1969

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Chapter 4 - The Central Estate - Streatham Drive

The original avenue to Duryard Lodge seems to have followed the same line as the present Streatham Drive which was the avenue to Streatham Hall. The trees were planted by Messrs. Veitch in pairs one on each side of the drive. Many of the original trees remain though, of course, some have had to be replaced. Moreover, the construction of the tennis courts at Reed Hall, of necessity, spoilt the original symmetry. Above the Queen's Drive junction there remain only three matched pairs of trees on each side of the road.

Many of the trees have been described in the previous section devoted to Reed Hall so only those not previously described will be dealt with in detail. At the junction of Streatham Drive with Prince of Wales Road where there is a deodar Cedrus deodara, the first tree on the left or west side of the drive is the west Himalayan spruce, Picea smithiana. Then there is a pair of common limes, Tilia X vulgaris, one on each side of the drive. This lime is of uncertain origin and is generally considered to be a hybrid between T. platyphyllos and T. cordata. Above them is a specimen of the Weymouth pine, Pinus strobus, and opposite it a specimen of more recent planting of the Serbian spruce, Picea omorika. Native to the Balkans, it was introduced into Britain about the end of the last century. It has been planted in this country more as an ornamental tree than for timber production. Above them is a pair of deodars and then a pair of purple beeches and further up a pair of evergreen oaks, probably the Exeter oak, Quercus X hispanica 'Lucombeana' which is discussed below. Above them is a pair of wellingtonias then another pair of limes and two more deodars.

Only one of the next pair of trees has survived, it is a Monterey pine, Pinus radiata. Then there is a pair of red horse chestnut trees, Aesculus X carnea. It is thought that this tree is of hybrid origin though its parentage is uncertain. It apparently appeared sometime in the early part of the last century. The probable parents are A. pavia and A. hippocastanum. Bean notes that this tree is prone to suffer from witches' brooms and 'ugly eruptions' which do not seem to be associated with the presence of outside agents. It is perhaps worth repeating that the horse chestnut, Aesculus hippocastanum, which is very widely grown in this country, is not native and was introduced into England in the seventeenth century.

Above the holm oak, there are too more purple beeches and then a single row of trees on the west side of the avenue, the other side being taken up with two large oaks.

These two trees and are probably descendants of the original Exeter oak Quercus x Hispanica 'Lucombeana', a hybrid between the cork oak, Quercus suber, and the Turkey oak, Quercus cerris. The original seed was collected about 1770 by Lucumbe, a nurseryman in Exeter who noticed the remarkably quick growth of the tree which developed from it. He grafted large numbers of the shoots of this tree on to other oaks stocks and distributed them, at least till the death of the original tree in 1800. There are many of what appear to be descendants of these trees in the Exeter area and elsewhere and they vary considerably in habit. Some more less deciduous (Fig. 36) and others are evergreen. Some have bark reminiscent of the cerris parent, others of the suber. It is not certain if or where any of the original grafted specimens are still to be found though two, at least, of the Exeter oaks at Thomas Hall have been grafted on to stocks of Q. robur.

On the west side of the drive, above the purple beech, there is a deodar, Cedrus deodara, then an Austrian pine, Pinus nigra, yet another red horse chestnut and an oriental plane, Platanus orientalis of the Platanaceae. This tree, a native of south Eastern Europe and Asia minor was introduced into England four centuries ago. It is less commonly planted in England than the London planes, Platanus X acerifolia (p. 46, 55), which has much less deeply lobed leaves. Next to the plane is a sycamore, Acer pseudoplatanus, another deciduous tree which, though not uncommonly called a plane, is a member of quite a different family, the Aceraceae. Native to Europe it is probably not indigenous to Britain but it has been so long established and is so widespread that it is hard to realise that it is not native. It produces large numbers of fruits and the seeds are very fertile so that seedling plants appear round the parent trees in large numbers. The timber has many uses.

Above the sycamore there are in order, Taxus baccata, Prunus lusitanica, Thuja plicata, Chamaecyparis lawsoniana and then a Chinese arbor-vitae, Thuja orientalis. This tree is a native of north-west China and has been cultivated in Britain for more than two centuries, sometimes under the name of Biota. It is characterised by having the branchlets set in vertical planes and by the curiously hooked cone-scales.

Above it is another specimen of the common yew, Taxus baccata, one of our three native conifers. This is a staminate plant. Then there is a specimen of the Nootka cypress, Chamaecyparis nootkatensis, and yet another Lawson's cypress and above it another Thuja plicata. Between this tree and still another Thuja plicata there is a Brewer's weeping spruce, Picea breweriana, flanked by two flowering cherries. This very unusual tree with its pendent branches is one of the rarest spruces coming from a small area in the Siskiyou mountains of north-west California and south-west Oregon. First discovered by Professor Brewer of Yale in 1863, it has been in cultivation in Britain since 1897. This specimen was given to the College in 1936 and is about 20 ft high, a good height for the species in this country (Fig. 37). Though completely hardy is very slow growing and is still comparatively uncommon.

Almost opposite on the other side of the avenue is a fir planted about the same time as the Brewer's spruce. This is Abies delavayi var. forrestii, a native of Yunnan introduced by Forrest in 1910. It is slow growing and is another unusual tree. Beside it are a wellingtonia, an oriental spruce, a Monterey pine and a Colorado Douglas fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca.

Two trees of special interest between the tennis courts and the Diana steps are the Katsura tree, Cercidiphyllum japonicum, of the Cercidiphyllaceae and the fern-leaf or cut-leaf oak, Quercus robur 'Asplenifolia'. The former is a native of Japan and China. It has leaves reminiscent of the Judas tree, Cercis, hence its name. It is however, related not to that genus but to the magnolias. It is slow growing but a most handsome tree with bright yellow leaves in the autumn. The fern-leaf oak has long slender lobes on the leaves which are mostly composed of midrib. This specimen, also a very slow growing, has produced viable acorns only once on the past 30 years and on germination they, unfortunately, developed into plants with perfectly normal leaves. It has, therefore, to be propagated by cuttings.

On the west side of the drive there is, above the trees already noted, a shrub of the bay tree, Laurus nobilis, of the Lauraceae. This is the true laurel, the so-called victors' laurel of the Greeks. It is one of the evergreen plants of the Mediterranean region and was used for making the crowns for those victorious in the games. Many of the trees and shrubs of that region, as has been noted above are evergreen. The tendency in Britain is to call all evergreen shrubs with leathery leaves 'laurels', as with the next two specimens, the Portugal laurel, Prunus lusitanica, and its neighbour the cherry laurel, Prunus laurocerasus, which are not in fact true laurels. They are members of the Rosaceae and are of the same genus as the cherries. The former, a native of Spain and Portugal, was introduced in the middle of the 17th century. The white flowers around long racemes opening in the early summer. The latter is a native of eastern Europe and Asia Minor and was introduced into this country about the same time. The fruits of both, especially of the latter, are succulent and resemble cherries.

Above the shrubs there is another plant of the strawberry tree, Arbutus unedo of the Ericaceae, which has been described above. In front of this group of shrubs there are two plants of Cephalotaxus harringtonia of the Cephalotaxaceae. These shrubs are unisexual and there is one of each sex growing here. The staminate is a handsome evergreen and the ovulate regularly produces olive like fruits. As noted earlier, this species was introduced into Europe from Japan by Siebold about 1829.

Further up the drive there is a Spanish fir, Abies pinsapo, which has been described above. Then there are two Monterey pines, Pinus radiata, a beech and a common lime. The next tree is interesting being a cut-leaf or fern-leaf beech, Fagus sylvatica 'Heterophylla', an attractive sport from the common beech. Some branches are inclined to revert to normal type of leaf and should be cut from time to time. Behind it against the tennis courts is a Spanish chestnut, Castanea sativa of the Fagaceae. This tree can grow to a great size and produces edible chestnuts. It is in no way related to the horse chestnut. Native to southern Europe and North Africa it was brought to this country long before the other tree and, it is thought, may have been introduced by the Romans. The wood is used from variety of purposes but is not of great value.

On the other side of the drive, below the coach yard of the original house, there is a striking group of trees. There is a large Cupressus macrocarpa which has been described above and beside it a Roble beech, Nothofagus obliqua of the Fagaceae, a native of Chile which was originally introduced into England by Veitch. The specimen was planted some 30 years ago as was the neighbouring flowering cherry and the Judas tree, Cercis siliquastrum of the Leguminosae. The last named tree has been cultivated in this country for over 300 years having been introduced from the near East. Traditionally, Judas Iscariot is supposed to have hanged himself on a tree of this species. Other species of the same genus are to be found in North America and in China.

On the west side at the top of the drive there is a Santa Lucia fir, Abies bracteata, which was one of the original planting and has a markedly forked trunk. Also of the original planting are Western red cedar, Thuja plicata, an incense cedar, Calocedrus decurrens and a Western hemlock Tsuga heterophylla.