DAY 67 (11 JUNE) – Leyland cypress (Cupressus leylandii) (Farnham, England)
I passed this extraordinary sight today on a walk. It looks too exotic for rural Surrey. And the multiple trunks reaching up to the sky reminded me of giant organ pipes.
Turns out it’s no less than a Leyland cypress that’s been severely cropped on one side. I wonder why? Perhaps to resolve one of the disputes they are so renowned for causing.
Rather confusingly Leylandii – as they are most commonly known – were ‘produced’ in Wales, crossing two kinds of cypress trees – the Nootka (from Alaska) and the Monterey (from the central coast of California). But no idea why ‘Leyland’, which to me was a car plant.
365 DAYS OF NATURE 
Funny a tree should be called Nootka, because when Captain Cook was exploring the coast of Vancouver Island his Nu-cha-nulth guide was trying to tell him to watch out for rocks round the corner, and “Nootka” was his word for “round the corner”. So Captain Cook noted the man was of the Nootka tribe, and the word stuck much to the annoyance of the Nu-cha-nulth….
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Funny (and also understandable) when easier words stick over dfficult ones. Perhaps explains why Welsh is only popular with the Welsh (some of them).
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