveri manor, planted the trees by growing them of seeds, harvested in their natural distribution areas from the whole world. It was the first experiment in the Baltic of such a large importance. About 250 peregrine tree and bush species have remained until nowadays.
The visitors to the park can see the stairs of the castle, a card-game table of stone, a fountain and the remains of the castle fence.
You can stroll across the park on your own or contact the guide for a guided tour in advance on 25661983.
An hour-and-a-half long explorative walk along the temperate climate zone of the northern hemisphere
Assisted by : A.Mauriņš, A.Zvirgzds. ‘Dendroloģija’. Latvijas Universitāte, 2006
R.Cinovskis, A.Mauriņš, A.Zvirgzds. ‘Skrīveru dendrārijs’. R:Zinātne, 199
Perambulation map, 1932
LARCHES
Summer-green, monoecious needle trees. High quality wood, rich with resin and catechu, complicated for processing. Long lasting in water and soil.
European larch- with strong root system, light green soft needles, 3-4 cm cones. It grows in the mountains of Central and Southern Europe- the Alps and the Carpathians
Siberian larch- with strong root system, straight and slim trunk. They start to sallow in September and drop their leaves soon. In the wildlife it grows in Siberia and North Mongolia. It blooms at the end of April, ripens its seeds in September and starts to drop them out soon after.
Japanese larch – the new sprouts have grey bark, old trees- dark grey. Decorative cones resemble a filled rose blossom. Characteristic to Japan, Honshu Island.
American larch can grow to 20-metre height with short branches and thin sprouts. The cones are very small- 10mm long. In the wildliefe it grows in North America and Canada, rare in Latvia.
Dahurian larch grows in eastern Siberia, Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands in the wild.
DOUGLAS-FIRS
Douglas-firs are evergreen monoecious trees with a slim trunk, bred from seeds.
Pseudotsuga menziesii, the green Douglas fir is a tall tree, with strong and deep root system. In the wild it grows in the western mountainous area of North America. In Latvia, the trees start blooming having reached the age of 10-15 years. Cones are 5-10 cm long.
YEW
The common yew grows very slowly. It blooms at the end of April and ripens in August. As a representative of Atlantic flora, in wild, it grows in Central and Southern Europe, Crimea, the Caucasus and the north-west mountains of Africa .
SILVER FIRS (ABIES ALBA)
They are big or medium sized evergreen conic-shaped trees with flattened linear needles, soft timber and rather thin and smooth bark.
The new spruces of the balsam fir have a smooth grey bark with a lot of resin blisters. Small, resined buds of a purple shade. Tolerant of winters and shadowy places. In the wild, it grows in North America.
The Colorado white fir is a wide-spread tree which has wide, but shallow root system. Needle-like leaves are pretty long, greyish-green or silvery. They have quite big dark grey cones.
The Siberian fir is a tree with a conic crown and down-warded branches. Its bark is dark grey, while new, it is smooth with a lot of resin blisters. It has got strong root system. Needle-like leaves are soft of dark green colour. Resistant to Latvian winters. In the wild, it grows in the east of European part Russia and in the Siberian taiga. The timber is used in paper manufacture, the bark is used to produce “Canadian Balsam”, and the leaves are used to derive essential oils.
The white-bark fir is a tall, slim tree with a light grey bark, narrow dark needles and small egg-look cones. In the wildlife, it grows in Manchuria and Korea.
The Amur fir
HEMLOCK
The Hemlock fir is a big, evergreen tree with a rather thin trunk and a brownish-grey bark. The leaves are flattened to slightly angular and range from 5–35 mm long and 1–3 mm broad. They are borne singly and are arranged spirally on the stem; the leaf bases are twisted so the leaves lie flat either side of the stem. The cones are small of the length of 3 cm, pendulous. It is a widespread tree in North America, China, the Himalayas and Japan.
CADE JUNIPER
This evergreen tree is very variable in shape, forming a spreading shrub 2–3 m tall to a small erect tree 10–15 m tall. It grows a cylindrical to conical crown. It can grow in various types of soil, and is tolerant of winters. It is widespread in whole Eurasia, Central Europe and North America.
The Swedish juniper spreads in the countries surrounding the Baltic Sea and in the north of European part Russia. It has a narrow, pyramid-shaped build.
The Chinese prickly juniper grows in the north east of China and Korea. The leaves on mature plants are mostly tiny overlapping and needle-like or scale-like
The savin juniper is a shrub very variable in shape, up to 1–4 m tall. The needle-like leaves have a characteristic strong scent. The cones are berry-like, 5–9 mm in diameter, round. It grows in the mountains of South and Central Europe, Crimea, the Caucasus, the South Urals, Asia Minor and western Siberia.
SPRUCES
Spruces are large trees, from about 20–60 m tall when mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and conical form. The needles, or leaves, of spruce trees are attached singly to the branches in a spiral fashion, each needle on a small, peg-like structure, more or less quadrangle. Cones are pendulous, egg to cylindrical shaped.
The common spruce is a tall tree with straight trunk. The bark of young sprouts is grey, mature trees acquire a dark grey shade of the bark. It grows a thick conical crown. It is usually shallowly rooted. The needle-like leaves are 1,2- 2,5 cm in length. The tree is tolerant of shadow but brash to winds. The population occupies 19% of the territory of Latvia.
The Colorado prickly spruce is a popular choice for greenery with a straight trunk and brownish grey bark. The needle-like leaves are stiff, hard and particularly quadrangle can vary in colour from dark green, bluish grey to silvery and are 2-3cm long. It populates in the Rocky Mountains in North America. It is a sun-loving and winter-tolerant species.
The Serbian spruce is a medium-sized evergreen tree. The shoots are buff-brown, and densely hairy. The leaves are needle-like, flattened in cross-section, dark blue-green above, and blue-white below. The cones are 4–7 cm long spindle-shaped, broadest in the middle, with stiff scales. Prior to the ice ages it had a much larger range throughout most of Europe, now it has found a shelter in Serbia.
The dragon spruce is a medium-sized evergreen tree. The shoots are orange-brown, with scattered pubescence. The leaves are needle-like, shorter that those of the common spruce, rhombic in cross-section. The cones are cylindrical -conic, 6-10 cm long and have stiff, rounded to bluntly pointed scales. The dragon spruce is native to the mountainous areas of western China.
The Jezo spruce is a slow-growing evergreen tree. The bark is thin and scaly.The crown is broad conic. The leaves are needle-like, flattened in cross-section, dark green. The cones are pendulous, slender cylindrical. They have thin, flexible scales. They are green or reddish. The tree is native to Manchuria, Sakhalin, North Korea, North Japan and the Kuril Islands.
The black spruce is a slow-growing evergreen tree with a broad conic shape. The cones are the smallest of all of the spruces , the leaves are needle-like, 6–8 mm long, stiff, four-sided, dark bluish green on the upper sides, paler green below. Its range extends into northern parts of the United States. It is seldom cultivated in Latvia.
The Oriental spruce grows a conic crown and dark brown scaled bark. The needle-like leaves are very short of 5 mm length, dark green and stiff. The cones are slender cylindric-conic, about 8 cm long, and have stiff, smoothly rounded scales. It is native to the mountain forests of the North Caucasus and Turkey. It is rarely cultivated in Latvia.
PINES
Pines are monoecious evergreen trees, rarely, in the mountainous areas, shrubs. The bark of most pines is thick and scaly, but some species have thin, flaky bark. The branches are produced in a very tight spiral but appearing like a ring of branches arising from the same point. The spiral growth of branches, needles, and cone scales are arranged in Fibonacci number ratios. The needles form clusters of 2,3 or 5 in each.
The Scots pine is an evergreen tree growing up to 45 metres in height. The bark is thick, scaly dark grey-brown on the lower trunk, and thin, flaky and orange on the upper trunk and branches. It has a long, bare and straight trunk topped by a rounded or flat-topped mass of foliage.
The Swiss mountain pine is a shrub reaching of up to 5-metre height with dense foliage and wavy branches. The needle-like leaves are 3-5 cm long, dark green, hard, but flexible. The cones are conic shaped. The mountain pine is native to the Pyrenees, Alps, Carpathians, northern Apennines, and higher Balkan Peninsula mountains as well as Greece and Italy.
The Weymouth pine has a slender trunk with a rather thin bark, the scales are not thick. The leaves (“needles”) are in bundles of 5, flexible, bluish-green, finely serrated. The cones are pendulous, resemble of spruce cones. Its population is found in mountainous forests of the Atlantic in North America.
The Macedonian pine’s trunk is scalier than that of The Weymouth pine. This species of pine is native to the mountains of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Montenegro, Kosovo, Balkan Peninsula, the extreme southwest of Serbia, and the extreme north of Greece. It is rarely cultivated in Latvia. Having reached the age of 10 years the pine produces cones which are mostly 8–16 cm long, green at first, becoming yellow-brown when mature, with broad, flat to downcurved scales. The species is tolerant of winter weather.
The Jack pine is an eastern North American pine. Some jack pines are shrub-sized, due to poor growing conditions. They do not usually grow perfectly straight, resulting in an irregular shape similar to pitch pine. The leaves are in fascicles of two, needle-like, twisted, slightly yellowish-green, and 2–4 cm long. Jack pine cones are usually 5 cm and curved at the tip.
The Austrian stone pine is a species with a broad egg-shaped or conic, heavily branched crown. The needle-like leaves are 5 centimetres to 9 centimetres long. The cones contain edible seeds (or nuts) and are 4 to 8 centimetres long.
The Siberian pine’s leaves (‘needles’) are in bundles of five. They are up to 14 cm long. Siberian pine cones are up to 13cm long and 8 cm broad.It is a species of pine tree that occurs in Siberia, in the Ural Mountains and the north east of European part of Russia.
The Korean pine is pyramidal in shape, younger specimens with ascending branches and older trees with more horizontal branches that reach ground level. The grey or brownish bark flakes off to reveal reddish inner bark. Its branches are lined with bundles of five blue-green needles each up to 20 cm long and bear brown cones reach 15-18 cm length. It is native to eastern Asia: Korea, Manchuria, northeastern China, Mongolia, the temperate rainforests of the Russian Far East, and central Japan.
THUJA
Thujas are evergreen monoecious trees growing from 3 to 61 metres tall, with stringy-textured reddish-brown bark, scaled needle-like leaves and small cones. They are native to North America and eastern Asia.
The Northern white-cedar is only a small or medium-sized tree.The bark is red-brown, furrowed and peels in narrow, longitudinal strips. Rather light timber. Northern white-cedar is native to the Atlantic of North America. Northern white-cedar is widely used as an ornamental tree , particularly for screens and hedges, and has an easily adjustable foliage. It is tolerant of Latvian winters.
The giant cedar is a species of Thuja, an evergreen tree in the cypress family native to western North America. The foliage forms flat sprays with scale-like leaves in opposite pairs. Young specimens need shadow.
MAPLES
Most maples are summer-green trees or shrubs with a number of small trunks originating at ground level and opposite leave arrangement. The flowers are borne in racemes, corymbs or umbels. Most species are deciduous, and are renowned for their autumn leaf colour. The distinctive fruits are sometimes referred to as whirlybirds. These seeds occur in distinctive pairs each containing one seed enclosed in a nutlet. There are approximately 150 species, especially common in China and Japan.
The Norway maple is a deciduous tree with a broad, rounded crown. The bark is grey-brown and shallowly grooved. The wood is rated as non-durable to perishable in regard to decay resistance. The species of maple is native to eastern and central Europe. The average lifespan is 150-200 years. They produce copious amounts of pollen and nectar that are attractive to insects.It is a shade-tolerant tree. It is used for furniture, flooring, musical instruments and sports equipment.
The sycamore maple is a large deciduous, broad-leaved tree, tolerant of wind and coastal exposure. The bark is grey, smooth when young and later flaking in irregular patches. The leaves grow on long leafstalks and are large and palmate, with 5 large radiating lobes 10-15 ch long and broad. The flowers are greenish-yellow and hang in dangling up to 16 cm long flowerheads called panicles. The sycamore is native to the mountains of Central and Southern Europe and Asia Minor. It is winter-tolerant.
The field maple is a tree with finely fissured, often somewhat corky brwn to grey bark. The leaves are bright green in opposite pairs with five blunt, rounded lobes with a smooth margin. The flowers are produced in spring at the same time as the leaves open, yellow-green, in erect clusters and are insect-pollinated. It is native to much of Europe, the British Isles, Southwest Asia from Turkey to the Caucasus, Crimea and northern Africa in the Atlas Mountains. It has been widely planted, and is introduced outside its native range in Europe and areas of USA and Western Australia with suitable climate. The wood is reddish, dense and flexible.
The silver maple is a large tree, often establishing several trunks. On mature trunks, the bark is grey and shaggy. On branches and young trunks, the bark is smooth and silvery grey later flaking in longitudinal patches. The wood is soft and light. The leaves are simple and palmately veined, 8–12 cm long with deep angular notches between the five lobes. The undersides of the leaves are downy silver, the uppersides are light green. It is native to eastern and central North America in the eastern United States and Canada. It is one of the most common trees in the United States.
The sugar maple is a large tree. The leaves are emphatic, the upperside is greyish. The autumn color is often spectacular, ranging from bright yellow through orange to fluorescent red-orange. The sap contains a lot of sugar. The tree is native to the hardwood forests of eastern Canada and the northern parts of the Central and Eastern United States. The species is winter-tolerant.
The ash-leaved maple is a usually fast-growing and fairly short-lived tree. It often has several trunks and can form impenetrable thickets. The bark on its trunks is pale gray or light brown, deeply cleft into broad ridges, and scaly which older specimens peel off in longitudinal patches. Leaves are 10-30 cm long, have a translucent light green color and turn yellow in autumn. The wood is soft, almost white. The average lifespan is 40-60 years. It is an ornamental tree
The Tatarian maple is a deciduous spreading shrub or small tree. The bark is thin, pale brown, and smooth at first but becoming shallowly fissured on old plants. The leaves are opposite and simple, broadly ovate, 5-10 cm long. The flowers are whitish-green, produced in spreading panicles in spring as the leaves open. The fruit is a paired reddish samara.It is widespread across Central and Southeastern Europe and temperate Asia, from Austria and Turkey east as far as Japan and the Russian Far East. Tatar maple is occasionally grown as an ornamental plant in gardens throughout Europe and also in North America due to their bright fruit and leaves
The Korean or purplebloom maple is a small tree or shrub. New growth is coated in white, sticky hairs. The leaves usually have 9 to 11 lobes. The green leaves turn shades of red, yellow and orange in autumn.The bark of the plant is thin and easily damaged by mechanical injury or in harsh weather. Tears in the bark make it vulnerable to insect and fungal infestation. It is native to northeastern China, Korea and Manchuria.
The Rocky Mountain maple is a small tree or shrub growing to 8 metres. The leaves are three-lobed variable in the depth of lobing, bluish silver underside, and turn bright yellow in autumn. It is a well-adjustable tree in shadowy places. It is plentiful in many parts of the Rocky Mountains in the west of North America.
HORSE-CHESTNUT
Horse- chestnuts are summer-green trees or shrubs. The leaves are of opposite arrangement. They are hermaphroditic-flowered trees. Usually only 1–5 fruit develop on each panicle; the shell is a green, spiky capsule containing one (rarely two or three) nut-like seeds called conkers or horse-chestnuts
Horse-chestnut is a large tree, growing to about 30 metres with a straight trunk, domed crown of stout branches; on old trees the outer branches often pendulous with curled-up tips.The bark is grey. It develops a strong taproot. The wood is pale yellow, soft and light. The flowers are usually white with a yellow to pink blotch at the base of the petals; they are produced in spring in erect panicles with about 20–50 flowers on each 20-30 cm long panicle. It populates in deciduous forests on mountain slopes of northern Greece and southern Bulgaria.
The yellow buckeye can reach 18-metre height with a braod crown. The leaves are palmately compound with five leaflets. The flowers are produced in panicles in spring, yellow to yellow-green.The fruit is a smooth, round capsule, 3-5 cm diameter. It is native to the Eastern United States. It grows in mesophytic forest or floodplains. It is rich with flowers, but rarely gives fruit.
The American buckeye is a 2-3 metre-sized broad shrub. The leaves are longitudinal, compound with five to seven leaflets, with grey floss underside. The flowers are white arranged in 20-30 cm long panicles. The fruit is a round spiny capsule 3-4 cm diameter. It blooms late. The foliage and fruits contain tannic acid and are poisonous. It populates in the south east of North America
The redhorse-chestnut is an artificial hybrid between red buckeye) and horse-chestnut. The flowers are yellwish red. It is very rare in Latvia. It is common in The Allegheny Mountain Range in the Appalachians in the USA.
SHADBUSH OR SERVICEBERRY
Shadbush or service berry is a genus of deciduous-leaved summer-green shrubs and small trees, with thin and smooth bark. They are light –demanding and winter-tolerant.
The thicket shadbush is a 4-8 metre tall shrub. The flowers are arranged in erect clusters.. The fruits are sweet, red at the beginning, later with a bluish hoar. It is native in North America,in the area of the coastline of the Atlantic Ocean and Great Lakes.
The snowy mespil is a tall shrub. It populates in eastern Canada. It is comparatively rarely cultivated in Latvia.
CLEMATIS
The genus is composed of mostly vigorous, woody, climbing vines / lianas with summer-green leaves. The woody stems are quite fragile until several years old. Leaves are opposite and divided into leaflets and leafstalks that twist and curl around supporting structures to anchor the plant as it climbs.
The Alpine clematis can reach up to 3-metre height, blooms with bluish flowers. It is generally found in the mountain forests of Central and Southern Europe. It is rarely cultivated in Latvia.
BARBERRY
The barberry is a large genus of deciduous and evergreen thorny shrubs.
The common barberry is a strong summer-green 2-3 metre tall shrub. The flowers are yellow, produced on 3–6 centimetres long panicles with 8-25 flowers in late spring.The fruit is an oblong red berry ripening in late summer or autumn; they are edible and rich in vitamins and are used in folk medicine. The berries, wood and bark contain a durable textile colouring. The flowers are rich in nectare.
BIRCHES
A birch is a summer-green thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree. The simple leaves are alternate, singly or doubly serrate, feather-veined, petiolate and stipulate. They often appear in pairs, but these pairs are borne on spur-like, two-leaved, lateral branchlets.
The yellow or golden birch is a large tree with a slender trunk. Its name reflects the color of the tree’s bark which is from yellow brown to grey. It is a fast-growing, winter-tolerant tree. The birch is native to wetlands of north-eastern North America.
The Erman’s birch is noted for its yellow white to grey peeling bark, which can sometimes be removed in sheets, but usually shreds and hangs from the trunk and under branches. It develops rich foliage. The wood is highly valuable. It can be found in Northeast China, Korea, Japan, and Russian Far East, the Kuril Islands, Sakhalin, and Kamchatka. It is very rare in Latvia.
The cherry birch is a tree that can reach up to 20-metre height. Its bark does not peel off. The twigs, when scraped, have a strong scent of wintergreen due to methyl salicylate, which is produced in the bark. It is native to eastern North America. It is very rare in Latvia.
The paper birch is named due to the thin white bark which often peels in paper like layers from the trunk. The tree is native to North America. It is an absolutely winter-tolerant species, and can be appreciated as an ornamental tree.
HORNBEAMS
Hornbeams are small to medium-sized trees with a thin, smooth, grey bark and a thin scale. The tree is monoecious, developing flowers inwind-pollinated pendulous catkins. The fruit is a small nut held in a leafy bract.
The common hornbeam is a deciduous small to medium-size tree reaching heights of 15–25 metres in Latvia. It often has a fluted and crooked trunk. The bark is smooth and greenish-grey, even in old trees. The wood is heavy and hard, and is used for tools and building constructions. It also burns hot and slowly, making it very suitable firewood, though non-durable in wet conditions. The fruit is a small nut, partially surrounded by three-pointed leafy involucres. The tree can reach the age of 150 years. It is native to Western Asia, the Caucasus and central, eastern, and southern Europe. It is included in the Red List of Threatened species.
The American beech has a slender straight trunk with smooth, silver-gray bark. The wood is heavy, hard, tough and strong, also ornamental. The leaves are 5-10 cm long, dark green, simple and sparsely-toothed with small teeth that terminate each vein. The fruit is a small, sharply-angled 1-1,5 cm long nut, borne in pairs in a soft-spined, four-lobed husk. The wood is harvested for uses such as flooring, containers, furniture, handles and woodenware. The nuts serve as forest animals’ food. The average lifespan of the tree is 200-300 years.It can be found in mountainous deciduous forests of Central and Western Europe.
HICKORY
Hickories are deciduous trees with pinnately compound leaves and large nuts. Hickory flowers are small, yellow-green catkins produced in spring. It is an ornamental tree.
The bitternut hickory is a large deciduous tree with light grey to brown bark and grey sprouts. The fruit is a very bitter nut with a green four-valved cover which splits off at maturity in autumn, and a hard, bony shell. The bitternut hickory grows throughout the eastern United States from Canada to Florida.
The shagbark hickory is a slow-growing large tree with a light grey shaggy bark which peels off in large patches. The terminal buds on the shagbark hickory are large and covered with loose scales. The fruit is an edible nut with a hard, bony shell, contained in a thick, green four-sectioned husk. It is common in the Eastern United States and southeast Canada. Shagbark hickory wood was used for smoking meat by Native Americans of the northern area.
The sap of the shagbark hickory was also used to obtain sugar.
KATSURA
Katsura is a summer-green tree. Its fruit is a cluster of 2-4 small pods with numerous small, flattened and winged seeds. The fruits mature in autumn and release their seeds in autumn through winter. It reproduces itself by seeds. It is a flowering tree sometimes called Caramel tree for the light caramel smell it emits during leaf fall. The tree grows to 15 metres tall, usually developing several stems. The leaves are produced in opposite pairs on long shoots, and singly on short shoots.They are round to ovoid, 4-6 cm long with small toothed edges. The leaves turn a variety of pinks and yellows in autumn. The fruit is a cluster of two to four follicles containing several winged seeds.
HAZELS
Hazels are deciduous shrubs. The fruits are nuts surrounded by a husk which partly to fully encloses the nut.
The common hazel is typically a shrub reaching 4-5 m tall. The bark of the trunk is thin, smooth brown to grey. The root system is shallow. The fruit is a nut, produced in clusters of one to five together, each nut held in a short leafy husk which encloses about three quarters of the nut. The nut is roughly spherical to oval, yellow-brown with a pale scar at the base. It is a slow-growing plant.
The Turkish hazel is the largest species of hazel with a slender trunk and broad conical crown. The fruit is a nut sometimes called “Turkish nuts” with a very hard shell. It can reach the age of 200 years. The tree is native to southeast Europe and southwest Asia, from the Balkans through northern Turkey to northern Iran.
The beaked hazel is a shrub reaching 3 metre height.The oblong nut is enclosed in a husk with a tubular extension that resembles a beak. The tree is winter-tolerant.The hazel is found in most of North America.
The American hazelnut is a 2-metre tall shrub.The fruit is a small nut, the leafy husk is twice as long as the nut and fully covers the fruit. The species is native to the Atlantic coastal forests of North America.
SPINDLE TREES
The European spindle grows to 3–5m tall, rarely 10 m with a grey, soft corky bark. It is native to much of Europe, where it inhabits the edges of forest, hedges and gentle slopes. It is a slow-growing shrub.
The Euonymus verrucosus spindle is a 2-metre tall shrub with green thin shoots with small black warts on them. Leaves obtain a yellow shade in autumn. The fruit is a red pod-like berry, which splits open to reveal the fleshy-coated black seeds. The species is distributed in forests of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Asia Minor and the Balkans.
The Euonymus nanus spindle is a procumbent or ascending shrub reaching 80cm height. Leaves are deciduous or partly evergreen, narrowly oblong to linear, in opposite pairs, alternate and in whorls on the same plant. Flowers are four-petalled, brownish-purple,in clusters of one to three. Fruits are small red, four-angled with orangearilled seeds. It is found in the Carpathian, the Balkans to Central Asia and China, in the mountains.
ASHES
Ashes are deciduous trees with a smooth bark. The flowers bloom before leaves appear. The fruit is a nut with a winged plate. There are 65 species found in the wildlife habitats.
The red ash can reach up to 20 metre height. The fruit is a 3-6 cm long samara comprising a single seed with an elongated apical wing. The red ash is one of the most widely planted ornamental trees due to its good form and tolerance of cold weather. It is native to the eastern North America.
The green ash is a tree with a quite smooth trunk. The leaves are bright green ovate. Fertile female flowers are replaced by drooping panicles of samaras -winged seeds. It is common in eastern North America.
The American ash is a large tree witn a broad ovate crown. The leaves are longitudinal; they tend to turn bright purple or yellow in autumn. It is found in mesophytic hardwood forests of the Central and Eastern USA.
The Manchurian ash is a large slow-growing tree. The leaves are big, pinnate compound, and with a serrated margin. They turn to a golden-yellow in early autumn, and the tree is usually early to change color. The fruit is a samara comprising a single seed with an elongated apical wing. It is native to Manchuria and Japan.
WITCH-HAZELS
The American witch-hazel is a 2-3metre tall shrub with light green oval leaves 8-15cm in length, oblique at the base, acute or rounded at the apex, with a wavy-toothed or shallowly lobed margin. The flowers are pale to bright yellow, rarely orange or reddish, with four ribbon-shaped petals and four short stamens, and grow in clusters; flowering begins in October, November and continues until late autumn. The fruit is a hard woody capsule which splits explosively at the apex at maturity one year after pollination. The leaves and the bark of sprouts were used as medicinal means by Native Americans. The tree is native to the north east of North America.
IVY
The European ivy is a rampant, clinging evergreen vine, which can climb up to 4-metre height. The leaves are alternate,4-6cm long, with palmately five-lobed juvenile leaves on creeping and climbing stems. It is included in the Red List of threatened species in Latvia.
WALNUT TREES
All species are deciduous trees, rarely large shrubs with broad foliage and large odd-numbered pinnate leaves. The fruits of the walnut are drupe-like nuts, the outer covering of the fruit is an involucres. The nut kernels are edible and rich in dietary values. The wood is important for its attractive timber, which is hard, dense, and tight-grained and polishes to a very smooth finish.
The white walnut is a tree which can reach up to 30-metre height with a slender trunk and broadcrown. The bark is grey. The leaves are light green, 50-70cm long. The fruits are obling-ovoid, bristled and glutinous. It populates in the east of North America
The Manchurian walnut grows to about 25 metre height with a slender trunk. It develops a broad, sparse and low crown. The fruits are oblong-ovate bristled glutinous nuts with an acute tip, and grow to 4- 6,5cm long.It is native to the Eastern Asiatic Region. It is a fast-growing tree tolerant of cold climate.
The Japanese walnut is a 20-metre tall tree with broad foliage and low twigs. The fruit is a bristled,a little glutinous nut with an acute tip,produced in bunches; the nut is spherical, surrounded by a green husk before maturity in mid autumn. The tree is native to Japanin the forests of mountain slopes
The eastern black walnut is a large tree with a slender trunk. The leaves are compound and alternately arranged on the stem. They are 25-50 cm long. The stems have 13–19 leaflets. The tree ripens during the autumn into a fruit (nut) with a brownish-green, semifleshy husk and a brown, corrugated nut. The whole fruit, including the husk falls in October or November; the seed is relatively small and very hard.It is native to eastern North America.
APPLE TREES
The plumleaf crab apple originates from China and Korea. It bears large white flowers. It is tolerant of winters. It is rarely cultivated in Latvia.
The Siberian crab apple populates in eastern Siberia, Mongolia, Manchuria and China. It is a rather big tree. It bears plentiful fragrant white flowers and edible red to yellow fruit.
The Toringo craabapple is a medium-sized tree with oblong cleaved leaves. It is widespread in Japan, Korea, and Northeastern China. It is winter-tolerant.
The Zumi crabapple is a small tree with a broad crown. It is found in Japan.
THE KOREAN MOUNTAIN ASH
The Korean mountain ash is a deciduous tree or a large shrub with simple leaves. The tree bears kinship with rowans. The flowers have white petals and yellowish-white stamens; they are produced in corymbs in late spring. The fruit is a globose pome, bright red, with a dimple at the apex; they are mature in mid autumn. The species is native to Russia Far East region, Japan and Manchuria.
CORK TREES
Cork trees are deciduous trees with opposite leaves containing 3-13 leaves on a stem. The fruit is a black nut with oily exterior flesh. The flowers are yellowish green, arranged in pendulous panicles.
The Amur cork tree grows 15-20 metre tall with broad foliage and a 7cm thick cork layer on the trunk and twigs. The leaves turn bright yellow in autumn, but also fall very soon. The tree populates in Manchuria and North Korea. The species is winter-tolerant.
MOCK-ORANGE
The mock-orange is not closely related to jasmine. It is a deciduous shrub. The flowers are arranged in erect ears producing a sweet scent. The tree blooms in June, July, but seeds fall out in September-December.
The Caucasus mock-orange is an erect or pending shrub with brown shoots and fragrant flowers.
The Lewis’ mock-orange is a rounded shrub and grows to 2,5 metre height with big leaves and large, white flowers, arranged in clusters of 7-11 in each, with no scent. At the height of flowering, the plant is covered in a mass of blossoms. It is found in the forests of the Pacific in North America.
Broad-leaf mock orange
Philadelphus x lemoinei is a small 1,5-2,5 metre tall shrub. Flowers are arranged in clusters of three.
COMMON NINEBARK
The common ninebark is a 3metre tall strong shrub with wide-open branches and thick foliage. The 5-petaled, 10-12 mm diameter flowers form in corymbs. The flowers are white to pinkish with carmine stamens, blooming from May to June. It is common in the Atlantic coastal area of North America.
OAKS
The northern red oak is a deciduous tree that grows straight and tall. The bark is dark reddish grey brown, with broad, thin, rounded ridges, scaly. Leaves are alternate, seven to nine-lobed, oblong-ovate to oblong. The acorns are shourt rounded, 2-2,5 cm long, reddish brown. It grows in the Atlantic coastal area in North America.
The Cornish oak is a tree with a slender trunk and dark scaly bark. It develops a rounded crown and a strong root system. The leaves are evenly lobed with five to seven lobes on each side. The acorns are 1,5-3,5 cm long. It grows in deciduous forests of Central Europe, Poland, Krimea and the northern Caucasus.
The bur oak
LOCUSTS
The black locust or false acacia is a prickled tree that can reach 22metre height, with bare or slightly bristled shoots. The leaves only turn yellow late in autumn. The flowers are arranged in 8-12 cm long loose drooping clumps –racemes.The flowers themselves are cream-white (rarely pink or purple) with a pale yellow blotch in the center, have an attractive scent and produce nectare. The fruit is a typical legume fruit, being a flat and smooth pea-like pod up to 10 cm long. It populates in deciduous forests of the Atlantic coastal area in North America.
ELDERS
Elders are deciduous shrubs or small trees. They bear large clusters of small white or cream-colored flowers in late spring; these are followed by clusters of small black, blue-black, or red berries.
The black elder is a 3-8 metre tall shrub with a light grey bark. The leaves are 15-20 cm long. The flowers have 5 stamens and are borne in large, flat corymbs. Individual flowers are ivory white. The fruit is a glossy dark purple to black berry with a dark and juicy flesh, produced in drooping clusters in late autumn. It is native to Central an Southern Europe, the Balkans and the Caucasus.
The red elderberry is a 1,5-3 metre tall shrub with grey or brown bark. The leaves are 12-15 cm long. The inflorescence is a vaguely cone-shaped panicle of several cymes of flowers blooming from the ends of stem branches. Open flowers are white, cream, or yellowish. The fruit is a bright red or sometimes purple drupe containing 3 to 5 seeds. It is commonly found in Central and Southern Europe.
LILAC
The Japanese tree lilac is a small ascending 5-7 metre tall tree or shrub with big leaves and large panicles of tiny ivory white flowers. It blooms in the middle of July. It is wide-spread in northern China and Manchuria. It is rarely cultivated in Latvia.
LINDEN
The American linden is a large tree which reaches 15-20 metre height. The leaves are very big. The tree blooms in the beginning of August. It is native to the east of North America. It is rarely found in Latvia.
The Amur linden is a large tree with leaves green on either side. It starts blooming the earliest of all- in the middle of June. It commonly grows in Russian Far East and China. It is rare in Latvia..
The Caucasian lime is a tree with a smooth bark and arching foliage. The leaves are dark green, glossy, which turn bright yellow in dry autumns. The tree blooms in late July. The species is winter-tolerant.
The silver linden is a large tree with a broad conical foliage and emphatic silver grey leave underside. The tree blooms the last of all of the genus- in mid-August. It is native to Southeastern Europe and Asia Minor.
The largeleaf linden blooms at the end of June. It commonly grows in Central Europe, the Caucasus, South Europe and the coastline of the Atlantic Ocean.
VIBURNUM
The guilder-rose is a 4-metre tall, wide tree. Flowers are white, produced in corymbs 6–1 cm in diameter at the top of the stems. Each corymb comprises a ring of outer sterile flowers with conspicuous petals, surrounding a center of small, fertile flowers. The fruit is a globose bright red drupe containing a single seed, with juicy and sourly bitter flavor. It grows in the forest line in Europe and Siberia. . °
GRAPEVINES
The Amur grape is a deciduous up to 25 metre long liana. The stem reaches 18 cm in diameter. The bark is dark, scaly and with vertical stripes on old shoots. Young shoots are green, often with a reddish hue, reddish-brown in autumn. The leaves vary greatly in shape. They can be solid, three- or five-lobed, ovate or rounded, arched at the base. They turn in yellow, orange and carmine shades in autumn. It populates in Russian Far East, northern Manchuria and Korea.
The fox grape is a deciduous, up to 20-metre long liana, with a stem of 60 cm diametre. The leaves are big, 10-18 cm long. The berry (grape) is round and very tart/acidic, becoming sweet after a frost due to a drop in acid levels as the grape decomposes. It populates in eastern North America. It is rarely cultivated in Latvia.
WEIGELA
Weigelas are ascending wide shrubs which do not develop shoots. Their root system is rough. The flowers bloom in May and June.
The early weigela is a 1, 5 metre tall shrub with small bristly leaves and pink to purple red flowers. It blooms early- in mid-May. It is native to Manchuria and Korea. It is considerably rarely cultivated in Latvia.
HONEYSUCKLES
Honeysuckles are deciduous arching shrubs or twining bines. The twigs have thick white or reddish core. The leaves are simple, opposite. The fruit is a red, blue or black spherical or elongated berry containing several seeds. Many of the species have sweetly scented flowers that produce sweet, edible nectar. The blooming time can vary.
The fly honeysuckle is a 2-4 metre tall shrub. The buds are slender and bristled. The leaves are broadly ovate, 3-6 cm long. The fruits are dark red, broadly spherical. The species blooms in May.
The blue-berried honeysuckle is a big shrub, originating from the mountains of Central Europe. It is very rare.
The Alpine honeysuckle is a medium-sized, shade and frost-tolerant shrub. It is distinctive with its bright green leaves and large fruits. It populates in the mountains of Central Europe. It is rarely found in Latvia.
The Manchurian honeysuckle is a large shrub with white flowers, which turn yellow at wallowing. The species is shade and frost-tolerant. It grows in Manchuria and northern China. It is very uncommon in the wild.
ROWAN
The Swedish whitebeam is a medium-height 10-15 metre tall tree. The leaves are green above, and densely hairy with pale grey-white hairs beneath, with four to seven oval lobes on each side of the leaf. It grows in the mountainous and forest steppe areas in Central and Southern Europe.
SPIRAEA
The elm-leaved spirea is a 1,2-3,2 metre tall shrub. It is an early, frost-tolerant, moderately attractive species. It is common in the forest areas of Central Europe and Western Siberia.
The spirea is 1,2-1,5 metres tall. It is native to the southern part of woodland sand steppes of Eastern Europe and Siberia. The blooming is moderately rich. The species is frost- tolerant.
The Billiard’s spiraea is an appreciated ornamental shrub of 1,2-1,5 m height. It is frost-tolerant.
BLADDERNUT
Bladdernuts are deciduous shrubs or small trees with a smooth bark. The flowers are produced in drooping terminal panicles, with white or reddish petals. The fruit is an inflated papery two- or three-lobed capsule, containing a few small,smooth and glossy pea-like seeds.
The European bladdernut is a shrub reaching of up to 4 metre height. Small, white, bell-shaped, fragrant flowers bloom from May to June, on 12 cm long pendulous panicles. It is found in underwoods of deciduous forests in Central and Southern Europe and Asia Minor.
DOGWOODS
The common dogwood is an ascending 2-8 metre tall shrub.The leaves are 6-10 cm long, green, broad elliptical or ovate. The flowers are small, with four creamy white petals, produced in clusters. The fruit is a globose black berry with pale spots, containing a single seed. It is found in mixed forest and forest steppe areas in Europe.
The white dogwood is a 3-metre tall shrub with red shoots. The flowers are ivory white, the fruits are white with a light bluish shade. It grows in the forest line in Eurasia.
SNOWBERRY
The common snowberry is a 1,5 metre tall shrub with naked shoots. The fruit is an 8-12mm long fleshy white berry-like drupe, which remains on the stem in winter, too. It grows on the Atlantic coastline in North America. It blooms in June and ripens its fruit in October.
ACTINIDIA
The variegated-leaf hardy kiwi is a 10-15 metre long vine. The leaves are 8-10 cm long, ovate. The fruit is oblong, ellipsoidal to cilindric. It populates in Korea, Manchuria, Japan and Russian Far East regions.
CHERRIES
The Korean cherry is a small tree which originates from Manchuria and Japan. It blooms in April and already ripens its fruits in May.
The Sargent’s cherry has naked shoots and leaves. It blooms with large, pale-pink flowers. The species is native to Japan, Manchuria, and the Far East.
THORNAPPLE
Crataegus rhipidorhylla
The Douglas’ thornapple is a small 5-12 metre tall tree, which is native to the northern forest area of North America.
Crataegus x dunensis
The fanleaf hawthorn is a shrub or small tree, 5-7 metre tall, with a broad crown. It populates in the forests of the Atlantic coastline in North America.
The long-thorned hawthorn is a 3-6 metre tall shrub with particularly long thin thorns. It is native to north eastern coastline of North America from the south-east of Canada to Minnesota in the USA. The broad-leaved cockspur thorn is a hybrid which is cultivated in old parks.
The northern downy hawthorn is a small 6-10 metre tall tree or shrub with many oblong thorns. It grows on the eastern coastline and mountains of North America.
The fire-berry hawthorn is a small tree or shrub with strong thorns and naked shoots. The species is found in the east of North America.
THE CANADIAN HAWTHORN
THE EUROPEAN SMOKETREE
THIMBLEBERRY