When I first found my love of walking, which led to my love of trees, I was amazed to discover some of the lesser travelled lanes, paths, and walkways around our gorgeous city.

One of the most amazing pathways I came across was a little stairway that connects Wanchai, via Star Street and Electric Street, and Monmouth Terrace, which then leads up to Kennedy Road.

What struck me most the first time was not the playground that sits hidden in the middle of hill, or the public stairway that goes through a private apartment complex, but the tree that you meet as you finish the climb and arrive on Monmouth Terrace.

What an amazing silhouette

The tree used to make a real impression amongst the apartment buildings on Monmouth Terrace. Now it’s gone.

You are met with a slender, elegant, often leafless figure that extends high into air. I’ve never had the luck to see the tree in bloom, or with leaves, so I’ve not had the opportunity to identity its species. It looks a lot like either a Spider tree of a Chinese Hackberry, but I can’t be sure. But what a sight.

Now that tree is gone. Disappeared. Erased.

The original tree was a true monument.

A tree goes missing in Monmouth Terrace, does anyone notice?

I’m not sure what happened. Perhaps the tree had already perished and it was a matter of removing a corpse. Perhaps it was damaged and had to be removed. Perhaps it got fed up and walked away. I sincerely hoped someone didn’t make a decision to cut it down.

In any of the scenarios, it is a sad story. This is one urbantree that did not survive. Now Monmouth Terrace will have to live without a constant companion, a guardian angel, a calming presence. Now there is only emptiness, a void, and cold concrete.

Categories:treelover, Unnamed species, urbantrees, Urbantrees of Hong KongTags: cityscape, Hong Kong, landscape, nature, tree, treelover, trees