For today's National Tree Week post here is a fine 360-degree panorama or photosphere of a scenic beech wood in Ireland.

Covered in moss and with its own little niche containing water, a wooden rockpool this was one of the finest trees in the woods. 

Beech trees Fagus sylvatica are not native to Ireland but these characterful imports from Europe have made a home here. From the famous Dark Hedges to woodlands and private gardens, beech grow well in Ireland and as seen here are happy on banks as they have shallow roots.

Producing abundant nuts, a walk through a beech wood is like no other as you crunch along under the tall trees and in autumn they provide a fine spectacle of red/brown colour.

Check out one of my other 360-degree panoramas of Trinity College Dublin's Long Room Library.

I have written about almost-treeless landscapes in Ireland before, usually upland areas such as here in the Wicklow Mountains.

And here, two old sycamore trees stand together alone above the boggy terrain, in bad weather providing shelter for sheep as seen in this image.

Sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus is not native to Ireland, thought to have been introduced from Europe before the 17th century being first recorded in Derry in 1610, it has now become widely naturalised and is one of Ireland's most common trees.

Sycamore is a strong and sturdy tree, able to withstand all that the Irish weather can deliver.

For all you dendrophiles, Sunday 21st of March 2021 sees the start of National Tree Week here in Ireland.

So here is an image of one of the most iconic of Ireland's native trees. the ash.

Ash is the most common tree found in Irish hedgerows, it grows tall to around 40 metres and its bark becomes fissured with age. It has a pale wood that is most famously used to make hurleys (sticks) for the Irish game of hurling. If you have good quality wooden handled gardening equipment, the handles might also be made from ash timber.

Ash trees can live for up to 400 years but in recent times with the arrival of an asian fungal infection, the trees have been suffering from a disease called ash dieback.