I was waiting and wondering aimlessly in the west
cemetery to say farewell to our dear field club
member Ruth Bishop. Suddenly I came across a
conifer tree. It was a narrow columnar shaped tree
with rounded top. There were many goblet or tulip
shaped cones under the tree. I realised that the tree
is an Incense cedar tree, the only tree in Darlington.
The tree was introduced in Britain in 1853. Tree
smell like cedar and the bark is red and stringy. The
flat spray of shoots hangs down and the cone turns
red-brown. Two winged seed is situated between
inner and outer scales of the cone and is wind
dispersed. I thought it was a departing gift from my
naturalist friend.
