HYDE PARK 



51 



There is no better refutation of the theory that only 

 plane trees will live in London, than an examination of 

 the trees in Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. An 

 appendix to this volume gives a list of the trees and 

 shrubs which have been planted there, and notes those 

 which are not in existence, having proved unsuitable 

 to London, or been removed from some other cause. 

 Many people will doubtless be surprised at the length 

 of the list. A large number of the trees are really fine 

 specimens, and would do credit to any park in the 

 kingdom. Take, for instance, some of the ash trees. 

 There is a very fine group not very far from the Mount 

 Gate inside Kensington Gardens. Two specimens with 

 light feathery foliage, Fraxinus lentiscifolia and F. excelsior 

 angustifolia^ when seen like lace against the sky, are re- 

 markably pretty trees. Not far from them stand a 

 good tulip tree and the last remaining of the old Scotch 

 firs. The Ailanthus Avenue from the Serpentine Bridge 

 towards Rotten Row, planted in 1876, is looking most 

 prosperous. There are a few magnificent ancient sweet 

 chestnuts above the bastion near the Magazine. The 

 trees planted from time to time have wisely been grouped 

 together according to species. Near the Ranger's Lodge, 

 outside the new frame-ground, some birches grow well, 

 and their white stems are washed every year. The col- 

 lection of pavias, which flower delightfully in the small 

 three-cornered enclosure where the road divides at the 

 Magazine, are most flourishing. To the south-west of 

 the fountains at the end of the Serpentine, some very 

 good Turkey and American oaks are growing into large 

 trees. Several really old thorns are dotted about. In 

 a walk from the " Round Pond," by the stone which 

 marks the boundary of three parishes, towards Bays- 



