The south-west entrance to Russell
Square. The Scots elm is on
the right.

              Entering the square by the entrance at the south-west corner, this is on the opposite side of the square from Southampton Row, just down from the statue, you will see two interesting looking trees to either side of the gate. The one on the right hand side, as you enter, is a weeping ash. The one on the left, closest to the gate, is a Scots elm, and this is something of a rarity, because this type of tree was severely affected by Dutch elm disease, and not many of them survived.

              Take a good look at the leaves, because they are typical elm leaves. Apart from noticing their unusual shape, if you look closely, you will see that the ribs do not meet at the middle; this is one of the signs that what you are looking at might be an elm. I refer to this as the Scots elm, but really, like all native British trees, and this is one of those for you to tick off your list, it is not unique to Britain. More commonly, it is known as the wych elm.