The Himalayan Cedar of Parc Mon Repos

A second giant grows a stone's throw from the Secheron Plane, and this one is a conifer rather than a plane: a Himalayan cedar, native to the high valleys of Kashmir and Nepal, brought to Europe's parks in the nineteenth century as one of the era's fashionable new conifers. Geneva's cantonal register puts it at 4.18 metres round the trunk, 28 metres tall and a crown spanning 23 metres, and rates its health good on a 2024 field visit, the freshest survey of any tree on this list. Like its neighbour the plane, this cedar's exact park is not pinned down by any source found so far. The coordinates are precise, the green space off Avenue de France is not named with certainty (Secheron, Mon Repos and the Perle du Lac all border the same avenue), and the two trees stand close enough, about ninety metres apart, that a single stop covers both without walking anywhere else. The register carries no planting date, so this cedar's age is simply unknown rather than estimated. What is measured is measured well: a girth that would take three adults to encircle, on a species that can live for centuries in the right conditions. The nearest way in is the same one that reaches the plane, a short walk from Gare Cornavin or the Secheron rail stop.