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taken much traffic off the North Circular
Road, ample car parking space, a convenient
cafe, a modest entrance fee of £1, and good
weather too.
This collection of trees is a splendid one
to become aware of the range of variation
within plants showing the dendroid habit,
with an extensive selection of oaks and
maples and many other species.
The official documentation is inadequate
and the labelling sparse so that essential
companions are Mitchell's "Field Guide to
the Trees of Britain" and Phillips "Trees
in Britain". The collection helps to
emphasise the value of the binomial system
of naming plants and animals and I make no
excuse for including them in this article.
Take the Chinese Cedar (Cedrela sinensis) ,
for instance, which is one of the many trees
I saw for the first time here. It is not
even a gymnosperm, let alone a cedar. It
has pinnate leaves and Phillips' photographs
lead you to its correct identification with
its very large leaves and the absence of
a terminal leaflet. It turned out to be a
member of the Mahogany Family. The pinnate
leaf is found in many groups.
One lovely tree in full bloom was the Golden
Sain Tree (Koelreuteria paniculata). Each
leaflet was basically Pinnatifid and the
large leaves were quite distinct. Another
pinnate-leaved tree, the Locust Tree (Robinia
pseudoacacia) bears a pair of thorns at the
base of its leaf stalks.
One tree reminiscent of our Ash turned out
to be so rare that it was not even in the
books. This tree with tiny pinnate leaves