12.
All members and their friends are welcome at the
meetings. It helps the leader if he knows you are
coming. Should you require a lift then the leader
will put you in touch with somebody who has written
in to offer spare seats who will be travelling from
your area, alternatively we can pick you up at some
convenient railway station or bus stop. We seldom
fail to get people to and from meetings!
I look forward to meeting you all on a meeting
in the field one day.
Ron Allen
---oOo---
TREES IN HYLANDS PARK
Trees proved to be a popular subject on Sunday
21st September 1975 when about seventy five people
arrived in Hylands Park, Chelmsford, for this meeting.
My main object was to help beginners identify common
trees but we were also looking for the less common
species. The park contains large numbers of the
common oak Quercus robur but no sessile oaks Quercus
petraea were found. However one specimen of the downy
oak Quercus pubescens was present. This has hairy
shoots and petioles with hairs also on the underside
of the leaves, but is otherwise like the sessile oak.
It is quite rare. The turkey oak Quercus cerris with
its acorns in "mossy" cups was also found. Some fine
lime trees grow in the park. Most of these are the
common lime Tilia x europaea but we also came across
a large leaved lime Tilia platyphyllos which has hairs
along the vein on both sides of the leaves, but does
not necessarily have larger leaves than the common
lime. Large specimens of the sweet chestnut Castenea
sativa the beech Fagus sylvatica , the hornbeam
Carpinus betulus, the ash Fraxinus excelsior and the
London plane Platanus x hybrida were seen. Three kinds
of maple were identified in the park, which were the
sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus, one Norway maple Acer