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rather inaccessible spot, for they are of special in- 

 terest to the tree lover, by reason of their rather rare 

 occurrence in public parks. Their presence here, in 

 this particularly out-of-the-way place is explained by 

 the fact that they stand on ground for many years 

 used by the Park for a nursery. 



Idesia polyearpa. {Idesia. No. 21.) If you enter 

 at the East One Hundred and Sixth Street Gate, and 

 proceed west to the third fork of the Walk, turn to 

 the left and go south to the steps at the end of the 

 first Green House, go up the steps and follow the 

 path that skirts the slope back of McGowan's Pass 

 Tavern, you will find this tree. At first you might 

 mistake it for a white mulberry, but it is a very dif- 

 ferent kind of tree. It belongs to the Bixacecs, and 

 gets its name from a Dutch explorer in China, Yobrants 

 Ides. It stands, as you will see, by referring to the 

 map, on a little "island" of Walk that has come to 

 anchor just below the slope back of McGowan's. This 

 little "island" runs north and south. From the south- 

 erly end, walking north, you pass a couple of good 

 specimens of Magnolia glauca, easily picked out by 

 the white undersides of their leaves, then comes a 

 good Kentucky coffee tree, with very rough bark and 

 large doubly compound leaves. Then another Mag- 

 nolia glauca, and then the Idesia. You can tell it at 

 once by its alternate, simple, heart-shaped, five-veined 

 leaves, which are fairly large and at a distance some- 

 what resemble the leaves of the mulberry. A distin- 

 guishing feature of the leaves is the very long red 

 petiole (leaf stalk). On this petiole, near the base of 



