Lammastarha

Juniper has the greatest range of any conifer. It grows on all the continents of the Northern Hemisphere from the Arctic tundra to the semi-tropics. This demands great adaptability to varying conditions, and juniper is indeed undemanding as to where it grows: from almost bare rock to nutrient-rich groves.

Juniper’s habit varies: creeper, shrubby or erect, sometimes even tree-like, with other intermediate forms. Particular forms are also selected for production and sale as “varieties”.

The strong-growing Russian elm, despite the common name, is also native to Finland though it is seldom planted and little known nowadays. In the province of Häme it is a typical species of the shores of Lake Vanajavesi, in rich forest soils achieving a diameter of over a metre, given a few centuries. In the past the leathery bark was used where tough bindings were needed, and the wood itself for wooden harness bows.

The Amur cherry can’t compete with the native bird cherry (Prunus padus) with regard to flowering, but is nevertheless a showy tree due to the bark on branches and trunk. This is a beautiful shiny yellow-coppery colour and exfoliates attractively.

Native to North America, Box elder is the most widespread of the American maples. In appearance it is unlike other maples, with leaves more like those of ash (Fraxinus), with leaflet pairs on either side of a rib, and a single leaflet at the tip. In autumn they are yellow.

The Subalpine fir, generally blue-grey in colour, is native to North America. It is closely related to the more eastern Balsam fir (Abies balsamea), but they each have adapted to their individual range, the Subalpine fir to the western mountainous areas of North America.