Stand at the entrance to Drummer Street Bus Station and look straight ahead along Emmanuel Road to see our first tree, a broad, spreading (1) Oriental Plane which, erm, is unfortunately behind the wall of Emmanuel College. However, it has deigned to shade the pavement with some of its branches, so you may wish to cross the street to have a look at the leaves (more deeply lobed than those of the much commoner London Plane which we will see later) and fruit (smaller than those of London Plane).

Back at the start, turn left onto Christ's Pieces down the avenue of tall trees. Christ's Pieces has an excellent variety of trees, but by far the most frequent are those of (2) Common Lime, mature examples of which form this avenue across the Pieces, much of the avenue which crosses diagonally ahead from your left, and also the eastern border with Emmanuel Road. The mature tree is immediately recognisable by its tall, narrow and rather top-heavy shape. The alternate leaves have a characteristic shape and are, surprise, surprise, a distinctive lime-green colour, at least early in the season. Limes are most easily recognized, however, by their fruit with the distinctive single leaf-like bract above them.

Veer right from the avenue onto the grass before you reach the first path junction. The large tree in front of you is a (3) Red Horse Chestnut, a frequent tree but less common than the ordinary Horse Chestnut. The Red Horse Chestnut has red ‘candles’ in late spring. The leaves are opposite (i.e. are attached in pairs opposite one another along the shoot) and the leaflets are palmate (like the fingers of the hand) - horse chestnuts and their relatives are the only palmate-leaved trees you are likely to come across in the UK. In contrast to the ordinary Horse Chestnut the distinctive large buds are not sticky.

Behind this tree is a another large solo tree. This is a (4) Silver Maple. Maples (and the related Sycamore) have leaves with veins which radiate from the point at which the stalk is attached, like those of planes and some other species. However, maples are the only such group with opposite leaves. Silver Maple has deeply-lobed leaves which are whitish below, giving the foliage a light, feathery appearance. They are commonly planted in parks and open spaces.

Head left past the last of the three large limes onto the path (we are heading slowly for the far right-hand corner of the Pieces beside Wesley Chapel). The two medium-sized trees bordering the opposite side of the path are (5) Turkey Oak. The leaves have the lobing typical of an oak but are more pointed than those of the English Oak (which does not grow that well in Cambridge as it prefers a less chalky soil). Turkey Oak is quite popular for parks as it is partially evergreen. Unlike English Oak, the acorns have spiky ‘mossy’ cups and the buds have long twisted whiskers.

Continuing along the path the small trees on either side before the path junction are (6) Small-leaved Lime. Although the Common Lime is indeed the commonest lime around, there are at least seven species of lime grown in Cambridge, all with fairly similar leaves and fruit. Common Lime has an extremely variable leaf size, and Small-leaved Lime, although it tends to have smaller leaves, is best distinguished by its flowers and (small) fruit which alone among the limes are held stiffly rather than hanging. Its leaves are neat and tend to curl upwards at the edges.

To your right, beyond the far side of the path which is about to merge with this one, there is a small tree with very strangely-shaped leaves with square ends. This is a (7) Tulip Tree, so named for the large orange tulip-like flowers borne in spring (at least on larger trees), and is a tree that is increasingly being planted in parks. It grows quite fast to give an impressively tall, open tree.