Scotland's Tree of the Year finalists unveiled

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David McCabe's Spruce, CrieffImage source, Niall Benvie

A Perthshire spruce pulled from the mud of Passchendaele during World War One is among the contenders to be named Scotland's Tree of the Year 2017.

David McCabe's Spruce was sent home from no-man's land by Lt David McCabe to his father in Crieff.

It is among six trees to be short-listed in the competition run by Woodland Trust Scotland.

The other five are in Dunfermline, Beauly, Kirkwall, Greenock and Castle Fraser.

The full list is:

Image source, Niall Benvie

The Beauly Sycamore, Beauly. A huge tree which has stood for several centuries, dominating the picturesque ruins of Beauly Priory, a site Mary Queen of Scots visited in 1564 on her way to Dingwall, speaking of the abbey and its orchard's beauty.

Image source, Mark Ferguson

The Big Tree, Kirkwall, Orkney. A a 200-year-old sycamore which is a well-known landmark in Kirkwall, used as a meeting place by generations of Orcadians and saved twice from felling by public outcry.

Image source, Niall Benvie

The Carnegie Oak, Pittencrieff Park, Dunfermline. It was planted in 1904 by famous industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, who lived as a boy within a stone's throw of the park, known locally as The Glen. He went on to become one of the richest men in the world, making public gifts including giving Pittencrieff Glen to the people of Dunfermline.

Image source, Niall Benvie

David McCabe's Spruce, Crieff. A sapling pulled from the mud of no-man's-land at Passchendaele by Lieutenant David McCabe and sent home to his father in Perthshire. David died from wounds in 1917 and never returned to see one of the young trees he sent home grow on to maturity.

Image source, Niall Benvie

The Greenock Cut Oak. Passed by thousands of people completing the Greenock Cut Trail every year, it stands covered in ferns, mosses and lichens. It is an ambassador for Shielhill Glen Site of Special Scientific Interest and an outdoor classroom.

Image source, Niall Benvie

The Old Holly Bush, Castle Fraser. Believed to be one of the oldest holly trees in Scotland, it has a girth of 3.17m (10ft 5in), and stands on what is believed to have been the edge of a 17th Century enclosed garden that was surrounded by a holly hedge rather than a wall.

Members of the public can vote for their favourite tree at woodlandtrust.org.uk/treeoftheyear, external

Voting opens on Monday 11 September and runs for one month. Scotland's winning tree will be named at the Scottish Parliament in December.

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