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GAZETTE
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1991
Correspondence
The Editor,
Law Society Gazette,
The Law Society,
Blackhall Place,
Dublin 7.
Re: Trees and Past-Presidents
Dear Editor,
At lunchtime on 28th November
1990, as I strolled along the front
of the Society's splendid home,
absorbed in consideration of
matters weighty and contentious,
I was seriously distracted by two
small placques beneath two young
trees.
These placques told me that one
tree had been planted by Past-
President Anthony E. Collins and
the other by Past-President
Laurence Cullen. They further told
me that Mr. Collins' tree was
Prunus Sub Hirtella - Flowering
Crab Apple and that Mr. Cullen's
tree was Malus Lisset - Flowering
Cherry. I make the following ob-
servations on the dendrological
data: —
1. Subhirtella is one word;
2. Lisset is spelt with one " s " ;
3. Malus "Liset" is not a species
but a third-generation hybrid
( - one of several raised by Mr.
Doorenbos) and accordingly
the title should be Malus
"L i se t" and not Malus Liset
which would denote a species
Malus;
4 . The genus "Prunus" includes
plums, almonds, peaches,
apricots, cherries, bird cherries
and cherry laurels. It most
certainly does not include
apples! If Mr. Collins' tree is
Prunus Subhirtella then it
cannot be a Crab Apple!
5. The genus. "Ma l us" includes
crabs and apples but definitely
not cherries! Accordingly Mr.
Cullen's tree cannot be both a
Malus and a cherry!
6. In short there is a major
cock-up!
Inasmuch as the layman (per-
haps erroneously) expects lin-
guistic accuracy from solicitors, the
errors on the placques demean
the profession, and are, more-
over, an affront to the two Past-
Presidents with whose distin-
guished names the nonsense is
associated.
I recommend that the appropri-
ate committee of the Society take
steps to remove forthwith the
offending placques and to replace
them with placques inscribed with
the correct data. Furthermore, I
suggest that if the current craze for
the use of the vernacular must
prevail, then surely one can
dispense with the word "Flower-
ing" since every tree in the world
must " f l owe r" if it is to set
seed!
Any of your readers seriously
interested in the content of this
letter might wish to refer to W. J.
Bean "Trees and Shrubs Hardy in
the British Isles" Eight Edition (Vol
III pps. 348-418 for Prunus and Vol
II pps. 691-717 for Malus).
Yours faithfully,
John E. O'Reilly,
Architect,
1 Clonskeagh Square,
Dublin 14.
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