1912-1913-] Edinburgh's Park and other Trees. 3 



(Tilia vulgaris) occurs pretty frequently all over the city, 

 and in some of the private gardens and grounds in the 

 southern suburbs there are trees of very considerable age. 

 But the same objection applies to the lime which applies 

 to the Scots plane : its foliage becomes soiled soon after it 

 expands, and it is about the first tree to shed its leaves in 

 autumn, this frequently occurring about the beginning of 

 September in the more central parts of the city. Another 

 thing which tends to cause deterioration of its foliage is 

 that its flowers produce a very copious supply of nectar, 

 for which they are visited by myriads of bees ; and as this 

 gets spread over the leaves it causes dust, soot, and other 

 matter to adhere to them, and this interferes with their 

 functions and makes them unsightly. It thrives best in a 

 cool, pure atmosphere, and given this and a sufficiently good 

 soil, it is not easily surpassed as a park or avenue tree. 

 A much better tree for town planting is the small-leaved 

 lime (T. cordata), of which specimens occur here and there 

 in the city. Its leaves are smaller, but its leafage is denser, 

 and it forms a fine symmetrical tree when properly attended 

 to. In many of the Swedish towns it is the principal tree 

 of the streets and avenues, and also of the public parks. 

 It comes into leaf only a little later than the common lime, 

 and it defoliates somewhat later in autumn. 



The common ash (Fraximis excelsior) is met with all over 

 the city, and in the Meadows, on the south side of the city, 

 there still remain some healthy old specimens with boles over 

 9 feet in girth at a height of 5 feet from the ground. It is a 

 tree which will grow almost anywhere provided it gets 

 sufficiently good soil, on which it levies a heavy toll, and on 

 that account it is not a desirable tree to plant in mixture 

 with other kinds for ornamental purposes. Like the London 

 plane, it comes late into leaf, and it retains its foliage, fresh 

 and green, till well into autumn, and sometimes till it is 

 caught by frost. It has been used in a few instances as a 

 street tree, but it has not proved a success. The variety in 

 which the leaf consists of a single leaflet (F. excelsior, mono- 

 phylla), and the so-called " staghorn " ash (F. excelsior, 

 monstrosd), are occasionally met with, and its weeping form 

 (F. excelsior, pendula) is also fairly common. Its near ally, 



