Today’s tree is not a British native – it was introduced as an ornamental, has been planted throughout Britain in parks and gardens, and from there has become naturalised, seeded by the wind, birds and critters, making itself at home in hedgerows, on scrubby waste ground and even in woodlands – I can see one from my living room window, growing on the edge of a small slice of regenerating ancient woodland.

The Norway maple (Acer platanoides) is handsome at all times of the year but, for me, the highlight of this tree, as with many maples, is its leaves in autumn. Their vibrant colours range from yellow through to the deepest red, and everything in between, sometimes all in one leaf.