Contrary tree...

This rather lovely tree is clearly related to the horse chestnut, but it has a markedly different life cycle. Whilst the regular horse chestnuts are amongst the earliest tree to come into leaf and flower, and all the local ones are now a picture of bright green foliage and blooms, this one has only this week started to unfold its leaves which have a distinctly autumnal colour to them. In due course the leaves will become very dark green, darker even than sweet chestnut trees. Of course being a late starter means that it's also amongst the last to shed its leaves when autumn does come along