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“The Mills”, TREKKING ROUTE Didactic Unit: The WATER: VITAL RESOURCE
TV video about our Route and fiesta (galician and spanish language)
TREKKING ROUTE , WATER: VITAL RESOURCE
Index
Introductiona) Election of a trekking route b) Importance of the water
Stop 1: Botanical Garden A Pinguelaa) Description b) Introduction to the Botany c) Use of the dichotomic key
Stop 2: Parque de los Condesa) Water. Description. Properties. Uses consumptive and not consumptive
Stop 3: Malecóna) Drains b) Natural purification of water c) Main points of consumption of the water
Stop 4: Fluvial cluba) The hydrological cycle b) Riverside vegetation
Stop 5: Presa Villanuevaa) Energetic uses of water. Renewable and not renewable energy b) Options of reception of the water: fountain, aquifer
Stop 6: Campo de Golf, water millsa) Geology notions b) Fish and other animals
Stop 7: Ribasaltasa) How a water mill works b) How waters are contaminated
Stop 8: Freixoa) Irrigable b) Autochthonous species, alócthonous and invading species
a) Union of two rivers. Recreation area. Geologic fold
Stop 10: Return to Monfortea) Administration of the water resources at national level
Nail dicotomic-clasification of plants
JUSTIFICATION
Election of a Trekking Route
The trekking routes are a popular activity, affordable to any person. Their main purpose is to enjoy the observation of nature. It is a popular sport that only requires a small physical effort and sense of orientation.It's objective is to foment the contact with t nature and the respect towards environment, valuing all the resources that the earth offers us.
Environmental itinerary
Route used for the realization of outdoor activities. It is the perfect resource for the environmental interpretation and it incorporates the component of identification of the space that we follow , with special attention to the flora, the fauna, the combined landscape that we observe, and to the effects of the human being's activities in the natural means, cultural features and environmental impacts.
Through this activity you can to develop the knowledge and the use of the natural environment that surrounds us. This unit promotes among other activities, a trekking itinerary that transports us to a mean next one to the human being but that it conserve an ecological and cultural value worthy of being known and preserved.
In the I.E.S. A Pinguela got prepared this unit that tries to serve as a guide for the realization of a trekking route from the Parque de los Condes, located in the center of Monforte, to the Parish of A Parte following the course of the river Cabe that takes us through parks, old mills, important samples of our architecture and patrimony... in an environment where it is still possible to enjoy the Galician autochthonous vegetation.
Design of the activity
The activity is arranged in sequence to the students of 1º of BAC, being able to adapt to students of other courses of the BAC or High School, diminishing or increasing the contents according to the level to which we go. In the activity that is described you can contemplate:
General objectives
- To know the main uses of water in our society. - To differenciate between consumptive and not consumptive use of water. - To know the main sources of contamination of water. - To bring the student to the natural means, making them sensitive to the environmental problems and motivating them to protect the environment. - To observe the different traditional ways of energy that are obtained and their evolution through History. - To gain knowledge of the renewable and not renewable energy sources. - To identify the different autochthonous species and to differentiate them of those that are not autochthonous. -To value the repercussions that human activities have on the environment and to become aware of the necessity of a sustainable development.
Specific objectives
Conceptual : - Composition, structures and chemical properties of water. - Water as an element that configures the natural landscape. - The natural cycle of water. - Sources and uses of water. - Contamination of water. - Renewable and nonrenewable energy. - Knowledge of the botanical and faunal varieties of the area where the activity is developed. - Evaluation of the environmental impact of human activities in the environment.
Procedural : - To observe the environment to see where placesthere is water. - To interpret words related with Botany. - To identify the main characteristics of the trees. - To find, from of the delivered material, the vegetable species and indicated animals. - To learn how to manage a dichotomic key. - To know how to work a mill. - To manage orientation systems and to identify the most frequent codes used in the maps.
Attitude : - To make people aware of the importance of water in daily life and the environmental cost that it supposes. -To consider that water is an irreplaceable resource for the human beings. -To consider that people are part of nature and they influence on it. - To foment a reflexive or critic attitude on the use and yield of the renewable energy sources as alternative to those non renewable. - To awaken curiosity torwards the environment that surrounds us. - To forment respect for the rules settled down in the development of the activities in the natural environment. - To cooperate and to work in groups, so that students are implied in the common objective.
DEVELOP OF THE ACTIVITY
Starting point / arrival: the route has its starting and arrival point the Parque de los Condes (Monforte de Lemos) arriving at the Parish of A Parte.
Difficulty: Low. Longitude: 20 km. Duration: 4:30 hours. Time: Any time of the year but better in Spring or Autumn. Signaling and maintenance: the route is signalled with red and/or yellow marks. This signaling can consist on informative panels or signs on posts of light, walls or stones. Documentation: with the explanatory pamphlet of the route a map is provided with the journey to continue and a notebook with the characteristic species of trees of the area and the games that are developed in it. Recommendations: appropriate and comfortable clothes / sport footwear / notebook of notes / pamphlet - guides / water / camera
The activity consists in two phases:
1-Visit to the Botanical Garden with the explanation of the most representative species in the environment and the realization of some game related to the environment.
2 - Journey through the riverside of the river Cabe. You try to reinforce in the students the capacity of observation of the nature, that they take conscience of the importance of water in our life and its different uses, that they know the trees, bushes and animals tipical of the area... On the other hand the students will see the changes and uses that the human being takes from the environment.
Stop 1: Botanical garden of A Pinguela
-Duration of the activity :1hour
Located in the Botanical Garden of the IES Pinguela, a small description will be given of how the idea of of this garden was built, of the species that are in it, as well as some small botany terms to begin the children in the knowledge of the species and characteristic that surround us, distinguishing among the terms tree, bush, perennial leaf, deciduouss leaf, distinction between flowers and fruits, medical uses...
The Botanical Garden of the IES A Pinguela was opened in 1987 after a hard work on the stony land that there was. At the present time there are more than 200 species of trees and bushes, among the representation of all the autochthonous species and most of the plants that we can find in gardens and private houses. Students, parents and other collaborators help us to get them. During the course 1999-2000 with the economic contribution of the program Voice Nature material was bought to identify species and make situation panels .
-Basic terms used in Botany:
- Tree: is a woody and vivacious plants that reaches at least 5 meters high, deciduous or perennial leafs and with a main trunk that ramifies at certain distance from the floor. - Bush: is a woody plant of medium size, less than 5 meters high,deciduous or perennial leafs , with the shaft ramified at level of the floor and without a preponderant trunk. - Deciduous leaf trees: they usually lose the leaves in the season when their production is limited due to environmental factors such as low temperatures or lack of hydro- resources. Before losing the leaves they recover most of the starch and other substances. In this way they don't invest resources on maintaining not very functional structures during a certain period, forming them again, when the environmental conditions are more favorable, starting from the energy that they obtain with the reservations of starch of branches, trunk and roots. The plants serve like refuge for the animals, from very small insects until big mammals. The flowers, seeds, nuts and leaves wich are produced the food sources that allow animals to live in the forest. Plants give the humans beings many important medicines, for example, the yew tree that before was considered as “waste wood”, contains a substance called taxol that helps in the fight of certain cancer types. The flowers can be found in all the types of plants above although in the trees they flourish discreetly and frequently they are not observed. Many insects depend on the nectar, the same thing that many flowers depend on the insects so that the pollination take place.
The flowers that are pollinated by insects generally have brilliant colors and they are fragrant, two characteristics that warn polinizadores about their presence. Insects are not interested in transporting the pollen from a plant to another but they are attracted by the nectar that is inside the flowers and while they feed from it the pollen sticks to the body of the insects, they also deposit grains of pollen from other flowers. The most common polinizadores are bees, wasps, butterflies, scarabs, moths and flies. This way the success and the diversity of the plants that flourish is partly due to insects that are much more effective polinizadores than the wind. The enormous variety in ways and colors of the flowers are the result of the competition among species to get the attention of the polinizadores.
Most of the species of trees are pollinated by the wind and their flowers are located in the hight and frequently they do not even look like them, because they form long structures pending called catkins. The plants pollinated by the wind have separate masculine and feminine flowers.
The seeds, nuts and fruits are the main food source for many animals (rodents, for example, store big quantities of seeds every autumn). In most of the species plants have developed a variety of ways to distribute their seeds, some simply fall to the floor, others are taken by the wind due to their small and delicate "wings", others they move on water, and others are locked in fruits and they have to survive the trip through the digestive system of the animal before they can germinate. It is important that the seeds are spread far from the plant that gave them their origin it is almost impossible that a new seedling can grow under an established old plant. If in a place a great quantity of seeds falls instead of being spread, there is a bigger probability of attracting "predator of seeds", mammals that consume the whole seed avoiding their germination. All the seeds are an important food source for animals. In many trees and bushes, they remain inside fleshy fruits and they usually have bright colors so they are highly visible for the mammals and birds. The purpose is to attract animals that eat up the fruit and then they disperse its seeds. Plants don't need that their immature fruits are consumed, because of their seeds are still immature and, therefore, unable to germinate and to form new plants. There are usually a succession of signs that indicates, with variations in the color and the scent, the state of maturity of the fruit. For example, most of the berries have a dark green colour that then gradually get dark until ending up being red or purple. In the tropical rainy forests, the availabitily of fruits is relatively constant during the whole year. The fruits end up constituting until more than 50% of the diet of a great proportion of birds, mammals, reptiles and tropical insects, and even of some fish. As the birds have the senses of smell and taste relatively not very developed , the fruits don't have to develop a sweet flavor or scent to attract them. All the coniferous ones have two classes of cones: the seed cones (feminine) and the cones of pollen (masculine). The seed cones are much more common to see and they provide seeds that it is an important source of foods for squirrels and birds. The cones of pollen are much smaller, and they dry off in the spring as soon as they liberate their pollen. All these cones liberate so much pollen that you can frequently observe like a yellow cloud or a layer in the surface of the lagoons. These clouds are composed by millions of microscopic grains of pollen, and it is possible to determine the plant species the grain of pollen comes from.
NAIL DICOTOMIC
Trees that we will find in the route “The Mills”
This is a DICHOTOMIC KEY, that means that in each observation two ways are given to choose, however, in some of them three or more can arise. It is a work that tries to facilitate the identification of the arboreal species living in our community.
To begin with the point 1. You will have to choose the way that presents the biggest coincidences with the tree that you are observing and to continue until ending up identifying it. The terms that appear underlined are in the glossary that appears in the final part of the key, with the purpose of helping as much as possible in the understanding of the terms appearing.
IN ENGLISH THE NAME APPEARS IN CAPITALS LETTERS , in italic the scientific name and in normal typeface the Galician name
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 – You observe the leaves and notice the width: 1.a - leaves in needle or scale form (narrow limbo of less than 5 mm of width). Go to the (2). 1.b - leaves of wide and flat limbo, always much bigger than the 5 mm. Go to the (3).
2.- Notice if the needles or flakes are wrapped by a sheath in the base: 2.a.- needles in groups of 2 united by a sheath in the base. ... MARINE, REDDISH, RESIN OR GALICIAN PINE. Pinus pinaster, marine Pinus. Brave Piñeiro. 2.b.- of 3 in 3 needles for sheath... PINE DE MONTERREY. Pinus radiata. Famous Piñeiro or American Piñeiro.
3.- You investigate if the leaf is simple or compound, for that you have to realize if it has asylum yolk in the base of the foliolo: 3.a.- it doesn't have asylum yolk in the base of the foliolo; leaf composed by several foliolos. Go to the (4) 3.b.- it has asylum yolk in the base of each petiole; single leaves. Go to the (6)
4.- You observe the border of the foliolos and the size of the terminal: 4.a.-of 5 to 9 foliolos of whole borders, the terminal with more size that the other ones... WALNUT. Regal Juglans. Nogueira ou noceda. 4.b.- foliolos prepared in fan.... INDIAN CHESTNUT TREE . Aesculus hippocastanum. Castiñeiro de Indias.
5.- You observe if the petioles of the follicles are sessiles (seated) or peciolados: 5.a.-peciolados, sawed border of 5 to 11 foliolos, the leaves to flatten them have a strong scent... ELDER. Sambucus nigra. Sabugueiro or bieteiro. 5.b.- sessiles (seated) and from 13 to 15 jagged foliolos in the whole border, blackish yolks. Fruit formed by a sámara..... ASH-TREE. Fraxinus angustifolia. Freixo, freixa.
6.- You observe the border of the leaves: 6.a.- lobe leaves .... OAKS. Genus Quercus. Go to the (19). 6.b.- leaves without lobes or cracked leaves. Go to the (7).
7.- It revises the trunk and the branches to see if it has thorns: 7.a.- tree with thorns. Go to the (8) 7.b.- tree without thorns. Go to the (9)
8.- You look at the leaves: 8.a.- deeply cracked leaves... HAWTHORN, WHITE THORN. Crataegus monogyma. Espiño branco (estripeiro). 8.b.- leaves without fissures.... BLACKTHORN. Prunus spinosa. Escambrón.
9.- You flattena a leaf with the hand and smell it: 9.a.- aromatic leaves. Go to the (10). 9.b.- non aromatic leaves. Go to the (11).
10.- You try to identify the scent: 10.a.- to laurel.... LAUREL. Laurus nobilis. Loureiro. 10.b.- it doesn't have these characteristics. The tree may not figure in this guide or some observation was incorrect.
11.- Notice the border and the longitude of the leaf: 11.a.- jagged and big leaves of around 20 cm, of bright green colour (hairless) for the sheaf... CHESTNUT TREE. Castanea sativa. Castiñeiro. 11.b.- jagged leaves of about 10 cm long, brilliant green right face. CHERRY TREE. Prunus avium. Cerdeira. 11.c. - jagged leaves of less than 10 cm long, dark green right face. CHERRY TREE OF CLUSTER. Prunus padus. Cireixón.
12.- You observe the shell of the tree: 12.a.- white shell. Go to the (13). 12.b.- non white shell. Go to the (14).
13.- Notice if in the trunk there are lenticelas: 13.a.- with lenticelas, sawed rhomboid leaves...... POPLAR, WHITE POPLAR. Populus dawn. Chopo or alamo branco. 13.b.- without lenticelas in the trunk, the shell comes out in horizontal ribbons, doubly sawed leaves... BIRCH. Betula dawn. Biduerio. 13.c. - without lenticelas in the trunk, without furrows or showy fissures...... ALMEZ. Celtis australis.
14.- Notice if the leaves are alternating or opposed: 14.a.- opposed leaves.... MAPLE, MAPLE WHITE, FALSE BANANA. Acer pseudoplatanus. Pradairo. 14.b.- alternating leaves.... BANANA DE LONDON. HYBRID PLATANUS, Platanus vulgaris, Platanus occidentalis, Platanus acerifolia. Shade banana or of walk.
15.- You observe the border of the leaves: 15.a.- jagged and sawed embroider. Go to the (16). 15.b.- neither jagged neither sawed embroider. Go to the (18).
16.- Notice in if the border is sawed or doubly sawed and according with the station you try to locate some fruit: 16.a.- round, doubly sawed leaves, with a tip in the apex, the fruit is a hazelnut.... HAZEL TREE. Corylus countersinks. Abeleira ou abelaira. 16.b.- heart-shaped leaf that finishes in a tip in the apex, the border of the leaf is sawed, the fruits are kind of pellets.... LINDEN. Tilia sp. Tilia cordata. Tilleira.
17.- You press a leaf between two fingers: 17.a.- rounded and doubly jagged leaves, a little sticky, it has kind of pineapples that are hung from one year to other... ALDER TREE. Glutinous Alnus. Ameneiro ou amieiro. 17.b.- oval, jagged leaves, make rough to the tact and bark of the cracked tree forming ribs. ELM TREE, NEGRILLO. Ulmus minor. Elm tree
18.- Notice the back of the leaf: 18.a.- lengthen-lanceoladas leaves and whitish for the back.... SALLOW, Salix sp. Salix caprea. Salgueiro. 18.b.- it doesn't have these characteristics. The tree doesn't figure in this guide or some observation was incorrect.
19.- Gender Quercus. You observe the peduncle of the acorn: 19.a.- hanging peduncle. Trees up to 40 meters. Yellowish Flores... OAK. Quercus robur. Quercus pedunculata. Carballo. 19.b.- rigid and tomentoso peduncle. It prefers the mountain.... REBOLLO, MELOJO, OAK NEGRAL. Quercus pyrenaica. Cerquiño.
Trees that appear in the route and they are named in the key.
Acer pseudoplatanus.- (Maple, Pradairo)
Aspect.- Big tree, it can be up to 30 m., it has the very open and faced branches, with the flat and grizzly bark, and wide top. The branches when becoming old the same as the trunk (grey) become cracked and scaly, coming off in badges. Leaves.- Deciduous leaf . Big (8-15 cm.), simple and faced with opposed disposition, they are clapped with 3-5 lobes put until half of the leaf, the borders are jagged and unequal, they have a long reddish petiole 5-15 cm., long and they don't have “estípulas”. The face is dark green and the back it is clearer with pubescence in the very marked nerves. Flowers.- hermaphrodites or unisexual regular flowers, of yellow-greenish color in hanging clusters, they leave at the same time or a little after the leaves, they have a long end and a wrapped up one floral double, 5 free petals and 5 free sepals that alternate with the petals and have 8 stamens. It flourishes in April and May. Habitat and applications.- It lives in humid and deep places, in the north of Spain and Portugal and we can find it above the 1000 m. of altitude, it doesn't form forest. The wood is easy to work. The leaves, fruits and bark of the root has astringent properties.
------------------------------ Alnus glutinosa ( Aliso, Amieiro)
Aspect: Deciduous leaf tree, that can reach until the 20 meters. The trunk, when it is the small tree, is grizzly-green and flat, then when it is mature it is dark green. The young branches are sticky. The roots live associated with bacterias of the floor and they fix the nitrogen of the air and later on it is in the floor like fertilizer. Leaves: Alternating, simple, oval, dark doubly jagged, green margin for the face and clearer for the back where they have some cowlicks of short hair in the base of the armpit of some prominent right nerves. The leaves have 4-10 cm. long and 4-7 cm. wide and they are sticky when they are young. Fruit: The feminine flowers, when they are mature, are woody similar to a pineapple, initially they are green then they become dark brown, they have about 30 millimeters long, they are similar to an egg and they contain multitude of small pulled seeds that they persist in the winter. Flowers.- they are monoics, the feminine ones are in inflorescences separated from the masculine ones; the masculine ones are long, cylindrical and straits catkins. Often contained in the terminal buds, they are of dark purple in autumn and winter, dark green in spring and they have 6-12 cm long, in clusters with 3-5 flowers. The feminine flowers are woody, in short groups of 1-6, but later extended or pendulums and woody. Applications: The wood is elastic and slight, white and easy to work. The bark has tannins that are used as astringent and to harden skins, it is also used to lower the fever. Habitat: Botanical garden: Botanical garden of APinguela, Galicia, where it is abundant. It lives in riversides of rivers, streams and very fresh places, because it needs a floor with a lot of humidity, it doesn't resist the drought of the summer well. It can live in very poor lands because their roots fix nitrogen of the air.
--------------------------------------------------- Castanea sativa (Chestnut tree, Castiñeiro)
Type: Deciduous leaf tree -Leaf: Simple, alternating, big and “lanceoladas” (10-25 cm. long, being able to reach 7 cm. wide), with a petiole of up to 3 cm., the borders are sawed with teeth “mucronados”. They are something leathery, glabrous green for the face and clearer for the back and with yellow flakes and 20-24 couples of almost parallel nerves. -Flower and Fruit: They are born of the axila of the leaves, they are narrow, erect and yellowish spikes. Almost the whole spike is made up of masculine flowers placed in groups that are born in the axila of an oval “bráctea”. In the base of the spike they are the contained feminine flowers from 1 to 5 in an common involve. Chalice with 5-8 lobes and 7-9 pistils. It flourishes from May to June and the insects help in their pollination. The fruit is the chestnuts that are protected inside a spherical and hard dome (the hedgehog of 2-5 cm. of diameter), yellowish green covered with piercing thorns, opens up in 2-4 valves and in their inside there are 1-3 chestnuts, with reddish, lustrous brown leathery skin on the outside and shaggy on the inside. The chestnuts have shaggy apex and the base of clearer color. Medical uses: The chestnut tree has astringent properties (it contracts the fabrics and it diminishes the secretion of the mucous ones) that make it useful in cases of diarrhea and affections of the mouth and the throat. It is also calms the cough and the irritation of the pharynx. It is used the bark and the leaves, although some authors also include the catkins (flowers). The consumption of chestnuts is specially suitable for people with arthritis and in diets for hypertension and sick heart. Industrial use: The chestnut tree firewood is not a good fuel, it removes a lot of smoke and little heat. It has been used in basketwork cut in fine ribbons, to manufacture barrels and to make sleeper of railroad. It has also been used as cellulose source and of tannins to harden. Habitat: Botanical garden of A pinguela, Galicia...., abundant (In Galicia it is cultivated for their fruits and for their wood, the fruits were feeding base in Galicia during a lot of time, serving as food for people and animals.
--------------------------------------------------------- Juglans regia. (Walnut, Concheiro, Carroleiro, Noceiro)
Aspect.- Deciduous tree. It can reach 25 meters high, the trunk is grizzly (whitish), flat, it can have a great thickness. The old species have the bark with vertical cracks. It has many branches, very open of the same colour as the trunk. Leaves.- Made up with 5-9 “foliolos”, the terminal “foliolo” is bigger than the other ones, the “foliolos” are “lanceolados” or some oval and with the whole border. When they are born they are reddish brown colour, they lose soon this colour and they are dark green for the two faces. Flowers.- The feminine flowers are in solitary or small groups of 1-4, they come out in the branches the same year forming a spike at the end of the branch. The masculine flowers in greenish, hanging catkins, with a great number of flowers, can appear isolated or in groups of three in 2 year-old branches. The flowers come out at the same time as the leaves. Fruit.- It is an oval drupe up to 5 cm. long, it has a greenish, flat cover and covered with whitish glands. This cover has an liquid (nogalina) that causes stains difficult to take out. In the inside we find a very resistant, woody and very rough cover with two valves. Inside there is a single seed. The fruits mature at the end of the summer. Habitat and applications.- we can find it in most of cultivated Spain by its fruits, we can see it in Galicia near rivers or in humid places, if we plant it in dry places the growth is minor, it wants deep and humid lands. The wood is hard and homogeneous, it is very appreciated for joinery. The leaves are used abundantly in popular medicine: for white flows or diarrheas for their astringent qualities and to lower the quantity of sugar. Leaves and fruits are used to tint brown dark. The fruits constitutes a very good food, very nutritious.
------------------------------------------------------- Pinus sylvestris (Pine, Piñeiro)
Type: evergreen coniferous of about 30 m. high although sometimes reaches the 40 m. At the beginning its top has a rounded form and then it is more smoothed and with umbrella form. Trunk: It begins exactly under the top and it is often curved. Bark: It is red or orange; the lower part of the trunk is divided in big and dark grizzly brown badges with deep blackish grooves. Leaves (Needles): they measure from 3 to 8cm. long and they are of grizzly or blue green color; they are sometimes some volute. They are not very pointed and with lightly jagged margin. There are two for each fascicle and most remain from two to three years in the branches. Flowers: The masculine ones bright are of a clear yellow , concentrate next to another in cones; the feminine flower cones go from red to the purple; there are usually two in the superior end of the “macroblasto”. The monoic flowering flourishes at the middle of spring. Pineapples: They measure up to 5cm. of wide and 8cm of long; when they are unripe they are of greenish color and, after two years of maturation, they becomr dark brown and they open up giving in back their half-open flakes. Habitat: They live preferably in slight and dry, calcareous, oozy or sandy floors. In Galicia in mountain areas like repopulation pines. In the botanical Garden of the IES "A Pinguela."
…………………………………
Populus alba (white Poplar, Chopo, Choupo)
Characteristics: Decidius stout tree, heigh up to 30m, in general something bent, grey white top and leaves with the pure white back. Trunk: Flat, whitish bark, with blackish scars of old branches. Young branches and tomentosos buds. Leaves: Alternating, webbed or jagged leaves of green color in the sheaf and almost white in the back. They are “tomentosas” in the two faces and in the petiole. When maturing they are green dark in the face and “tomentosas”white in the back. Bigger leaves usually webbed-lobuladas, heart-shaped base. Spray leaves rounded or oval, lobe little, with less “tomento”. In autumn the coloration is brown or yellowish. Fruit: It is adry capsule that opens up liberating seeds with a feather of hair to be dispersed by the wind (the children like of playing with them because they look like cotton pieces). Distribution: In areas of fluvial valleys of the center and the south of Europe, but planted as ornamental in many other places and also in parks. It resists well the drought whenever there is humidity in the floor; it can support minimum of -15ºC and maximum 40 ºC . Habitat: Botanical garden of the I.E.S. A Pinguela, it prefers humid floors that are flooded periodically, deep sandy lands. It is very abundant in Galicia.
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Populus nigra (Chopo, Choupo)
Characteristic: showy tree of about 30m of height, with the high, convexed and generally roomy top, that particularly in the old copies it has irregular and party aspect. Trunk: generally of strong development, with enough bulkinesses and fissures, habitually some bowed or gnarled, with scarce but strong and leafy upward branches already from scarce height of the floor. Young branches and quite soft buds, of clear brown color. Leaves bud are dense and brown clear. Leaves of the long sprays of about 5-9 cm long, at the end of long petioles, of triangular profile, with the thin and lengthened tip, with small teeth in the margin directed towards. The leaves of the short shafts are generally smaller. All the leaves when they appear they are reddish green, acquiring a brilliant dark green tonality soon. Distribution: In the nature, we can find them in the big fluvial valleys of the center and the south of Europe, but planted in many other places and also in parks. Habitat: Botanical garden of the I.E.S. A Pinguela, it prefers humid floors that are flooded periodically, deep sandy lands . It is very abundant in Galicia.
-------------------------------- Prunus avium (Cherry tree, Cirdeira)
Type: Decidius tree of the family of the rosy ones of until 20 m of high. Trunk of reddish brown color whose bark comes undone in bands. Leaves: they appear after the flowers, oblong or oval with the jagged border, brilliant green and glabrous face; pubescent back in the angles of the rib, flowers of up to 3 cm. prepared in faces of 2 -6 on long peduncles. Fruits: Fruits in drupe, of strong reddish color. They appear in natural state as wild tree in many European forests of medium mountain and in the north of África and Asia. It flourishes between the months of April and May. Medicinal uses: therapeutic uses, bronchitis, diarrhea, diuretic, sedative, hepatic dysfunctions, integral of the slimming infusions. Other uses and properties: the mature cherries are used to improve the flavor of syrups and other remedies. It is used in the industry for the conservation of the pickles.. The part that is used is mature and dry peduncles, leaves, fruits. Industrial uses: The cherry tree wood is hard and appreciated in engraving and joinery. If it is used for the fire, its smoke produces a very characteristic aroma. Habitat: Botanical garden of the IES A Pinguela . In Galicia it is very abundant.
…………………………………………… Quercus pyrenaica (Oak, Rebollo, Rebolo)
Aspect: Oak (Rebollo) not very high that rarely surpasses the 20 meters high, Its top is irregular . It can break out again abundantly from the root, for what sometimes forms extensive surrounded trees with numerous sprouts. It has right or irregular trunk with grizziy-brown bark of little thickness, cracked lengthwise in the old copies. It usually ramifies in abundance from little height. Leaves: They are simple, alternating, with short petiole, cracked in deep and regular lobes that often arrive near the half nerve. They are of 6-16 centimeters long, when beginning to develop they are covered for both faces of a dense starry hair. They are of a green color in the face. Flowers: The masculine flowers are small with wrapped up divided in 5-8 “lacinias”and a variable number of stamens. They are contained in lengthened and slack catkins that hang in variable number of the branches. It flourishes in May at the beginning of June. Fruits: They are some acorns that are born solitary or contained in 2 or 3 on very short small tails that measure on 2 centimeters. They have hemispheric dome in thimble form, with numerous flakes, not very prominent. The pulp of the acorn is of bitter flavor. Their fruits mature for October or November. Habitat: Botanical garden A Pinguela, Galicia and in general in Spain. It is scarce in the dry climates and it is raised in the hillsides and skirts of the siliceous mountains. It prefers sandy texture soils and it adapts very well to continental climates, supporting icy due to their short period of vegetative development. Utilities: Their wood is of little quality and it is used for posts of railroad and to substitute to the oaks where they lack these.
----------------------------------------- Quercus robur L; Quercus Pedunculata (Oak, Carballo)
Aspect.- It can overcome 45 m high and it has a big, rounded top. Its trunk is right, grizzly with white tonalities and the bark presents furrows. Flowers.- Masculine flowers in hanging, green-yellowish and solitary catkins or in group that leave in the branches of the previous year. Feminine flowers in groups of 2-3 in the apex of a long peduncle, surrounded of a reddish brown scaly cover. It flourishes in April-May. The flowers are separate but in the same tree. Fruit.- They mature in September and they fall in October-November. You not mistake the acorns for the galls that are balls of the size of a nut with picks or smaller rounded without picks, that they are produced by the sting of an insect of the family of the Cinípedos to make the setting, the tree develops a tumoral fabric that will protect to the eggs of the insect. Habitat: It is a tree climax in Galicia, it requires oceanic humid climate. It usually is not starting from the 1000 m. of altitude, it wants deep floors, lacking lime and it supports the low temperatures well. Applications.- The wood is hard, of small grain , very marked rings of growth, it is hard and resistant to the rot. It was used for the railway ties of the railroad, ships, casks, in structural part of the buildings, furniture, parquets, and to burn well as firewood or making with it vegetable coal. The bark and the galls have abundant tannins, for what they are used to harden skins. The fruits are an excellent food for pigs and during the postwar period it was used for human consumption (first they cooked to take out their bitterness), they were also used as substitute of the coffee. The oaks can end up surpassing the 1000 years. Medicinally.- The leaves, bark and galls have abundant tannins, these they have a strong power to be able to astringent, for this reason they were used for: diarrheas, faringitis, hemorrhoids, varixes (it is used in cooking for external use or like mouthwashes)
--------------------------------------- Salix caprea (Sallow, Salgueiro)
Aspect: Decidius bush of 5 meters high or small tree of up to 10 meters. Their buds and secondary branches are soft, thin, and with fluff and they are of a grizzly green in their base. Leaves: alternating and “pecioladas”, measure from 4 to 12 centimeters long, for 6 centimeters wide. Their limbo is elípitic and wide with the rounded base. The face is green dark and some wrinkled, and the greenish gray back is “tomentoso”, they also possess not very appreciable “estípulas”. Flowers: they appear before the leaves, the oval masculine catkins measure 3 centimeters long and they have silver hairiness. During the pollination, they are of a pale yellow and they contain an only fruit essence. The feminine catkins are green and not very showy; the ovaries flourish in spring. Fruit: they mature in spring. Habitat: Botanical Garden of the IES "A Pinguela", In Galicia is very abundant. It grows in wilderness, margins of roads and forests or quarries although it can also appear with other trees beside stagnated waters.
----------------------------------------------------- Sambucus nigra. (Elder, Sabugueiro)
Aspect.- Decidius bush with a very dense and rounded glass, it can arrive to the 5 meters high. The bark is very cracked and of dark brown color. The branches when they are young they are green but soon they become grizzly. The branches have a great quantity of whitish marrow. Leaves.- Compound, with 5-7 flakes in couple with a lone one at the end, they are born faced in the branches of the year. They are of greenish color and something shaggy for the back, they have sawed margin. Flowers.- The flowers are very attractive of an intense or cream white colour, they are small 4-5 millimeters of diameter but placed in a great number of terminal inflorescences with all the flowers to the same height, they are very fragrant. It flourishes in the spring. Fruit.- Spherical, fleshy, with an intense black colour, it has of 3-5 seeds in their interior. The fruits mature at the end of the summer. Habitat and applications. - It wants fresh floors, being abundant beside rivers or in riversite. It is cultivated as ornamental by their beautiful and fragrant flowers. The fruits are used to make desserts. The dry flowers put among the bed clothes to avoid attacks of insects. The fruits when they are green they are toxic and when they are mature they are eatable but the seeds should be discarded that they are toxic. Their flowers in cooking are diuretic. To combat the distemper of dogs they are put a necklace of elder bills, the bills should be 9 or 11 so that it provides effect (this remedy is broadly utilized).
------------------------------------------------------- Taxus baccata (Tile, Teixo)
Type: Tree that can reach from 10 to 15 m of height, being frequently presented as bush. Brown-reddish, thin and scaly bark. It is considered one of the trees more long-lived of Europe. Flowers: Spherical masculine inflorescence, with 6-14 stamens. Rounded feminine inflorescence, with a surrounded ovum of “brácteas”. In the maturity the seed that is ovoid and of 6-7 mm. of longitude, it is surrounded of a fleshy part of red color with a viscous pulp that falls quicky. Leaves: Soft needles of 2-4 cm. of longitude. They are dark green in the face and green with two yellowish bands in the back. Ovoid, small yolks, of brown color. Dioic species. Fruits: Fruits in berry or resemblances to berry. Uses: It possesses a very resistant wood to the bleakness, having been used in the construction of fences. It has also been used in the construction of barrels and in joinery. It was used formerly to make arches because it isvery flexible. Habitat: Botanical garden of the I.E.S. "A Pinguela", in Galicia where it is not very abundant (Laurel, Trevinca, Ancares, etc.).
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