HYDE PARK 
5 1 
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- 
