85. Darley Park Den Tree
Confounding and enchanting, a low dome of a tree is a highlight of Derby’s Darley Park.
Generations of Derby children have adored the Darley Park Den Tree, a low dome whose branches sweep down to the lawn enclosing a space impenetrable to adults and doubling as a prime natural climbing frame. It is also a very unusual tree, a rare weeping ash cultivar, whose single rather than compound leaves distinguish it from other ashes.
Species details
Weeping one-leaved ash
Fraxinus excelsior ‘Diversifolia Pendula’
Where to find it
Darley Park, Darley Abbey, Derby DE22 1EJ
///marble.arrive.roses | 52.940074, -1.478137
Weeping one-leaved ash notes
This is a very unusual tree, in fact, the specimen in Derby is the only one I know of. It is a curiosity, a double cultivar if you like, with characteristics of two far more frequent cultivars, the one-leaved ash (Fraxinus excelsior ‘Diversifolia’), a tree that will confound many, and the weeping ash (F. excelsior ‘Pendula’), a distinctive clone often seen in parks and cemeteries.
It is a cultivar of ash, one of the most common trees in Britain and Ireland, but one that is under threat from ash dieback, a disease that is devastating ash populations across Europe including in these islands. The disease is caused by a fungus whose spores spread rapidly, especially in woodland situations. Individual trees are more likely to avoid it, so we must hope this cultivar is able to survive.
I grew up in Darley Abbey and can confirm the den tree is a thing of joy. There are so many unusual specimens in Darley Park, as well as a large collection of rhododendrons.
Thanks Paul. I’ve been to that park but failed to notice it. It looks nothing like a “standard” ash from the pic and the single-leaf description. I guess its identity as an ash is established because it’s a documented cultivar of two other ashes... but would a good tree spotter be able to deduce this just from visual inspection? And how? (Seeds? Flower?...)