Magnolias and Cherry Trees in Hyde Park

In April I went to London to visit some friends for Easter Sunday Lunch and the Massacre of Golden Chocolate Bunnies. On the way I had to make my way through Hyde Park which had some flower beds.

While I'd expected to see more flowers Hyde Park seemed more about vast expanses of lawn with numerous paths and a scattering of trees. Given the size of Hyde Park and how I was trying to navigate across it using Google maps I suppose that impression may be mistaken. On top of that Google maps could not quite make up its mind as to where exactly I was which led me to taking me by a circuitous route instead of the straight bee line to the spot I wanted to get too did not help.

Nevertheless I did get to see some interesting sights which included a stream and small waterfall and some Mangolias and Cherry Trees.

I wanted to take a bit more time to explore and take pictures but was not sure how long it would take me to get across Hyde Park let alone find and navigate the streets and alleys I had to to get to my destination.

As it was, thanks to Goggle maps's uncertainty it was a good thing I did not linger. One area that I had hope to see were the lilies in the Italian Garden but they were empty when I passed them as the water lilies were no doubt still dormant.

Cherry Tree in Hyde Park

Hopefully I will be able to arrange another visit to London during the Waterlily blooming period. Well ... considering that I have yet to visit Kew Gardens that is something to add to my list of things to do.


 Binomial Name: Magnolia

Common names: Magnolia (English); (French); (Samoan); 

Taxonomic hierarchy: 

Kingdom: Plantae - Plants

Subkingdom: Viridaeplantae – Green plants

Infrakingdom: Streptophyta – Land plants

Superdivision: Embryophytea – 
Division: Tracheophyta – Vascular plants, tracheophytes

Subdivision: Spermatophytina – Spermatophytes (seed plants)

Infradivision: Angiospermae – Angiosperms (flowering plants)

Class: Magnoliopsida – Diocotyledons

Superorder: Magnolianae –

Order: Magnoliales –

Family: Magnoliaceae – 

Genus: Magnolia – 

Species: Magnolia 

Notes: 

• I am using the taxonomical classification system used by ITIS (Intergrated Taxonomic Information System). I have decided to use this system in order to avoid confusion as well as because it offers a comprehensive hierarchy from kingdom right through to subspecies whereas other sources only go as far as order or  provide the names of some of the higher taxonomical ranks but only indicate "unclassified" rather than providing the rank.
• When and where possible I will endeavour to include alternatives classifications although  I may limit this to occasions where an opportunity arises to discuss the reason for the different classifications.
• Taxonomical data used in this post was retrieved [April 15 2015], from the Integrated Taxonomic Information System on-line database, http://www.itis.gov.

References:

Books:

• 
  

On-line sources:

• Integrated Taxonomic Information System: Entry for Magnolia
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System: Entry for Magnoliaceae
• United States Department of Agriculture: Entry for
• The Plant List: Entry for
• University of Tennessee Herbarium Entry for
  
• 
  
• Texas A & M University: Entry for
  
• Missouri Botanical Garden: Entry for
  
• 
  
• Dave's Garden Entry for
• Wikipedia: Entry for Magnolia
• Wikipedia: Entry for Magnoliaceae
• Wikipedia: Entry for

Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

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My other blogs

· Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/
· The Blood of Souls (language, translation and etymology) : http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/

· Whiskers on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) : http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com/

Cherry blossoms?

In the lawn between the two Magnolias was a tall slender tree which had all these pink flowers. I have no idea what it is but think it might be a variety of cherry tree. In any case it has lovely flowers although the height at which the flowers were and their position made it quite a challenge to photograph especially with the wind.

Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

My other blogs

· Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/
· The Blood of Souls (language, translation and etymology) : http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/
· Whiskers on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) : http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com/

Cherry Blossoms in the Fort Royal Gardens

There is at least one Cherry tree in the Fort Royal Gardens. Well it is more like a couple of tall trees with masses of small pink flowers not far from the rear exit of the Fort Royal Gardens.

If you are walking along the path heading from the rear exit towards the pond you will see them on the left hand side. they are pretty hard to miss as you can see. Unfortunately, on the day I took these photos although it was a sunny day the blue skies were in the wrong place so all I have is delicate pink with rose hearts on white skies. Hopefully the next time I go through they will still be blooming and I will have clear blue skies to have as a background because that is stunning as I can tell having seen it when I did not have a camera on me.

The other one is a small tree with mid sized size flowers hidden behind some pines that provide a screen between the path that runs behind the pond and the pond itself.

 In the photo above you can see how sunny it was from how bright the walls of Fort Royal House is. Actually, I must admit I am not sure if these trees are Cherry trees or not but the flowers resemble cherry blossoms to me. So if I am wrong please let me know what they are.

Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

My other blogs

· Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/
· The Blood of Souls (language, translation and etymology) : http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/

· Whiskers on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) : http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com/

Cherry Bossoms in Bristol

While most of the trees are still bare some have flower buds while a few cherry trees are showing off clothing their naked limbs with a delicate profusion of white or pink blossoms. It might not be as stunning as some of the places in Japan, nor do I think any one in the United Kingdom is holding Hanami under these trees which could be awkward since most of the ones I have seen are on street trees growing either on the sidewalks or in gardens by the sidewalk.

Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

My other blogs

· Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/
· The Blood of Souls (language, translation and etymology) : http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/

· Whiskers on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) : http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com/

Hidden Gardens in the Heart of Brussels Part 2

Tillens Block Part 2

 

I visited Tillens Block several times throughout the year and during one visit in Spring I was in time to photograph some of the trees flowering.

 

I am not 100% sure but I think they are Cherry Blossoms

 

 

 

Tucked away in a corner behind a small picket fence are some Beehives. Apparently there are numerous locations throughout the city where people keep bees. While it may seem strange to keep bees in the heart of a big city once you realise that Brussles is in fact quite a green city with great pockets of green spaces not to mention all the gardens and flowers all over the place and the huges tracts of forest the popularity of apiculture is not surprising.

Again for a city Brussels has an abundance of birds. Most people will probably notice the huge crows especially in winter as well as the ever present pigeons. But there are lots more to see and hear if you take the time to extend your awareness. It is quite normal to see nests in the trees lining the streets and some places you can hear them singing. On several occassions at night along one street I have heard what can only have been a nightingale or some other night song bird. It had an increadibly pure voice that sounded even more liquid and magical in the moonlight.

These little cheeky guys were busy flitting back and forth chattering away in Tillens Square. They seemed to enjoy teasing me while I tried to photograph them. They would wait until I had just about gotten them in focus and then they would all fly away to came back not too far away and wait again. Finally I managed to get a few decent shots of them.

Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.
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