HYLAND
over 1,500 glasshouse or tropical plants. Australia owes
the foundations of its present lively wine industry to vines
from Syon it received.
Over the ensuing decades of the 19
th
century, in the full swing
of the Victorian era, Syon's plant collections expanded yet
more, with such exotics as mangos and coconuts, cloves,
nutmeg, cocoa and vanilla successfully cultivated in its
houses. At the end of the century, an article in Country Life
extolled the mature beauty of Syon Park:
On every hand something will arrest attention. The trees
are magnificent, ash, beech, elm and chestnut spreading
their noble arms to cast shadows over the grass. Spacious
lawns surround the house, and in the background on
