Through the wooden archway
Footpath into the park on the other side of Comox St.
Directions
Once you have connected with the maple carry on along Pendrell until you see a wooden archway on the left between two houses. Standing right in front on the sidewalk is another Big-Leaved maple (in case you’ve missed all the others). Go through the archway, along the path until you reach an alleyway. Just to the right here you will find a really small, sweet community garden. But don’t go right, as slightly to the left is another archway – go through that one too and keep going. You will come out on Comox St, carefully cross the road and take the footpath into the park. This is Nelson Park a recreational hub of the West End. Follow the path across the play pit and turn left on the path behind. Take that all the way to the end. En route you will pass a small community garden (starting on the left) and a school on your right. As you exit the path turn right and walk one block back along Bute. You’ll start seeing in the distance our next featured tree – the magnificent Tulip Tree.
Community Gardens
Tulip trees look down on pedestrianised area on Bute
Tulip Tree
Proper Name: Liriodendron tulipifera
Common Name: Tulip Tree or Yellow Poplar
Description: The leaves have a very distinctive shape, and are light in the summer turning brown and gold in the fall. The trees get their name from the beautiful and fragrant green and orange flowers that come after the leaves. They are stunning but on very tall trees like these, are hard to see – but look up at the end of May and if the sun is shinning they will light up like little laterns. They are replaced in the fall by a thick large capsule. The bark is a dark grey and furrowed. Often Tulip trees, like the ones in KitsTREEmap, are trained to grown straight up and respond to that request quite well, but these trees have been left alone appearing a bit more wayward than the ones you see on 10th.
Defining feature: If you can’t reach the flowers, the leaf shape is unmistakable. There is no confusing it for any other tree. Once you see it and name it you will never forget it. It’s a beautiful sculpted shape of a leaf. Check the ground around the trees to see one up close.
