Thompson’s Park in autumn

Chestnut tree (Aesculus hippocastanum) in Thompson’s Park, Cardiff, on October 25

I usually blog just once a week, but there is so much of golden autumn around at the moment that I can’t help keeping on about it, as it will be over so soon. Here are some recent images from Thompson’s Park in Cardiff, which I have been visiting throughout the year. It’s certainly a time of mellow fruitfulness.

I think this is an Acer negundo or ash-leaved maple

A wider view of the Acer

Crataegus prunifolia berries

The small Crataegus prunifolia tree

Crispy horse chestnut leaves (Aesculus hippocastanum)

Leaves of beech (Fagus sylvatica)

The beech tree is speckled with gold but much of it is still green

Some ash leaves (Fraxinus excelsior) are late turning

A form of red oak (Quercus)

This slim cherry tree (Prunus) has been elegant all year

I think it may be a pin cherry (Prunus pensylvanica)? The berries are jewel like

There were crows calling from the trees – I’m not sure if I was the source of their discomfort

This tree is near to the oak I am following this year, but I’m not sure about the identification

The golden leaves look a bit like acacia

Who would have thought that a dark yew tree could hold such treasures…

…crimson beads of jelly

These are not “berries” but “arils”, a specialised outgrowth from the base of a seed. Yews are gymnosperms (conifers), but they have arils instead of woody cones.

Among the fallen leaves are these autumn crocuses or ‘naked ladies’ (Colchicum), but they have been trampled by children playing

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