Leaves

The hollyhock of East Street, noticed here from time to time, making a valiant effort at a second showing in the continuing mild weather. It must really catch the sun.

Quite a lot of flower hiding under the leaves to the right.

The two sides of three leaves. The alternate, but near opposite arrangement of the veins of these leaves visible top. Picked up, having fallen from a small tree in a hedge at Kiln Lane. Posed in a Sainsbury's trolley picked up from East Street. With this alternate being a matter first noticed at the end of reference 3.

With the veins matching the lobes - which fade into serrations at the top of the leaves.

With and without clue. He seems fairly clear about it being the oakleaf mountain ash tree (Sorbus hybrida), which certainly fits in with what little I remember of the tree itself. I think he is probably right, although reference 4 suggests that, once again, his taxonomy is a little out of date.

A variety of whitebeam, so a relative of the much snapped whitebeam of the Screwfix passage.

But these results are all very dynamic and when you go forward to the clued version, you have lost the unclued version. Unless, that is, you remember to do the two versions in two windows.

More of the same, but this time a much larger leaf from the Screwfix end of the Screwfix passage. The stalk is as long as the leaf. I had thought a sycamore and Google Images agrees with me: 'The leaves in the image belong to a Sycamore tree, scientifically known as Acer pseudoplatanus'. 

With a clue, he shows that he can be pedantic and that he can disagree with me. He doesn't have to believe everything I tell him - even when I am right!

My own whitebeam. I thought today that maybe it had had its leader cut out when it was young, perhaps in the originating nursery, so as to give it its present bushy appearance.

PS 1: I have now got around to looking at the slim booklet about Linneaus, left in the image above, picked up the other day at RPPL. He was clearly a very talented chap, not only good at plants, but also good at getting on with all kinds of people. Inter many alia, seemingly the chap who, more or less single handedly, invented the binomial key we all use today. As in the 'Acer pseudoplatanus' above: genus then species. (Page 13).

I shall probably look out for a suitable biography. I dare say one of the RHS libraries has copies of his various books, but it might work better if I do a biography first.

As it turned out, his extensive collection of papers and plants wound up in London after his death, with the people at reference 6, but this author does not seem too cross about that. As bricks and mortar, to be found at Burlington House Piccadilly, London W1J 0BF - part of the imposing block which also houses the Royal Academy. They have a library too.

In the way of the 1950s, the illustrations are are the back, preceded by a couple of pages with the captions. Mixing shiny photographic images and type not being possible at the time. Or, at least, prohibitively expensive.

Alston right being another eminence from the botanical world.

PS 2: the hollyhock is known to Street View. The small empty building next to the Common Room, as was. Possibly awaiting redevelopment by Nuro Homes. A six year old outfit, who do 'quality homes sympathetic to their environment'. Plenty more of same at reference 7.

PS 3: for once, a piece in the FT (reference 1), touching both wings of the family.

References

Reference 1: UBS chair warns of ‘looming systemic risk’ from private credit ratings: Colm Kelleher says insurers are shopping for ratings as banks did before 2008 financial crisis - Arjun Neil Alim, Financial Times - 2025.

Reference 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colm_Kelleher. Clearly another very talented chap: the system worked for him. To think that I already know another Colm from County Cork.

Reference 3: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2025/10/back-to-long-grove.html.

Reference 4: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedlundia_hybrida.

Reference 5: Linnaeus - Arvid H J Uggla - 1957. Handily translated from the Swedish by Alan Blair.

Reference 6: https://www.linnean.org/.

Reference 7: https://www.nurohomes.co.uk/.

Group search key: botanicsk.