Bob Berry, renowned oak collector and longtime member of the IOS, died August 2, 2018 at the age of 102 in Gisborne, New Zealand. Bob described himself as a sheep and cattle farmer who collected trees as a hobby. His life’s work is Hackfalls Arboretum, a 50-ha plantation of trees and shrubs comprising over 3,000 taxa from 478 genera, including the largest oak collection in the Southern Hemisphere (453 accessions, c 160 taxa) and one of the finest collections of Mexican oaks anywhere. One wonders what the result would have been had tree collecting been more than just a hobby.
All Articles
By Shaun Haddock |
Aug 16, 2018
The Action Oak partnership was launched at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show in London last May
By Roderick Cameron |
Aug 15, 2018
Given its rugged beauty and hardiness, Quercus rugosa is recommended for gardens, parks, and arboreta in most regions. As it grows naturally in such an extended area and across a variety of habitats and altitudes, there is also scope for further experimentation with seed sourced from different provenances.
By Dirk Giseburt |
Aug 15, 2018
In October 2017, I visited Palomar Mountain State Park, San Diego County, California to collect acorns of the interior live oak, Quercus wislizeni (Section Lobatae), for an investigation of oak hybridization at that location. Following the first day on site, while reviewing the day’s leaf samples, acorns, and photographs, a chance photo with an oblique view suggested that one individual Q. wislizeni bore yellow or golden hairs on the abaxial leaf surface.
By Website Editor |
Jun 19, 2018
New research published in Nature Plants provides insights into why oaks are long lived.
By Website Editor |
Jun 13, 2018
North America is home to 91 species of oak trees. Astoundingly, the various species rarely, if ever, occur alone. Where one kind of oak is found, invariably at least one more will be found. How can nature support a setup like that when it operates on the principle that only the fittest survive in any one setting?
By Roderick Cameron |
Jun 10, 2018
To honor Estonia’s centenary, we chose as subject for this article in our series on Historic Oaks, Estonia’s largest, oldest, and most famous oak: the Tamme-Lauri Oak.
By Website Editor |
Jun 3, 2018
Illinois State Museum features dwarf chinkapin oak, discovered in Illinois during an IOS Tour, as part of the Illinois Bicentennial exhibition.
By Website Editor |
Jun 3, 2018
Plant pathologists from the California Department of Agriculture (CDFA) recently identified a new species of fungal pathogen that infects oak, chinkapins, and tanoaks. Until recently, North American diagnosticians called all species of the genus Tubakia that infects oaks in North America, Tubakia dryina, because they all have very similar morphological features to this European fungus. However, a new study shows that the North American species vary genetically from Tubakia dryina. Among these is the newly recognized California species.
By Guy Sternberg |
Apr 19, 2018
Ed Holm lived in Redwood City, California and was born on 4 September 1930 and died 1 January 2018.
Pages
