It is plainly a Plane Tree

Yesterday I posted a question about this tree that I had photographed in Whanganui earlier this week.

Many blog readers have confirmed that this is a pollarded Plane tree that I posted about yesterday.

Hmmm what does pollarding mean I wondered. One definition is: “Pollarding trees” means cutting them back nearly to the trunk, so as to produce a dense mass of branches. It is sometimes done today for aesthetic purposes and/or to keep a beloved tree from outgrowing its bounds, necessitating removal. But traditionally, it was done for other reasons: the cut branches were either fed to livestock (fodder), burned as fuel or used to make things.
Pollarding begins on young trees, and the process is repeated throughout the life of the tree. Only certain types of trees are suited to pollarding.

One of my Facebook friends who lives in Kent, England offered this additional information: The plane tree is unique in that it collects all the dirt in the air in it’s bark, particularly in areas where there is a lot of traffic, and then the bark flakes off. They are used to keep the air clean in urban areas.

Thanks Amanda. That might be why so many are planted along streets, both very busy and quiet suburban streets, here in New Zealand.
Aren’t trees wonderful! As you walk past a Plane tree on the edge of a street, breath deeply and give thanks to the tree for cleansing the air for you.

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What tree is this?

Can anyone help me to indentify this tree for me please?

They grow along the main street of Levin and also in Whanganui I discovered on Monday. They get pruned back to these unusual stumpy branches in autumn and they will sprout forth in spring and be clothed in large shady leaves.

Milk from Bulls

A family funeral earlier in the week saw us heading to Whanganui, a river city about 180kms north west of our home.
Evidence of autumn still showed itself in the bright sunshine and against the blue sky of the day.

But glimpses of spring also were evident in very early spring blossom and a tiny black lamb. (Sorry no photos from a moving car)
At a major highway junction is the small town of Bulls. It is a great place to stop for refreshments and a comfort stop. It is the one place in New Zealand where you can get milk from bulls.
The local dairy (a small convenience store) has picked up on this quirky notion.

Elsewhere around the town are names of facilities with creative names ending in “bull” such as these:

The Plunket Rooms in Bulls is so typical of such rooms dotted all over New Zealand, especially in rural and small town New Zealand.

We had lunch in the old Bank of New Zealand in Whanganui, refurbished now in keeping with the era in which it was built.

And in keeping with times past this car was at the church where the funeral was held.