An enjoyable walk down the garden path on the summer solstice
Cambridge & Great Eastern Regional Group Event review: Cambridge University Botanic Garden visit
 The tour of the Cambridge
University Botanic Garden has become
a popular fixture in the
calendar of SCI’s Cambridge &
Great Eastern Regional Group.
Over 30 joined the summer solstice
tour on 21 June 2007 and learned
about the history of the garden.
Members were introduced to
a ‘Flower of Kent’ apple tree, said
to be a descendant of Isaac
Newton’s famed apple tree from
Woolsthorpe Manor, his estate in
Lincolnshire; the beautiful Dawn
Redwood, a ‘living fossil’ discovered
in China; the cactus-like Hoodia gordonii from South Africa,
source of a potential appetite suppressant;
and a hidden botanical
rarity – a Ginkgo biloba (another
pharmaco-active species) trained
into espalier form.
The group would like to thank
retiring secretary, Norman
De’Ath, for co-ordinating the
event, the RSC Mid-Anglia Section for co-sponsoring it,
and our guides, Erik
Fuller-Lewis and
Patrick Haynes.
Some advice for next
year – although we
dodged the showers
on this tour – bring
an umbrella just in
case!
John Wilkins
Cambridge & Great
Eastern Group
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