54 LONDON TREES 



which are not revealed outside the bark. This is 

 especially the case with the branches of old Elm trees, 

 the diseased centres of which often defy the most 

 careful examination of the practical woodman. Plant- 

 ing Elm avenues was at one time generally adopted, 

 as at Windsor and Hampton Court, but owing to 

 the diseased and dangerous condition of many of the 

 trees they are now almost things of the past. 



Probably the largest and oldest Elm trees in London 

 are some of those near the Marble Arch in Hyde Park. 

 These hollow, tottering specimens are of immense 

 size, and have been carefully preserved by attention 

 to the hollow stems and surrounding them with 

 suitable fencing. Though old and diseased, their span 

 of life is by no means exhausted. 



At the northern end of the flower-garden in Regent's 

 Park are two of the largest and best developed Elm 

 trees in London. They are of about equal height 

 and branch spread, the larger being 80 feet high, 

 the branches, which sweep the greensward, extending 

 to 84 feet, while the stem girth is 12 feet i inch at a 

 yard from the ground. 



The Common, English or Small-leaved Elm (U. cam- 

 pestris) was introduced by the Romans, and is readily 

 distinguished from our native Scotch or Wych Elm 

 (U. montana) by the much smaller, doubly-serrated, 

 leaves, which are hard to the touch and usually 

 unequal at the base. Another point of distinction 

 is that, in order to make up for the small production 

 of seed, suckers are freely sent up from the roots. 

 The English Elm is of more upright growth than 

 the Scotch, and the branches less weighty, while it is 

 slower to develop in equally poor soils. It is com- 

 monly met with in all the London parks, but usually, 



