Daventry is well blessed with False Acacia, Robinia pseudacacia, trees, and they are particularly prominent around the car park beside The Newlands, i.e. around the Aldi car park.
8 September, 2020
False Acacias beside The Newland, Daventry.
Their graceful pinnate leaves are typical of many other members of the Fabaceae such as the true acacias and of Laburnum. In spring they were covered in cream pom-pom flowers, much visited by bees. Despite belonging to the same family as the true acacias, and having a broadly similar appearance, they are not really closely related.
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| The flowers hang in racemes |
The flowers have now given way to the fruit in the form of long brown pods and numerous seedlings have developed around the trees. In warmer climates such as southern France, Italy and Spain the trees have become something of a nuisance, springing up in inappropriate places.
The trees are intensively planted in many parts of the world and apparently 250,000 hectares of them have now been planted in Hungary. Obviously their timber could be of use but their honey is much prized and when rambling in France I have often seen roadside signs advertising miel d'acacia.
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| The pods start off green but become golden-brown. The Newlands, Daventry |
A feature of the tree, sometimes called the Black Locust, which appeals to me is the gnarled, twisted appearance of the trunk and branches, making even a young tree appear venerable. In Northampton and elsewhere False Acacias are host to mistletoe plants and the combination of a gnarled appearance with a garnish of mistletoe can be quite striking.
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| False Acacia and mistletoe - not, I hasten to add, the specimens in Northampton. |
The False Acacias bearing mistletoe are in Weston Favell near to The Trumpet pub. May we hope to see this sort of sight in Daventry?
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