(i) A GUIDE to the TREES UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME A Guide to the Wild Flowers By Alice Lounsberry and Mrs. Ellis Rowan 3UTE XXXV. RED MAPLE. Acer rubr urn. Frontispi A GUIDE TO THE TREES BY ALICE LOUNSBERRY Author of "A Guide to the Wild Flowers " WITH SIXTY-FOUR COLOURED AND ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FOUR BLACK-AND-WHITE PLATES AND FIFTY-FIVE DIAGRAMS BY MRS. ELLIS ROWAN Illustrator of "A Guide to the Wild Flowers " TKflftb an f ntroouction BY DR. N. L BRITTON Emeritus Professor of Botany, Columbia University, Author of "An Illustrated Flora" and Director-in-Chief of the New York Botanical Garden. NEW YORK FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY PUBLISHERS Copyright, Igoo, by Frederick A. Stokes Company 422 U3 Printed in the United States of America Preface. There is a solemnity, a repose about the great trees, and the restless, ceaseless stirring of the small ones is full of mystery. So self-evident are they, so close at hand that we almost find ourselves in danger of becoming oblivious to their presence. They never intrude upon the attention ; they rather pursue indomitably their own way. As landmarks of history many trees have been revered ; traditions and superstitions have clustered about them while in mute eloquence they have answered the people's expectations. In England, to-day, there are oaks standing that knew the ground before its conquest by the Romans. Nothing is grander than are trees. Nothing gives of its best more freely to man. And to each one there is an individuality which having once been observed may be traced into the folk-lore of nations. But before the trees can truly impress us, before we can appreciate them in their fullest expression, we should know something of them scientifically, — their manner of growth, their sources of life and the often subtle differences which separate them into families and genera and species. Later we may forget these things, and regard them simply from the standpoint of their appear- ance. To combine, therefore, a necessary amount of scientific knowledge while not to lose sight of the character and recog- nised place each tree holds in its great world has been an aim in the writing of " A Guide to the Trees." Nearly two hundred trees and some shrubs have been herein included. Among them are all those prominent in North- eastern America and a few distinctive and rare species from the south and west. Several also that are not indigenous but which have become identified with the tree-life of this country have been presented. That their positions may, after a simple means, be located in the book, they have primarily been classi- ri PREFACE. ficd according to the soil in which they prefer to grow. This is always a notable point, and it is mostly in cultivation that we see them thriving under other conditions of soil than those of tbeir natural habitat. A river-loving tree is ever loath to sacrifice its desire for moisture, and the ones from the dry hill- tops are chary of venturing into the swamps. Trees that pre- fer to grow near water are placed in the first section, then follow those of moist soil, those of rich soil, those of sandy or rocky soil and those of dry soil respectively. Within these five sections the order in which they have been arranged has been with a regard to the peculiarities of their leaves. The simplest forms, those with entire edges, and which grow alternately on the branches, are placed first, and through their variations such leaves continue to follow until those with lobed edges are reached. Simple, opposite leaves are next, and are arranged in the same order, relating to the character of their margins. Then following in the same way are compound, alternate leaves, and finally compound, opposite leaves. Towards the end of the sections will be found the coniferous trees. The descriptions of the trees are headed by their common name, or by several common names when they exist, and by their scientific name. These latter are in accordance with those sanctioned by Professor Sargent and Dr. Britton. So that the eye can quickly find them are then set forth the family, shape, height, range and time of bloom of the plants. An analysis of their parts is given, in which the special features of the bark, the leaves, the bloom and the fruit are mentioned. Throughout the book no technical terms have been used that are not explained in the chapter, " Illustrated Terms." As the leading points of recognition in connection with the trees have been thus concisely given, the privilege has been taken of admitting into the text any impressions or notes of inferest that the trees have themselves suggested. In the chapter, " The Growth of the Trees," the story is simply told of their development from the seed into a full- PREFACE. vii grown tree. To know something of their ways and struggle for life cannot but add deeply to the interest they inspire. Stress also has been laid on the blooming of the trees, for although the advantages of a trained observation are being more keenly realised, there are still many that are quite un- conscious of the beauty and fineness of many of their flowers. To see the hanging crimson bloom of the red maple is as beautiful — although in a different way — as the unfolding of the magnolias. An advanced and exquisite feature of the book is its sixty- four illustrations in colour. The originals were painted by Mrs. Rowan with great spirit and accuracy. One hundred pen-and-ink sketches form excellent studies and the many small representations of trees are very attractive. No labour has, in fact, been spared that the book may satisfactorily fill the gap there seems to be for such an one. It is with the greatest pleasure that mention is here made of the encouragement that has been given to the writing of " A Guide to the Trees." All that have known of its progress have shown in it a kind interest. Especially is it desired to express appreciation of the impetus given to the work by Mr. George Vanderbilt, who has done much to further the valuable study of forestry. From his herbarium fresh specimens were con- tinually supplied to Mrs. Rowan and which for illustrating she found of inestimable value. To Mr. Beadle, the botanist of Biltmore, the most grateful thanks are due, for through his collaboration many difficult tangles were pleasantly unravelled. To devote his time to Mrs. Rowan and Miss Lounsberry, and to give freely from his fund of accurate knowledge he was ever ready during their stay at Biltmore. His assistants also were most kind and helpful. Dr. Charles Mohr has contributed information about the bald cypress, and in many ways Dr. Britton's advice has been of importance. Away to the trees then let us go, For it matters not whether there's rain or snow They wait for us. Contents. PAGK. Preface, ....... v List of Illustrations, ..... ix List of Engravings of Entire Trees, . . xv Introduction by Dr. Britton, . . . xix Illustrated Terms, ..... i The Growth of the Trees, .... 19 Trees Preferring to Grow Near Water : in Swamps and by Running Streams, .... 37 Trees Preferring to Grow in Moist Soil: Lowlands and Meadows, . . . . . .108 Trees Preferring to Grow in Rich Soil: Forests and Thickets, ..... 150 Trees Preferring to Grow in Sandy or Rocky Soil: Hillsides and Barrens, . . . 233 Trees Preferring to Grow in Light or Dry Soil: Upland Places, Meadows and Roadsides, . 263 Miscellaneous Index, ..... 301 Index to English Names, .... 303 Index to Latin Names, .... 3°8 Index to Technical Terms, . . . .311 List of Illustrations. The mark *** which appears in the list designates the plates that are pro- duced in colour. The number of the page given for each of these coloured plates is that of the printed page faced by the coloured plate in each case. TLATE. I. SEEDS AND EMBRYOS. II. MAPLE PLANTLET. • III. SECTION OF WOOD. • IV. PINE SEEDLING. V. BUDS. ..... VI. OAK SEEDLING. VII. GREAT-FLOWERED MAGNOLIA. Magnolia fcetida, VIII. SMALL MAGNOLIA. Magnolia Virginiana, IX. 80URGUM. Nysta sylvatica, X. WATER TUPELO. Nyssa biflora, . XI. BLACK ALDER. &* verticillata, . XII. WILD YELLOW PLUM. Prunut Americana, XIII. BUTTON-WOOD. Platanus occidentalism XIV- RIVER BIRCH. Bttula nigra, XV. 8MOOTH ALDER. Alnusrugesa, . XVI. AMERICAN HORNBEAM. Car/t'nus Caroliniana, XVII. BLACK WILLOW. Salix nigra, XVIII. WESTERN BLACK WILLOW, Salix amygdaloidet, XIX. SHINING WILLOW. Salix lucida, . XX. BEBB'S WILLOW. Salix Bebbiana, XXI. 8ILKY WILLOW. Salix sericea, XXII. WEEPING WILLOW. Salix Babylonica, XXIII. YELLOW WILLOW. Salix alba vitellina, XXIV. BRITTLE WILLOW. Salix fragility PAGE. 31 »3 »5 29 3» 35 * 36 * 38 4« 43 * 44 45 * 46 49 5» 53 55 * 56 5« €0 61 63 «r 69 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. XXV. XXVI. XXVII. XXVUI. XXIX. XXX. XXXI. XXXII. XXXIII. XXXIV. XXXV. XXXVI. XXXVII. XXXVIII. XXXIX. XL. XLI. XLII. XLIII. XLIV. XLV. XLVI. XL VII. XLVIII. XLIX. L. LI. LIU LIU. LIV. LV. LVI. LVII. LVIII. DOWNY POPLAR. Populus heterophylla, . BALM OF GILEAD. Populus candicans, . COTTONWOOD. Populus deltoides, SWAMP WHITE OAK. Quercus platanoides, WILLOW OAK. Quercus Phellos, . LAUREL OAK. Quercus lauri/olia, COMMON FRINGE TREE. Chionanthus Virginica SWEET VIBURNUM. Viburnum Leniago, CRANBERRY TREE. Viburnum Opulus, HOBBLE-BUSH. Virburnum alni/olium, RED MAPLE. Acer rubrum, SILVER MAPLE. Acer saccharinum, POISON SUMAC. Rhusvernix, SWAMP HICKORY. Hicoria minima, v . WATER HICKORY. Hicoria aguatica, . ASH-LEAVED MAPLE. Acer Negundo, . BLACK ASH. Fraxinus nigra, RED ASH. Fraxinus Pennsylvania, GREEN ASH. Fraxinus lanceolata, BALD CYPRUS. Taxodium distichum, . SOUTHERN WHITE CEDAR. ChamcecyParis thyoides, ARBOR VITAE. Thuja occidentalis, AMERICAN LARCH. Larix laricina, UMBRELLA-TREE. Magnolia trifetala, . NORTH AMERICAN PAPAW. Asimina triloba, JAMAICA CAPER TREE. Capparis Jamaicensis RED BUD. Cercis Canadensis. FOUR-WINGED SNOWDROP TREE. Mohrodendron Carolinum NARROW-LEAVED COTTONWOOD. Populus angusti/olia, AMERICAN HOLLY, flex o/aca, THREE-FLOWERED THORN. Crataegus triftora AMERICAN ELM. Ulmus Americana, CORKY WHITE ELM. Ulmus racemosa, . 8LIPPERY ELM. Ulmus fulva, • 7* *** 72 • 73 • 75 77 79 * ** 80 ■. 81 * * * 8a * * * 84 * Frontisp iect. • 85 • 87 * * * 88 • 9* • 93 • 94 • 96 . 9« * * * 100 10a * * * 10a • 106 • 109 . no * * * no * * * 113 tm, *** "4 . 116 • 118 * * * 118 * * * 120 • 123 . 125 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. LtX. HACKBERRY. Celtis occidentalis, . LX. RED MULBERRY. M or us rubra, . LXI. WHITE MULBERRY. Morus alba, . LXII. PAPER MULBERRY. Broussonetia papyri/era, LXIII. BURR OAK. Querent macrocarpa, . LXIV. PIN OAK. Quercus palustris, LXV. SWEET GUM. Liqnidambar styraciftua, LXVI. CORAL SUMAC. Rhus Metopinm, . LXVII. LOCUST. Robinia Neo-Mexicana, . LXVIII. AMERICAN MOUNTAIN ASH. Sorbus Americana LXIX. BILTMORE ASH. Fraxinus Biltmoreana, LXX. WESTERN BLADDER-NUT. Stafihylea Bolanderi LXXI. ELDER. Sambuctts Canadensis var. Mexicana LXXII. SWEET BUCKEYE, ^sculus octandra, . LXXXIII. OHIO BUCKEYE. AVsculus glabra, LXXIV. CUCUMBER TREE. Magnolia acuminata, LXXV. SMOOTH AZALEA. Azalea arborescent, . LXXVI. AMERICAN LINDEN. Tilia Americana, . LXXVII. WHITE BASSWOOD. Tilia heterophylla, LXXVIII. WILD RED CHERRY Prunus Pennsylvania, LXXIX. AMERICAN CRAB-APPLE. Mains coronaria, LXXX. NARROW-LEAVED CRAB-APPLE. Mains angusti/olia LXXXI. CANADA PLUM. Prunus nigra, . LXXXII. WILD PLUM. Prunus snbcordata, . LXXXIII. HAWTHORN. Crataegus coccinea, . LXXXIV. BLACKTHORN. Cratagns tomentosa, LXXXV. DOTTED-FRUITED THORN. Cr at a gus punctata LXXXVI. COCKSPUR THORN. Crataegus Crus-Galli, LXXXVII. SOUR-WOOD. Oxydendrum arboreum, . LXXXVIII. WITCH-HAZEL. Hamamelis Virginiana, LXXXIX. AMERICAN CHESTNUT. Castanea dentata, XC. CHINQUAPIN. Castanea pumila, . XCI. AMERICAN BEECH. Pag us Americana, . XCII. CANOE BIRCH. Betula papyri/era, • "7 * •* 128 •' 139 . 131 • ** 13a . »35 * * * x36 • 137 . '39 * * * 140 * * * 143 • 143 * 145 * * * 146 • 148 . iSi * * * 152 ♦ * * 154 . 155 * * * 156 . 158 * * * 158 . 160 . 163 . 164 . 166 * * * 166 . 168 . 170 * * * 172 * * * 174 * * * 176 * * * 178 xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. XCIII. SWEET BIRCH. Bttula Itnta, XCIV. YELLOW BIRCH. Bttula lutea, . XCV. HAZEL-NUT. Corylut Americana, . . . XCVI. HAZELNUT. Corylus rottrata, . XCVII. LARQE-TOOTHED A8PEN. Populus grandidentata* XCVIII. TULIP TREE. Liriodendron Tuli/i/era, . XCIX. WHITE OAK. Querent alba, C. RED OAK. Querent rubra, . CI. FLOWERING DOQWOOD. Cornut Jlorida, CH. ALTERNATE-LEAVED DOQWOOD. Cornut alttrnifolia Clll. CATALPA. Calal/a Catal/a, . . . CIV. SUGAR MAPLE. Aetr Saccharnm, CV. STRIPED MAPLE- Acer Pennsylvanicnm, CVI. MOUNTAIN MAPLE. Acer s/icatnm, » . CVII. FALSE SYCAMORE. Acer Pseudo-Platannt, CVIII. LOCUST TREE. Robinia Pseudacacia% . . CIX. CLAMMY LOCUST. Robinia vitcotm* CX. ROSE ACACIA. Robinia hispida, . CXI. HONEY LOCUST. Gleditsia triancantkot, CXII. AMERICAN YELLOW-WOOD. Ciadrastis Intea, . CXIII. KENTUCKY COFFEE-TREE. Gymnocladnt dioica, CXIV. BLACK WALNUT. Jnglant nigra* . CXV. BUTTERNUT. Jnglant cinerea% . CXVI. MOCKER-NUT. Hicoria alba, . . CXVII. 8HAG-BARK HICKORY. Hicoria ovata, . CXVIII. 8MALL-FRUITED HICKORY. Hicoria micrccar/a, CXIX. WHITE ASH. Fraxinnx Americana* CXX. BLUE ASH. Fraxinut qnadrangulata* . . CXXI. WHITE PINE. ***»• Strobnt, . . . CXXII. HEMLOCK. Ttnga Canadensis, , . . CXXm. BLACK SPRUCE. Picea Mariana, . . . CXXIV. WHITE 8PRUCE. AV« Canadensis, . . CXXV. BAL8AM FIR Abiet baltmmea* CXXVI. PERSIMMON. Diot/yrtt Virginiana, LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xiii CXXVI). CALIFORNIA MAHOGANY. X*"* intezri/olia, CXXVIti. DWARF THORN. Cratagut nnijl»ra% CXXIX. AMERICAN ASPEN. P*/u/nt tremnhidet, CXXX. LIVE OAK. Querent Virginiana, . CXXXI. SPANISH OAK. Querent digitata, CXXXII. SCARLET OAK. Querent coccinea, CXXXIII. BLACK OAK. Querent velutina% . , CXXXIV. LABRADOR PINE. Piuut divaricata% CXXXV. CANADIAN PINE. Pinut retin0ta% , CXXXVI. JERSEY PINE. Pinut Virginian*. CXXXVII. LONG-LEAVED PINE. Pinut /aiutrrit, . CXXXVIII. SHORT-LEAVED PINE. A!*W echinaia% . CXXXIX. PITCH PINE. Pinut rigida, . CXL. RED SPRUCE. Picea rubent, CXLI. NORWAY SPRUCE. Picea txceZta, . CXLII. SNOWBERRY. Symphoricarfot Symphoricarp+t CXLIII. SASSAFRAS. Satta/rat Satta/rat, CXLIV. WILD BLACK CHERRY. Prnnnt serotina, CXLV. APPLE. Mains Mains, CXLVI. JUNE-BERRY. Amelanckier Canadensis, CHOKE-CHERRY. Prnnnt Virginiana, . CXLVII. PEACH. AmygdaZut Pertica, CXLVIII. SILVER-LEAF POPLAR. Pe/nZut aZba, CXLIX. LOMBARDY POPLAR. Pofulut diiatata, . CL. AMERICAN WHITE BIRCH. Betnla /o/uZi/*Ziaf CLI. HOP-HORNBEAM. Ostrya Virginiana, . CLII. POST OAK. Querent minor, CLHI. BLACK-JACK. Querent MaryZandiea, . CLIV. ROCK CHESTNUT OAK. Querent Primus, CLV. CHESTNUT OAK. Querent acuminata, . CLVI. BLACK-HAW, Virbnrnnm prunifolium, . CLVII. STAGHORN SUMAC. Rhnt hirta, . CLVIII. 8MOOTH UPLAND 8UMAC. *<*«* gZmbru, CLIX. AILANTHUt. A slant An* glandule**, * • * • * * »3S «37 *39 340 34a *44 ••• »44 »47 350 * • * * # • 35a »54 *S7 •59 361 ••• 363 *4 366 *** a66 *•• a68 • ** *** 370 373 «74 »74 »77 379 s8i ••• rfa 384 • • * • • • • * * xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. CLX. PIG-NUT. Hieoria glabra, . CLXI. HORSE CHE8TNUT. Msculus Hi^ocastanum, CLXII. HICKORY PINE. Pinus }ungtnt% , CLXHI* COMMON JUNIPER. Juniferus communis, CLXIV. RED CEDAR. Juni^erus Virginiana* * 29a 294 • 296 298 **♦ 298 List of Engravings of Entire Trees, 8REAT-FLOWERED MAGNOLIA. Magnolia fcetida, SMALL MAGNOLIA. Magnolia Virginiana, WATER TUPELO. Nyssa biflora, . WILD YELLOW PLUM. Prunus Americana, . BUTTON-WOOD. Platanus occidentalism . WEEPING WILLOW. Salix Babylonica, . DOWNY POPLAR. Populus heterophylla, . COMMOM FRINGE TREE. Chionanthus Virginica, RED MAPLE. Acer rubrum, SILVER MAPLE. Acer saccharinum% POISON SUMAC. Rhus Vernix, . ASH-LEAVED MAPLE. Acer Negundo, . SOUTHERN WHITE CEDAR. Chamatcyparis thyoides, AMERICAN LARCH. Larix laricina, . FOUR-WINGED SNOWDROP TREE. Mohrodendron Carolinum, RED BUD. Cercis Canadensis, . . , AMERICAN HOLLY. **** opaca, . AMERICAN ELM. Ultnus Americana, . ENGLISH ELM. Ulmus camfiestris, . RED MULBERRY. Morus rubra, . WHITE MULBERRY. Morus alba, BURR OAK. Quercus macrocarpa, . . PIN OAK. Quercus /alustris, BILTMORE ASH. Fraxinus Biltmoreana, SWEET BUCKEYE. Msculus oclandra, . . CALIFORNIA BUCKEYE. ^Esculus California, 3« 4« 4» 46 48 64 70 8a 84 86 88 9a 103 10S "4 113 117 120 124 xa8 130 «33 »34 14a «47 149 xvi LIST OF ENGRAVINGS OF ENTIRE TREES. AMERICAN LINDEN. Ti/ia Americana, . DOTTED-FRUITED THORN. Crataegus punctata, COCKSPUR THORN. Cratagus Crus-Galli, TULIP. TREE. Liriodendron Tulipi/era, WHITE OAK. Quercus alba, RED OAK. Quercus rubra, FLOWERING DOGWOOD. Cornus florida, CATALPA. Catalpa Catalfa, SUGAR MAPLE. Acer Saccharum, STRIPED MAPLE. Acer Pennsylvanicum, MOUNTAIN MAPLE. Acer sjicatunt, FALSE SYCAMORE. Acer Pseudo-Platanus, LOCUST TREE. Robinia Pseudacacia, HONEY LOCUST. Gleditsia triancanthos, AMERICAN YELLOW-WOOD. Cladrastis lutea, KENTUCKY COFFEE-TREE. Gymnocladus dioica, BLACK WALNUT. Juglans nigra, WHITE ASH. Fraxinus Americana, . WHITE PINE. Pinus Strobus, BALSAM FIR. Abies balsamea, . PERSIMMON. Diospyros Virginiana, . LIVE OAK. Quercus Virginiana, . • SPANISH OAK. Quercus digitata% CANADIAN PINE. Pinus resinosa% LONG-LEAVED PINE. Pinus palustris, . PITCH PINE. Pinus rigida, NORWAY SPRUCE. Picea excelsa% WILD BLACK CHERRY. Prunus serotina, JUNE-BERRY, Amelanchier Canadensis, PEACH. Amygdalus Persica, . . LOMBARDY POPLAR. Populus dilatata, AMERICAN WHITE BIRCH. Betula tofulifolia, WEEPING BIRCH. Betula fiendula, LIST OF ENGRAVINGS OF ENTIRE TREES. xvii POST OAK. Quercus minor, ........ 278 ST AGHORN SUMAC. Rhus hirta% 287 AILANTHUS. Ailanthus glandulosa, ....... 290 HORSE CHESTNUT, JEsculus Hipfiocastanum, ..... 293 RED CEDAR. Juniperus Virginian*, ....... 299 Introduction. Trees are among the most familiar objects in Nature, and among the most easily observed and studied ; yet how few people know one from another or have an intelligent under- standing of their life history ! Again, they are among the most important, in their widely different fields of usefulness, furnishing as they do, wood for building, tools, implements, the manifold kinds of construction, and for fuel ; fruits, fibres, resins, gums, drugs and a host of other useful products ; shade and seclusion ; ornaments for our parks, lawns and highways, while our forests, too long neglected, are coming to be recog- nised, after years of education of the people, as having an all- important relationship to the flow of streams by conserving the rainfall and distributing it normally and gradually, thus natur- ally regulating our water-supply. Anything that brings trees more closely to our attention, and that makes us realise their great importance is of distinct value as an educational agent. The greater size of trees as compared with shrubs and herbs tends to make them regarded by many as a group of objects essentially different from other plants, so much so that we fre- quently read statements concerning "Trees, shrubs and plants." And yet a tree is not, except in size, so very different in its essential structure from its humbler relatives of the plant community ; it has roots, a stem, leaves, flowers, fruit and seed, as they have ; the fact that all trees bear flowers of one kind or another is perhaps not so generally appreciated as its possession of the other parts mentioned, due, doubtless, to the flowers of many of them being insignificant in size, unim- xx INTRODUCTION. pressive in colour, and appearing so early in the season that they are neither looked for nor noticed. That trees have a very well-defined preference as to the character of the soils in which they grow most readily and healthily is a generalization that is unfamiliar to many, and that their surroundings and kind of exposure affect their growth to a large degree will also be a new idea to some. All these lessons, and a great many more, will be found in detail in the pages of this beautiful book, and they are taught in language which will be readily intelligible to all, while the concise descriptions of the different trees, and of their parts, taken in connection with the profuse and excellent illustrations, will make easy and attractive the identification of all kinds or- dinarily met with in Eastern North America. N. L. Britton. New York Botanical Garden, March 5, 1900. Illustrated Terms.* In the minds of those that have stepped for awhile out of the routine of life and are walking abroad with nature, there seems to lurk a resentment of all restraint. The freedom of the atmosphere stirs in their nostrils. To have much to do with botany and technical terms on such an occasion has especially been supposed to blunt the keenness of one's pleasure. Whether this be true or not is a matter for the individual to decide. It must be granted, however, that there are certain terms that we should all know, and which can in no way come between us and a close friendship with nature ; they rather help us to ex- press our thoughts of the vegetable world more clearly and to have a better understanding of, and intimacy with, all that grows. The technical terms that are used throughout "A Guide to the Trees " are simply defined in the present chapter. By refer- ence to it, it is thought that even those most unskilled in the study of plant life will be able to comprehend the analyses that have been given of the trees and to become conversant with the principal points to be noticed when identifying species. Trees are the grandest members of the vegetable world. They are distinguished from shrubs by their greater size and be- cause they spring from the ground with a single, erect and usually branching trunk. Their organs of vegetation are the root, the trunk and tranches and the leaves. Their organs of reproduction are the products of the flower: le fruit and its seeds. * When suitable for this chapter, the terms and illustrations have been repeated from 1 A Guide to the Wild Flowers." 2 ILLUSTRATED TERMS. The Root is the simplest organ of the tree. Its function is to absorb nourishment and moisture from the soil, and in it to firmly anchor the tree. Simple Primary Roots are those which grow singly from the base of the seedling and form a main or tap root. They then are either lost in their branches or they remain distinct and send off side branches. Multiple Primary Roots are so called because several, or a cluster of roots, grow simultaneously from the base of the seedling. The Stems of trees are Arboreous — that is they differ from those of other plants in forming a proper tree trunk. The Exogenous Stem (outside-growing) is the one that belongs to all northern trees and shrubs. In it the pith, or cellular tissue of the centre is, in large trunks, usually insignif- icant in quantity, and is surrounded by a zone of wood which in its turn is encased in an outer bark. That the wood occurs in a larger proportion than do its other parts, is often the only difference in arrangement between the stem of a young tree and that of an herb. The Bark of a tree is divided into the inner and outer barks. The Inner Bark is called the Liber or Fibrous Bark. The Outer or Cellular Bark is divided into two layers: the Green or Inner Layer and the Corky or Outer Layer. Sap-Wood or Alburnum is the outermost layers of wood through which the sap most freely flows. Heart-Wood is the name given to the inner layers of wood. The Endogenous Stem (inside-growing) has no distinct arrangement of pith, wood and bark. Throughout its whole interior the threads of wood are irregularly scattered. Leaf-Buds are branches or leafy shoots not yet developed. They may be either terminal or axillary. Terminal Buds grow at the summit of the stem or branches. Axillary Buds grow in the axils of the leaves: they are ILLUSTRATED TERMS. 3 also called Lateral Buds because they appear on the sides of the stem or branches. Naked Buds are those that are without coverings or scales. Scaly Buds are protected by scales. Latent Buds are those that commonly lie hidden and dormant until some circumstance causes them to grow. Adventitious Buds usually appear without any order and in unexpected places. In their development they often serve to replace some part of the tree that has been injured. Suckers are ascending branches which arise from subter- raneous parts of the stem. Adventitious shoots are also some- times called suckers. Thorns are slender, sharp-pointed, modified branches which are useful to protect a tree from the ravages of small animals. Leaves are the digestive organs of a tree and assimilate the sap that has been absorbed by the roots into material for sus- taining and building up its tissues. They grow from leaf-buds and may be regarded as appendages of the stem. The differ- ent ways in which they are arranged upon the branches are: — Alternate when they are borne singly at the nodes. (Fig. i.) Opposite when two grow at each node of the stem and have its semi-circle between them. (Fig. 2.) Whorled when they grow in a circle about the stem. (Fig. 3.) The parts of a leaf are its Blade, the broad or expanded portion which is a fibrous network of veins supporting the green pulp or soft cellular tissue ; the individual stalk upon which the blade is raised, called the Petiole ; and the Stip- ules, or a pair of usually flat bodies, often blade-like, at the base of the petiole. (Fig. 4.) These latter are often inconspic- uous or absent. All parts of the leaf are covered by a thin and transparent epidermis. The main branches of the leaf's framework are called the Ribs or Veins : and the midrib or midvein is the middle one ILLUSTRATED TERMS. when it is longer and more prominent than the others. (Fig. 4.) The numerous sub-divisions of the framework, Veinlets, and the finest of these Veinulets. In. regard to their venation, leaves are divided into (1) those that are Netted-Veined and (2) those that are Parallel- Veined. This feature is invariably in accord with the shape fig. 2. FIG. 3. FIG. 5. and character of the leaf and should therefore be most care- fully observed. 1. Netted-Veined Leaves are those in which the veins branch off from the midrib and again branch into veinlets that run together and form a mesh or network. (Fig. 11.) Feather-Veined or Pinnately-Veined Leaves are netted-veined leaves wherein the veins, from the base to the ILLUSTRATED TERMS. apex of the leaf, all branch from the sides of the midrib. (Fig. 12.) Palmately-Veined Leaves have several veins of almost equal size which branch from the same point at the base of the blade and spread out at different angles towards the margin. (Fig. 26.) 2. Parallel-Veined Leaves are those in which the main veins run side by side without branching or running together, unless it is by a few almost imperceptible cross-veinlets. (Fig. 10.) It is according therefore to the structure of their framework that leaves assume their great variety of forms. The two classes into which they are divided are: Simple Leaves and Compound Leaves. FIG. 6. FIG. 7. FIG. 8. Simple Leaves are those wherein the blade is unbroken. Compound Leaves are those that have the blade split into separate parts: each part then forms a leaflet which may be without, or have a little stalklet of its own. When the leaflets in a compound leaf are at the side of the blade, and arranged as in feather-veined or pinnately-veined leaves they are said to be Pinnate. In this form they occur as Abruptly Pinnate, when the stalk is terminated by a pair of leaflets. (Fig. 5.) Odd-Pinnate, when an odd leaflet ter- minates the stalk (Fig. 6.); and again in another form when the 6 ILLUSTRATED TERMS. cad leaflet is changed into a tendril, the purpose of which is to help the plant in climbing, (Fig. 7.) as in many vines. Palmately Compound Leaves have the leaflets arranged as ii| a palmately-veined leal (Fig. 8.) Leaves may be twice, thrice or more times compound. (Fig. 9.) Their leaflets are subject to all the variations of simple leaves. The most common forms of leaves and leaflets are desig- nated by the following terms: — Linear: the narrowest form of a leaf, several times longer than broad : grass-like. (Fig. 10.) HA ft FIG. II. 12. Lanceolate : long and narrow, slightly broader at or near the base and tapering towards the apex. (Figs, i and 3.) Oblanceolate : a reversed lanceolate. Oblong: when two or three times longer than broad. (Fig. 12.) Elliptical : oblong and tapering at both ends. (Fig. 13.) Oval : broadly-elliptical. (Fig. 14.) Ovate : when the outline is similar to the long-section of an egg; the broader end downward. (Fig. 15.) Ob ovate : a reversed ovate. ILLUSTRATED TERMS. 7 Spatulate: like a spatula, rounded at the apex and taper- ig towards the base. (Fig. 16.) Orbicular, nearly circular in outline. Peltate or Shield-Shaped : orbicular, with the petiole tached at or near the middle. (Fig. 17.) Cordate or Heart-Shaped: ovate in outline, and haying des that form a notch at the base. (Fig. 18.) Obcordate : a reversed cordate. fig. 13. na 15 M 16. Ren1' form or Kidney-Shaped: when the indentation is deeper and the leaf more rounded than heart-shaped. (Fig. 19.) Auriculate : when the sides of the leaf are prolonged at the base into two ears or lobes. (Fig. 20.) Sagittate or Arrow-Shapcd: when pointed at the apex and having the lobes at the base acute and pointed backward. (Fig. 21.) To describe the peculiarities of the margins of leaves such term art rflujid as — Entire : those leaves in which the margins form an un- broken line. (Fig. 13.) Undulate : when the margins are wavy. (Fig. 22.) Crenate : when the margins have rounded teeth or appear to be scalloped. (Fig. 12.) ILLUSTRATED TERMS. Serrate : when the margins have short, sharp teeth which point forward. (Fig. ii.) Incised : when the teeth of the margin are coarse and jagged and extend quite far into the leaf. (Fig. 23.) Lobed : when the incisions of the margin extend about half way to the midrib and in which case the leaf is spoken of as being three-lobed, five-lobed, or according to the number of lobes that are formed. (Fig. 24.) FIG. 17. FIG. l8. FIG. 19. FIG. 20. Cleft : when the incisions of the margin reach more than half way to the midrib. (Fig. 25.) Divided : when the incisions extend to the midrib. (Fig. 26.) The Sinuses of a leaf are the hollows, or curves that are formed between the projecting teeth, or lobes. According to the roughness or smoothness of their surfaces, leaves, and in fact, any of the parts of a tree are said to be : — Glabrous : when the surface is not provided with down, or hairs. Pubescent : when provided with fine hairs, or downy. Tomentose : when covered with hairs that are matted and woolly. Glaucous : when the surface is covered with a powdery sub- stance, waxy in nature, called a bloom. ILLUSTRATED TERMS. 'The Inflorescence is the manner in which the flowers are arranged upon the stem. It may be either Determinate or Indeterminate. When it is determinate the flowers have all grown from terminal buds. An indeterminate inflorescence expresses that they have grown from axillary or lateral buds. A Pedicel is the individual stalk of a flower that is borne in a cluster. A Peduncle is the stalk of a solitary flower, or the common stalk that bears a cluster. Sessile is the term used when the leaves or flowers grow closely to the stem or branch, and are without either pedicel or peduncle. FIG. 21. FIG. 22. FIG. 23. FIG. 24. When but one flower grows on the end of the stem or flower- stalk, it is said to be Terminal, Solitary. (Fig. 43.) It is Axillary when the flower, or flowers, grow from the axils of the leaves ; that is in the angle formed by the leaf, or leaf-stalk, and the stem. (Fig. 27.) A Raceme is a flower-cluster in which the flowers grow on pedicels that are about equally long, and are arranged along the sides of a common stalk. (Fig. 28.) A Panicle is a compound raceme. (Fig. 29.) A Thysus is a panicle when very compact, and oblong, or pyramidal in shape. (Fig. 30.) IO ILLUSTRATED TERMS. A Spike is like a raceme, only the flowers are sessile. (Fig. 31.) A Catkin or Ament is a scaly sort of spike in which the flowers are without petals. Staminate Catkin, (Fig. 32.) Pis- tillate Catkin, (Fig. 33.) A Head or Capitulum is a short, dense spike that is glob- ular in form. (Fig. 34.) fig. 25. fig. 26. fig. 27. fig. 28. A Corymb is like a raceme, but the lower pedicels are elongated so that the flowers all reach about the same height. (Fig. 35.) An Umbel is like a corymb, only the pedicels branch from the same central point, suggesting the ribs of an umbrella. It may be simple or compound. (Fig. 36.) A Cyme is a flat-topped flower-cluster, differing from an umbel in that its innermost flowers are the first to open. (Fig. 37.) Bracts are the modified leaves of an inflorescence, or those that are under a flower. Usually they are green and of differ- ent size and shape than the rest of the foliage ; sometimes, however, they are highly-coloured and petal-like. Many trees bear both staminate and pistillate blossoms which are often separate. ILLUSTRATED TERMS. ii A Staminate Flower is one that has stamens but no pistils. A Pistillate Flower is one that has pistils but no stamens. When both staminate and pistillate flowers are borne on the same tree it is called Monoecious, in one household ; when FIG. 29. FIG. 30. FIG. 31. FIG. 32. they are borne on different trees they are spoken of as being Dioecious, in two households. Flowers that possess both of the essential organs of repro- duction, the stamens and pistils, are Perfect Flowers. The reverse are Imperfect Flowers. FIG. 33. FIG. 34. FIG. 3£ Neutrai Flowers have neither stamens nor pistils. A Complete Flower is one that is provided with the esset tial organs of reproduction, the stamens and pistil ; and the 12 ILLUSTRATED TERMS. protection organs, the calyx and corolla. (Fig. 38.) Incom- plete Flowers lack one of the four organs or more. Regular Flowers are those that have the parts of each set of organs alike in size and form. (Fig. 39.) Irregular Flowers have the parts of one set of organs or more unlike in size or shape. (Fig. 40.) fig. 36. FIG. 37. Cohoua FIG. 38. FIG. 39. The parts then of a complete flower are the calyx and corolla ; the stamens and pistil. The Calyx (Fig. 38) is the outer set of leaves at the base of the flower which rests upon the receptacle or end of the flower- stalk. The Sepals are the leaves of the calyx when it is divided to the base, and in which case it is said to be Poly- sepalous. When, however, the sepals are wholly or partly grown together the calyx is Gamosepalous. The Corolla is the inner and upper set of leaves. It is the alluring part of the flower, and is supposed to attract insects ILLUSTRATED TERMS. 13 to its whereabouts that its pollen may be carried through their agency. The Petals are the leaves of the corolla when it is divided to its base. It is then said to be Polypetalous. The corolla is Gamopetalous when the petals are wholly or partly grown together. The Calyx and Corolla are spoken of as parted when they are divided nearly to the base. When they are divided about to their middle, they are said to be cleft, or lobed. They are toothed when the lobes are very small. fig. 40. fig. 41. FIG. 42. FIG. 43. When the parts of the Calyx and Corolla are united, some of the terms used to express their different forms are : — Salver-Shaped : when the border is flat and spreads out at right angles from the top of the tube. (Fig. 41.) Wheel-Shaped : when the border spreads out at once from a very short tube and suggests the diverging spokes of a wheel. (Fig. 42.) Campanulate, or Bell-Shaped: when the tube expands towards the summit and has no border, or only a very short one. (Fig. 43.) Funnel-Form : when the tube is narrow below and grad- ually spreads to a wide border. (Fig. 44.) Tubular: when the tube is prolonged and does not widen much towards the summit. (Fig. 45.) Labiate : when there is an apparently two-lipped division of the parts. In this form of corolla usually two petals grow 14 ILLUSTRATED TERMS. together and make the upper lip ; the remaining three petals join together and form the lower lip. These divisions appear mostly as lobes, and it is not always noticed that the corolla has five lobes instead of two. (Fig. 46.) The preceding forms which have been cited are those that belong to the gamopetalous division. The following terms are peculiar to polypetalous corollas :— FIG. 44. FIG. 45. FIG. 46. FIG. 47. Rosaceous : when the petals are distinct and without claws, as in the rose. Papilionaceous, or Butterfly-Shaped. (Fig. 47.) Such flowers are usually described in three parts : the Banner, or Standard, which is the large upper petal ; the Wings, or the two side petals, and the two anterior petals that, commonly united in a shape something like the prow of a boat and en- closing the reproducing organs, are called the Keel. (Fig. 48.) The Stamens or Fertilizing Organs of a plant are com- posed of two parts : the Filament, or stalk, which is useful to uphold the Anther ; and the Anther, a tiny two-celled box, which contains the Pollen. The Pollen is the yellow fertil- izing dust which is the essential product of the stamens. (Fig. 49.) Exserted Stamens are those that protrude from the corolla. Included Stamens are those that are within the corolla. ILLUSTRATED TERMS. 15 The Pistil or Seed-Bearing Organ is divided into three parts : the Ovary, the Style and the Stigma. (Fig. 50.) The Ovary is the lower, expanded part of the pistil which contains the ovules, or undeveloped seeds. (Fig. 50.) The Style is the slender stalk that usually surmounts the ovary. (Fig. 50.) The Stigma is the flat or variously formed body that termi- nates the style. (Fig. 50.) Unlike the other organs of the plant, it is not covered by a thin skin or epidermis. Its surface is, therefore, moist and rough, so that it readily receives and holds the pollen when it is deposited upon its surface. t|W St/gma Bah*i* ~.rA»T*ir Ktn Srru fumur. FIG. 48. FIG. 49. FIG. 51. FIG. 52. Each tiny pollen grain that alights upon the stigma sends out from its under surface a minute tube which pierces down through the style until it reaches an ovule below, which it quickens into life. This is known as the process of Fertiliza- tion. The ovules then develope into Seeds, and the ovary enlarges into the Fruit or Seed Vessel. Cross-Fertilization takes place when the pollen of one flower is carried to the stigma of another by some extraneous agency, such as the wind or animal life. i6 ILLUSTRATED TERMS. Self-Fertilization occurs when the stigma receives the pollen from the stamens in the same flower-cup as itself. It is not regarded as being as generally beneficial as when cross- fertijization takes place ; and to prevent it, flowers are often most ingeniously devised. The arrangement of the fruit on the stem is naturally the same as that of the flower, and to describe it the same terms are used. The fruit is in reality the ripened ovary which contains the seeds. Fleshy Fruits are those in which, as they grow, the ovary becomes fleshy or pulpy. Berries are fleshy fruits. FIG. 53. FIG. 54. FIG. 55. A Pome is a fleshy fruit. In it the calyx-tube adheres to the ovary and forms of the fruit the greater part. Both in pears and apples, which serve for illustrations, the pods of the core are the only parts of the original pistil. Stone Fruits are those which are partly fleshy and partly hard. ILLUSTRATED TERMS. 17 A Drupe is a stone fruit ; such as a peach or cherry. In ripening the outer part of the ovary becomes soft like a berry, and the inner part hardens. This formation is the outcome of a special construction of the pistil. In Dry Fruits the seed vessel hardens, remains herbaceous, or it is membranous in texture. The following are those that are commonly found on trees : — A Nut is a dry, usually one-seeded fruit. It is held by an involucre of various forms ; such as a cup at the base of the acorn and a burr around the chestnut. A Samara or Key Fruit is one-seeded, and is furnished with a membranous wing. (Figs. 51 and 52.) A Capsule or Pod is a dry, many-seeded fruit, which bursts open in one piece when ripe and scatters its seeds. (Fig. 53.) A Legume is a simple pod which opens into two pieces. The pea family bear legumes. (Fig. 54.) A Strobile or Cone consists of a number of flat bracts, which grow closely and overlap each other forming a head or spike and subtend pistils. (Fig. 55.) Seeds are the ripened ovules which contain within them the new plant, or the embryo. They are composed, although found in many different forms, of an outer and inner seed coat and the kernel or nucleus. The outer coat is frequently hard and shell-like : the inner one is membranous and delicate. The Kernel or Nucleus is the part within the coats : the embryo alone, or the embryo and the nourishing matter by which it is surrounded. This latter is called Endosperm, The Embryo is the germ, or the rudimentary plantlet within the seed. (Plate I.) The Hypocotyl is the stemlet of the embryo, and from the base of which springs the young root. (Plate I.) The Cotyledons or Seed Leaves are the first two leaves of a plant, and are usually completely formed in the embryo. (Plate I.) In accordance with the number of leaves that first 18 ILLUSTRATED TERMS. grow from the embryo plants are designated as being : Mono- cotyledonouSj when there is but one seed-leaf ; Dicotyle- donous when there are two ; and Polycotyledonous when there are many seed-leaves, as in the pine family. (Plate IV.) The Plumule is the first little bud that appears at the sum- mit of the hypocotyl and foretells the second growth of leaves. (Plate I.) The Growth of the Trees. Between the little seed that drops into the ground and the tall tree that springs from it, the difference is great ; and yet, when we know well the seed and have examined its contents, we find that the difference is more one of increased growth than it is of any dissimilarity in character. Within the seed, the tree, in miniature, already lives. As to all things, however, we know there must be a beginning, and although, by simply cutting open sideways the seed of a maple tree, we may with a naked eye see the stem and first two leaves of the future tree all snugly curled up in their seed coat ; with justice we ask how they came to be there and after what manner do they pro- ceed to grow. It is then necessary for us to go still further back in the story of the tree's growth and to turn our attention to the blossoms of the preceding year. Here we shall find the organs of repro- duction, the stamens and pistil ; and so small and hidden are often these most essential parts that their doings can only be successfully followed under a microscope. Carefully placed in the ovary of the pistil is the ovule : the part that is eventually to become the seed. Its nucleus appears to be a mass of pulpy, tissue-like substance and it is enclosed in one or two coats. It is here, within the nucleus that the embryo or seedling is formed, while the coats develop into its seed coat. At the apex of the ovule, it must be noticed, there is a little hole that extends through the coats and which is called the orifice. Shortly after the blossom has unfolded there appears in the nucleus of the ovule, a small cavity. It is lined with a fine membrane-like tissue, and soon forms a closed sac. At the upper end of the sac and near the orifice is a tiny, round body, ao THE GROWTH OF THE TREES. something like the smallest bladder imaginable. The sac is the embryo-sac and the small body or cell is the embryo in its primary state. Now although nature has provided that this little cell should be present its future growth is dependent on whether or no the stigma has received from a stamen the golden dust, or pollen. In fact, it can never become other than what it originally is un- less the process of fertilization has taken place. When this is so, however, the tiny grain of powder that alights on the moist surface of the stigma, sends forth from its under side a minute tube. It pierces down through the stigma and style until it reaches the orifice of the ovule, then it enters the embryo-sac and finally touches and quickens the little cell into life. Within this vitalized germ there are usually some tiny grains, a muci- laginous liquid and a pulpy mass, or its nucleus. As we have already seen they are all enclosed in a fine, membranous coat. We have here then a typical cell, as it is generally called, and one that is the ancestor of all the countless millions of similar ones that combine to form the structure of a small plant or the greatest tree. It is simply by the expansion and multiplication of such cells that growth takes place. After this first cell has enlarged to its limit, it forms a cross partition which divides it into two cohering cells. Soon another one forms a partition and divides into two more cells ; and so they continue to increase and to form the hypocotyl of the embryo. It is thus that, encased in its brown seed coat, the miniature tree or embryo is formed and begins to grow. As it does so it draws freely on the nourishing matter that in various forms it finds close at hand. Dame Nature never forgets, and so well equipped is the em- bryo that when it touches the soil and begins to germinate, it has but to continue the multiplication of its cells, or as more generally expressed, to increase in cellular tissue ; to assume the upright position of a tree and to bear its two first leaves uoward to the light and air. At the same time from the bottom at INFOLDING EMtKYO IN SCCO COAT UiBRVO FL0MUI.e.COTYLtt>OM5 KVJOCOTYt ANO HOOTS trNfeuuNa n.ANTurr e» HOUSE CHESTNUT #t*MINAT1NO PLAHtXtT OTMAMJ PLATE I. (21) 22 THE GROWTH OF THE TREES. of its stem the root begins to grow and to take a firm hold on the nourishing soil. This rudimentary plantlet, as has been already said, can be readily seen by cutting open the seeds of a maple tree, it being one accessible to many, and the horse-chestnut seeds also show it in another of its numerous forms. To see something of cell formation, it is only necessary to magnify the young stem or leaves of a plant, or better still the young root ends which, being more transparent, are, for the purpose, admirable. The growth of the tree, therefore, is in two directions. The stem, or trunk, grows uprightly, elongates and sends forth branches to uphold as large a surface of foliage as possible which drinks in abundantly desired gases from the air and assimilates also the nourishment the roots have absorbed from the soil. The roots in another way seek to lengthen themselves in the pliable soil and assiduously to avoid the light of day. When the hypocotyl, or little stem of the embryo, has suffi- ciently grown to bear above the two seed leaves, we notice that it continues to elongate, and that between the cotyledons two tiny buds, or the plumule, appear on this newly formed stem. They foretell the second pair of leaves and we may regard them as having been raised on the stem's second joint. In shape they resemble more closely that of the regular foliage of the tree than do the cotyledons which in outline are always very simple. In some plantlets, even before germination, we find between the cotyledons these little buds or forerunners of the second pair of leaves. {Plate /.) To elongate the stem, therefore, joint by joint, and to unfold the leaves that it bears at the summit is the manner of upward growth ; and it is by this untiring and unchanging repetition of itself that the little plantlet becomes a tree. The growth of the root is in a different way. At the begin- ning, as we have seen, the root was a new growth from the base of the hypocotyl ; and so throughout its entire course of ex- istence, it is new growth that proceeds from the extremities. PLATE II. GERMINATING MAPLE. (23) 24 THE GROWTH OF THE TREES. This fresh, young growth pushes itself through the open soil and freely imbibes nutrition until in its turn it becomes old and stolid and only of use to produce new shoots. The old roots remain firmly in the ground as they at first grew and do not elongate themselves joint by joint as do the stems. This arrangement is simply a very wise conformance to circum- stances. With ease and freedom the branches and leaves can move in the atmospheric air that enshrouds them ; but it would sadly interfere with the tenacity of the roots' hold on the soil to be continually changing their position. As we shall, in this book, confine ourselves to the study of trees and some shrubs, those that have exogenous stems, it would perhaps be well for us to leave for awhile the little plant- let in its upright position with its parts beginning to grow, (Plate II.) and to look further into the material of which it is constructed. The soft tissue alone, while being sufficient for mosses and the lower forms of plant-life, would be too yielding to uphold the weight of foliage that is borne by a tree. At a very early stage, therefore, in large embryos, sometimes even while they are in their seed coat, we find traces of wood-fibre. It occurs also in herbs only in a much smaller proportion than in trees or shrubs. These wood cells, or wood fibre, which we find in the wood that surrounds the central pith are very sim- ilar in construction to those that form the soft tissue ; only they soon lengthen and harden and thicken their walls. Their tapering ends also usually overlap each other in a way that gives to them additional strength. Again in the wood there are ducts : cells which have grown large and long and join to- gether so as to form channels, or tubes that run lengthwise through the wood. They do not thicken their walls. Instead, the so-called dotted ducts are variously marked, sometimes with thin places, like dots and which become .holes as they grow older, while spiral or annual ducts are bound with spirally- coiled fibres, or bands. From the ends of young shoots it is often quite possible to uncoil this filmy thread and in doing so Wood. Inner bark. Outer hark. PLATE III. x. Central pith. 5. Cambium layer. 9. Vessels. a. Medullary sheath . 6. Sieve tubes. 10. Green inner layer. 3. Wood. 7. Soft bast cells. xi. Corky layer. 4. Dotted ducts. 8. Hard bast cells. xa. Epidermis. (25) *5 THE GROWTH OF THE TREES. it will be noticed how much it has strengthened the wall of the cell. {Plate III.) Running vertically throughout the wood there is also a set of thin plates of cellular tissue. They are the medullary rays ; and it is to them that is owing the beautiful silver grain in many varieties of wood. The feature is one that is easily noticed. In the liber, the inner bark which covers the wood, the wood cells grow longer and finer than they do in the wood proper. They appear more like fibres and are extremely tough. Bast- cells, or bast-fibres, are the names by which they are known. {Plate III.) The outer bark is made up of soft cellular tissue. In its green or inner layer the cells are soft and delicate and have within them grains of green colouring matter similar to those contained in the leaves. Early in the tree's growth its trunk becomes covered with the outer, or corky layer, a substance the same as our common cork. It is admirably adapted to pre- vent the evaporation of the ascending fluids,and to it is due the various colourings that we are familiar with in the twigs and branches of different trees. This outer bark, it must be re- membered, is finally covered with an epidermis which is also a layer of cells. {Plate III.) Such is the order in which we should find arranged the stem of a young exogenous tree in the first or second season of its growth ; and it should now be of interest to us to see how it increases year after year in diameter. The age of a tree is approximately known by counting its con- centric rings of wood ; as every year it generally forms only one new layer of wood outside of the old one. The liber also makes an annual growth, but inside of that of the year before, and next to the surface of the new forming wood. These ad- joining parts of the stem are the only two that are annually renewed. The process is most interesting. Between the wood and the inner side of the liber there is a layer called the cam- THE GROWTH OF THE TREES. 27 bium layer which unites the two. {Plate III.) It is composed of young and delicate cells. In the spring, a rich sap, some- thing like mucilage in appearance, begins to flow freely and to supply to them abundant nourishment. As they then begin to increase in a manner that has been already mentioned, the inner ones attach themselves to the wood, while the outer ones are added to the liber ; and it is in this way that the two an- nual layers which really renew the life of the trunk are formed. With the bark it is different : the green layer seldom increases much after the first year of its growth ; and although the corky layer often makes from year to year new growth inside of the old, after a time it all dies. It has to contend with the roughness of the elements, and it is especially hurt by being stretched beyond its endurance by the growing wood and liber within. Finally it cracks apart and the rift is patched by the formation of new corky layers. As the outer bark vanishes, the enlarged sheath of bark is thus torn and patched each suc- ceeding year. The outer and older layers of the much mended garment of the tree are constantly falling off and decaying. In old trees the cambium Jayer and the cells recently formed from it only are alive. Furthermore it is only in the younger wood that sap ascends. As the wood in each annual ring grows older the walls of its cells harden and thicken, and it is no longer regarded as a living part of the tree. It is the heart- wood and, owing to its dryness and hardness, is chosen in preference to the living sap-wood for timber. In different species of trees a colouring matter peculiar to each is deposited in the cells of the heart-wood and it is therefore of various shades. Black in ebony may be cited as an example. As we have now thought somewhat about the growth of the tree in height and in diameter, we may begin to concern our- selves about its branching ; for we shall have little to do with simple-stemmed plants, or those which are known as monocoty- Iedonous, their embryos having but one seed leaf. Our path leads us rather among dicotyledonous trees, which are so called 28 THE GROWTH OF THE TREES. from the fact of their having two cotyledons in the embryo, and among those that have more than two, which is a peculiar- ity of the pine family. {Plate IV.) We can hardly fail to notice when looking at a young plant- let with what perfect symmetry its leaves are arranged on the stem, and as it continues to grow much of this same order is maintained even should it be become the largest tree. It is not strange then that branches show much of this same sym- metry of arrangement ; for they follow precisely in the wake of the leaves. Early in the summer, in the axils of the leaves and at their upper sides, we see that buds begin to appear. They are axillary buds, and are the progenitors of branches. When they begin to grow they pursue the same course of develop- ment as did the first stem which sprang from the embryo with the little buds between the cotyledons. In the same way they grow, joint upon joint ; each one elongating and throwing out leaves at its summit. Other buds are formed in the angles of their leaves and they also become leaf-bearing branches ; and so is this simple process repeated while the structure of the tree is building. The only difference between the growth of a branch and that of a germinating plantlet is that th^ branch is embedded in the larger stem and draws from it its sustenance, while the young stem had to forage for itself and strike out roots into the ground. It sometimes happens that buds begin to grow shortly after they first appear, and again they lie dor- mant and hidden until the spring of the next year. Little in the life of the tree is more interesting than the ten- der care Nature bestows on these young offsprings. Her wis- dom is very great ; for should the delicate buds be ruthlessly exposed to sudden changes of temperature, or to intense cold, they would assuredly perish, and the next season no branches would be forthcoming. The button-wood and locusts illustrate to us one unique way of guarding leaf-buds from all harm. Apparently the base of the leaf-stalk is swollen ; but when it is detached from the stem and examined, it is found to be PLATE IV. GERMINATING PINE. (29) 3o THE GROWTH OF THE TREES. hollow on the inside in the shape of a tiny candle ex- tinguisher; and this is so, simply because it is planned to fit snugly over the leaf-bud that within it lies concealed. {Plate V.) . Other buds are large and scaly : they are the ones most general in northern climates. Those of the horse-chestnut tree are very handsome. (Plate V.) Their scales are large and leaf-like, and so enwrapped about the tender parts within as to effectually protect them from violent changes of temper- ature. To further abet them in this object they are lined with a soft wool, and on the outside are often covered with a sub- stance similar to varnish. It is quite impregnable to damp- ness. To open one of these strong buds seems almost like prying into futurity; for there in miniature are to be found several pairs of leaves, and even the buds of the blossoms. Trees that are not subject to branching, or those of the monocotyledonous division of endogens, rely for their growth on terminal buds. Although branches are borne by the spruces, still their terminal buds are also splendid examples of those that, unless unfortunately destroyed, prolong the main stem throughout the tree's whole course of existence. They ever remain distinct from the branches that proceed from them, and never lose their own identity. There are trees, however, that bear both terminal and axil- lary buds : the maples and horse-chestnuts are common exam- ples. (Plate V.) In such cases the terminal buds perform the same elongation of the branch as they do in single-stemmed trees, and the axillary buds are also true to their purpose of producing new branches. Usually the terminal buds of these trees are the most vigourous, and next to them the upper axillary buds have the greatest strength. Should, however, misfortune overtake any of these stronger buds, the opportunity would be quickly seized by some weaker one to appropriate its nourish- ment and to grow. In fact, latent buds lie dormant and some- times concealed under the bark for years, and patiently await just some such chance to begin their work. Their mission is Hidden buds of button-wood. Terminal and axil- Scaly bud of lary buds of maple. horsechestnut. PLATE V. (31) 32 THE GROWTH OF THE TREES. rather noble. It is to quietly see their stronger rivals flourish until death overtakes them, and then to step calmly in and fill for them their places. The existence of a young bud, however, is a precarious one. It has many difficulties with which to contend. Often the want of nourishment or light stunts its development ; insects devour it, or a belated frost nips it in its early youth. The race is truly one of the survival of the fittest. And how great is the wisdom of this plan is readily seen, for should every leaf-bud be allowed to grow, there would be as many branches the next year as there were leaves the one preceding ; and this would of course overburden the tree. Much of the perfect symmetry with which leaves are arranged is therefore lost in the branches. Within the tree, also, there is an instinct of self-preservation which prompts it to produce buds on the wood wherever it has been injured. They are the adventitious buds, and eventually develop into the little lawless twigs which we so commonly see on many trees ; the poplars and willows especially. When a tree makes what is called a definite annual growth, the young shoots of the season burst boldly forth from the buds, in which, it must be remembered, their parts are already formed, and within a few weeks, or perhaps days, attain their whole growth for that year. They then bestir themselves to form and ripen their buds for the next season's similar and rapid growth. Other forms of trees make an indefinite annual growth. Throughout the summer their stems grow without ceasing, until touched perhaps by an early autumn frost. They take no time to form and ripen a terminal bud, and their upper axillary ones are produced so late in the season that they can- not properly mature. The growth of the next year, therefore, is mostly dependent on lower axillary buds which are better equipped. No main stem could possibly be continued in this way, and soon the trunk is broken up into branches, which in the same way divide and sub-divide into innumerable other branches and branchlets. The trunk of the American elm serves as a THE GROWTH OF THE TREES. w good example of this system ; and, in fact, all the rounded and spreading tops of trees are the outcome of this mode of growth. Following these general principles and with many variations in details, trees grow from their seeds and throw out from leaf- buds their branches. It is only by a close observation of them that we can begin to appreciate the fineness of their organism. They leave nothing to chance. Even in the seed we have seen something of their careful advance preparation, and also how when overtaken by it they are equally able to meet misfortune. It is to this wonderful readiness that we owe the sudden and luxurious burst of foliage in the spring. The buds that have been nurtured throughout the winter then await only the soft, warm touch of spring to open and lengthen their joints, that the unfolding leaves may be sufficiently separated from each other. Very little, if any, of the earliest vegetation comes directly from the seed. Trees are so often regarded simply as masses of foliage that much of the beauty and fragrance of their blossoms is lost by the unobserving. In the earlv spring many of them are laden with exquisite flowers, and all of the trees bloom. Their flowers grow from buds ; and buds that appear at the same places as do leaf-buds. They are always either terminal or axillary, and never occur where a branch might not have occurred. Scientists tell us that the flower is nothing more than a suddenly arrested branch which the plant, to fulfil certain purposes, has so transformed. When the flower-bud unfolds, its axis does not lengthen as does that of the branch ; but it remains almost as short as when in the bud. The leaves then, transformed into sepals and petals, remain closely together, and either are spirally ar- ranged after the manner of leaves, or they alternate in whorls. The stamens of a flower are generally regarded as modified leaves ; and a simple pistil is plainly a leaf with its margins so folded together as to form an enclosure, or the cavity of the ovary. The apex is extended into the style, while the edges of 34 THE GROWTH OF THE TREES. the leaf that remain outward form the stigma. That the flower is a charming device for the purpose of producing fruit and seeds, we know well ; and even though it may not always be beautiful there is usually attached to it some peculiar interest. While the tree is making this visible growth above ground, we must not forget that under the soil its roots are busy branch- ing and extending themselves that they may hold firmly the tree in its upright position, and drain from the soil more nour- ishment to supply its increased growth. The simple root that first grows downward from the end of the embryo remains, in many instances, for a long time the main root, (Plate VI.) and from it sends off side branches ; more often, however, it soon divides up into branches that in their turn again branch. As has been mentioned, it is the fresh young roots that absorb the nourishment from the soil. To aid them in so doing their sur- faces are sometimes closely covered with root hairs. These are simply elongations of the surface, or cells that are pro- jected, and their thin coverings allow them greedily to imbibe moisture into their tube-like interiors. It is from these well- supplied young roots that the sap is drawn up to feed the leaves and growing parts of the tree. This upward rise of the sap from the roots to the leaves is a subject of much interest. It takes place principally through the wood cells. And yet each one of these cells is a closed and separate cavity ; they in no way open into each other as is gen- erally supposed. By what means, then, we may ask, does the sap pass through them. It is possible for it to do so because, although there are no holes in the young cells, there are thin places in their thick walls ; and the passage through is further facilitated by the thin place in one cell connecting with the thin place in the wall of the adjoining cell. That the leaves are able to draw the contents of these cells up to them from the roots, while seemingly most wonderful is by a natural law. We find that, whenever two fluids of different degrees of dens- ity are separated from each other by a membranous partition, PLATE VI. GERMINATING OAK, SHOWING MAIN ROOT. (35) 36 THE GROWTH OF THE TREES. the heavier fluid will attract to itself the lighter one until they both become of the same degree of density. In the cells of the young roots there is living organic matter, mucilage and protoplasm, and the fluid is naturally denser than the liquid they attract from the soil. The flow is, therefore, necessarily into them. The leaves, however, throw off into the air as vapours a vast amount of the water they contain ; especially is this demand made in dry weather. In fact, they exhale more freely than any other part of the tree. The organic matter which then remains in them is, as will be readily seen, more dense than that of the stalks which have not given out their moisture so freely. The leaves, therefore, call on the stalks for an upward flow of the contents of their cells. In the same way the stalks call on the stems, and so on is the demand made until the watery fluid of the root-ends is reached and drawn up- ward to the leaves, or buds or any growing part of the tree. After the sap has been assimilated by these parts growth begins, and in their own mysterious way they shape themselves. Later the sap flows downward through the cambium layer, and is again sent to parts where the tree needs it most. The assimilation of the crude sap is done in the green part of the tree, and only is it accomplished when the brightest day- light or the rays of the sun are shining upon them. New tissue is then building, while useless matter is ejected. The tran- spiratory organs of the leaves, innumerable minute openings called stomata, are on their under surfaces. They open and close. Then, too, the carbonic acid gas and water that the tree has absorbed from the earth and air are digested and given out abundantly as oxygen gas. This is finally the grand purpose of the vegetable world ; to convert inorganic matter into that which is organic, or to produce the food that is nec- essary for all animal life. PLATE VII. GREAT-FLOWERED MAGNOLIA. Magnolia fcetida. COPYRIGHT 1900. BY FREDERICK A STOK ES COM PAN Y . PRINTED IN AMERICA. Trees Preferring to Grow Near Water: in Swamps and by Running Streams. Obscurity can ftcver hangover the swamps nor can the trail of a stream be hidden ; for guarding their borders are the trees, heavily laden perhaps with the moisture they have imbibed from the near water. They ceaselessly stir in the breezes and throw into the air their life-giving vapours and sweetness. Under their shade the wild, vagrant flowers live and die. They gild the streams borders with gold and line the swamps with crimson. When dimness touches them, the trees bestir themselves to carry the flower s seeds away, or they toss them in the water which floats them to another shore. Do the trees know the flowers will come again ; and does hope still whisper to them when their own leaves have fallen and the mirthful water is frozen to stillness ? GREAT-FLOWERED nAGNOLIA. BULL BAY. (Plate VII.) Magnolia fcetida. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Magnolia. Round-topped. 60-80 feet. North Carolina south- April, June. ward and westward. August, northward. Lower bark : brownish grey, with appressed scales about one inch in length. Branches : lighter in colour, thin, smooth. Leaves : simple ; alter- nate; entire ; with stout petioles; ovate, five to eight inches long and two to three inches broad; evergreen ; thick ; bright green above and shiny. The winter buds and petioles covered on the under side with a rusty looking tomentum. Flowers : cream-white ; very fragrant ; seven, eight or twelve inches in di- ameter; solitary and terminal at the ends of the branches. Sepals: petal-like. Petals: six, nine or twelve ; oval ; concave. Base of the receptacle and lower parts of the filaments bright purple. Fruit: large; ovate; rusty brown; pubescent; of many pods. Seeds: flattened on one "side; slightly triangular ; when released from the pods they hang by threads. When this tree, so severe and simple in the outline of its 3» TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. Magnblia ftetida. shining foliage, throws out its blos- soms, it appears almost as though a great flock of something white and unearthly had alighted among its branches. And as they lean upon the warm, sunny air they exhale a per- fume that is no less mystifying. At least, some lasting impression must cling to those that see it in bloom for the first time. To others, how- ever, that have from childhood walked in the southern streets and gardens shaded by these trees, it is simply said : " the magnolias are in bloom." It quite suffices. Undoubtedly the tree is the most beautiful and ornamental one of America and it is to be regretted that while evergreen in the south it is only precari- ously hardy as far northward as Philadelphia. It then blooms as late in the season as early August. As it leaves the coast and travels inland, it seeks for its home the seclusion of the forests instead of the banks of rivers and swamps. On the bluffs of the Mississippi it is also found in a state of splendid development. Rose-beetles seek the flowers just as they are beginning to open and are frequently held prisoners beneath the three inner petals which vault over the stigmas. Here they find, in the early days of spring, a warm and fragrant shelter, and the honey that lies on the stigmas provides for them a continuous feast. When the sepals and petals fall they fly away, laden with pollen in search of another abode ; and so they regularly accomplish the fertilization of the tree. Self-fertilization is prevented from the fact that the stigmas mature before the anthers. The wood of the great-flowered magnolia is more valuable than that of any other one of the genus. It is of a strong and PLATE VII!. SMALL MAGNOLU. Magnolia Virginiana. WYBIiiHT, 1300. BY FREDERICK A. STCKES COMPANY. PRINTED IN AMERICA. ir TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. 39 fibrous nature. Although it is mostly used for fuel it is quite worthy of a place in cabinet work. As is true of all the magnolias, the juice of the tree is intensely bitter and aromatic. It has been used as a tonic. It is interesting to reflect that the beautiful Council-tree at Charleston, South Carolina, was a magnolia. According to tradition it was under its shade that on the twenty-first of pril, 1780, General Lincoln held a council with his officers nd many citizens of Charleston as to the advisability of retreating before the British. The decision was in the nega- tive and three weeks later the city was surrendered. Until 1849 the magnolia was held in especial veneration by the inhabitants of Charleston. At that time its branches spread themselves over a space of more than two hundred square feet. It had then unfortunately passed into the possession of one who, being devoid of all sentiment, ruthlessly chopped it down for fire-wood. . SMALL MAGNOLIA. SWEET BAY. LAUREL HAG- NOLIA. SWAI1P SASSAFRAS. {Plate VIII.) Magnolia Virginiana. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Magnolia. Slender. 50-70 feet. Eastern Mass. southward to May-A ugust. Florida, westward to Texas. Bark: light brown or greyish, covered with thin appressed scales. Branch- lets : bright green the first year, becoming reddish brown with age. Leaves : simple; alternate; entire; obovate; pointed, with distinct midrib; thick; dark green above and shiny, downy and whitish underneath. Flowers : white; fragrant ; two to three inches in diameter ; solitary and terminal at the ends of the branches. Calyx : of three sepals on the receptacle. Corolla : broader than high ; of six to nine rounded petals. Stamens * numerous. Pistils : numerous; arranged in the shape of a cone. Fruit : cone-like ; red, each pod with one or two scarlet seeds. It is only in the north that this exquisite tree is reduced to the condition of a shrub of from about four to twenty feet high. Its bloom, however, is quite as waxen and fragrant as when borne on the more stately tree of the south. Another 4o TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. Magnolia Virginiana. difference which is owing to their lo- cality is that in the north as soon as the leaves are touched by the early frost of November they fall to the ground, while in the south they remain on the tree to welcome the new and unsophisticated ones of the next year. Magnolia Virginiana is one of the very lovely features of the deep New Jersey swamps. Its wood is soft and of no great value, although throughout the southern states it is sometimes used for the making of small wooden utensils and broom handles. SOUR GUM. BLACK GUM. TUPELO. (Plate IX.) Nfssa sylvdtica. PEPPERRIDGE. FAMILY Dogivood. SHAPE Branches, horizontal. HEIGHT 30-50 /eel. RANGE Southern Maine to Michigan and south- ward to Florida. TIME OF BLOOM April-June. Bark : grey ; rough ; much broken in small pieces. Leaves : simple ; alter- nate ; entire; with short petioles which are downy when young; ellipti- cal ; dark green above, lighter below ; thick ; the midrib slightly pubescent when young. Flowers: greenish; clustered at the end of an axillary pedun- cle. Staminate flowers : small ; numerous. Pistillate flowers : from three to fourteen and larger. Fruit : dark blue or nearly black ; about one half an inch long and enclosing an ovoid and slightly ridged stone ; acrid to the taste until touched by the frost. Although the sour gum tree is of frequent occurrence in the north, it seems to be much better known and loved throughout the south. It is there incidental in many amusing stories and anecdotes. In the north the tree is frequently mistaken for a beech as their spray and foliage are somewhat similar. Quite as early as August its leaves begin to turn a brilliant crimson which almost rivals that of the scarlet maple. The negroes of the south regard the tree with very tender affection Staminate flower. Fruit. PLATE IX. SOU R G U M . JVyssa sylvatica. (41) 42 TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. and that the opossums climb it in search of its fruit is not unknown to them. De possum thought he kno' de world And he climb de old gum tree ; He neber saw what I can do When my surest gun's with me. In connection with the old plantation days of the south a story is told of the gum tree. Its wood is very hard and does not split readily, and it was therefore thought desirable on Christmas day to use one of its largest trunks as the back log of a great fire that was kindled on the hearth. As long as it burned no work was required to be done on the plantation. The negroes knew this custom and as soon as the sap had ceased to flow downward in the autumn they would cut a tree and sink it in the river bed. There it peacefully remained and absorbed water ; and they forgot its existence until shortly before Christmas. With much trepidation it was then taken up and presented as the one chosen to be the back log. In its saturated condition it naturally burned, when once ignited by the immense heat of the fire, for a long time. It sometimes smouldered for weeks ; and we may imagine with what innocent wonder it was watched by those enjoying the holiday. In Virginia the light yellow wood of the gum tree is used in ship building ; but as a rule it is not adapted to purposes where long lengths are needed. It is admirable for the making of pulleys and the hubs of wheels. Nyssa biflbray or water tupelo, (Plate X.) is a very similar tree to the preceding species and was for- merly regarded as a mere variety. Its foliage and fruit are smaller and the stone that the drupe encloses is Nfssa bijibra. flattened and much more ridged than Pistillate fltwer. Fruit. PLATE X. WATER TUPELO. Nyssa bi flora. (43) 44 TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. that of Nyssa sylvatica. Both are picturesque trees, especially in the autumn when their brilliant foliage blazes from the river's bank and they are hung with their dark blue fruit. BLACK ALDER. VIRGINIA WINTERBERRY. (Plate XL) Ilex verticilldta. FAMILY 8HAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Holly. Bushy y spreading. 6-2$Seet. Nova Scotia, westward^ May \ June. and to Florida. Fruit: Sept., Oct. A tall shrub. Branchlets : greyish, glabrous or pubescent. Leaves : about two inches long ; simple ; alternate ; with short petioles ; obovate or broadly lanceolate ; usually pointed at both ends ; coarsely serrate; dark green above and glabrous ; paler below and pubescent; thick, not very shiny. Flowers: white ; six to eight parted ; clustered thickly in the axils. Drupes : brilliant red and appearing verticillate in manner of growth. In what is called the dreary season of the year, long after the time when its leaves have turned black and fallen, there is something particularly enchanting about this coarse shrub. Standing out amid the misty greyness that prevails and against perhaps the rich brown glow of some distant wood its lively coloured berries give a touch of hopefulness to the landscape. In fact the brightness of the twigs of various shrubs adds gleams of colour to a winter scene that are not dreamt of by the un- observing. In early summer its blossoms shine clear and bright, but they are modest, retiring little things and do not claim the same attention as do the berries. They unfold with those of the common elder, its relative the withe-rod or viburum nudum and the lovely small magnolia. By them the swamps and low grounds are made gay. WILD YELLOW PLUM. WILD RED PLUM. CANADA PLUM. (Plate XII.) Primus Americana. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Plum. Slender ; spreading. 8-35 feet. Canada southward to April, May, Florida and westward Fruit: Aug.,-Oct. to Colorado. Bark: bronze-green; smooth; thick. Branches: thorny. Leaves: simple; alternate ; with smooth, reddish petioles ; oval or obovate, with pointed PLATE XI. BLACK ALDER. Ilex verticil I at a. COPYRIGHT, '900, BY FREDERICK A. S10KESCOMP Section of flower. Fruit \ laid open. PLATE XII. WILD YELLOW PLUM. Prunus Americana. (45) *6 TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. apex and pointed or rounded base ; thin ; netted-veined ; sharply and doubly or singly serrate ; pubescent beneath in the angles of ribs and becoming smooth at maturity. Flowers : white ; growing in umbel-like clusters from separate lateral buds and usually preceding the leaves. Fruit : a dull orange or crim- son drupe; round and containing a flattened stone with sharply winged edges ; glabrous ; edible with a pleasant flavour. The skin acrid and tough. As the specific name of this tree im- plies it is a native of America. In its wild state it grows along the borders of streams and sometimes seeks the shelter of a light strip of woodland. Occasion- ally it is planted ; but it is much better to use it as a stock upon which to graft some one of the domestic species of plums. For this purpose its hardiness and other good qualities make it suitable and many excellent results have thus been obtained. The chief charm of the tree is the colour of its ripe fruit. There is an almost transparent brightness about it which in effect is most artistic. At the season of its ripening housewives were for- merly very much on the alert when they sought the fruit and made it into preserves. CHOKE CHERRY. (Plate CXLVI) Primus Virginiana. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Plum. Bushy y spreading. 2-i$feet. New England southward April, May. to Georgia and westward Fruit: July, A ug. to Colorado. Bark: dark grey. Leaves: simple; alternate; oval; pointed; finely and sharply serrate ; thin. Flowers: white; growing compactly in a short, close raceme. Calyx : tubular; bell-shaped ; flve-lobed. Corolla : with five very small petals. Stamens : numerous. Pistil : one. Fruit : A bright red cherry which turns later to dark crimson. The stone and kernel are flavoured with and contain prussic acid. By the side of the streams and rivers and often along road- sides and thickets from April until late in August the attention of the passer by is caught by either the bloom or the fruit of the choke-cherry. It is always a shrub, and has a sprightly, re- freshing aspect. Little birds are seen alighting, for a moment, PLATE XIM. BUTTONWOOD. Plat anus occidentalism COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY. PRINTED IN AMERICA. TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. 47 on its branches and then darting in and out as though en- couraging it not to lose a gleam of sunshine or the softest mur- mur from the stream. The long, cylindrical bunches of fleecy blossoms are very pretty, but they quite pale before the exqui- site fruit which shows many shades of colour before settling down to the dark crimson or, rarely, yellow of ripeness. It pro- vides, in fact, a much better feast for the eye than it does for the palate, and although the experience of tasting is not harmful, it is one that is not apt to be soon repeated. BUTTON-WOOD. PLANE-TREE. BUTTON-BALL TREE. {Plate XIII.) Plat anus occidentdlis. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Plane-tree. Wide spreading* 60-190 feet \ Southern Maine south- May. broad. or higher. ward and westward. Outer bark : dark brown; thin; peeling off freely and showing the silver white and polished inner bark ; often presenting a mottled appearance. Leaf-buds: axillary and concealed throughout the summer and winter under the hollow base of the leaf petioles and being thus protected until the next spring. Stipules: like sheaths. Leaves ; simple ; alternate ; with downy petioles ; orbicular, with taper-pointed apex and squared or cordate base. The edge coarsely toothed or often three to five-lobed ; the sinuses between them rounded. The leaves and petioles become smooth at maturity. Fiotuers : small, in round heads; monoe- cious. Fruit: growing closely in solitary round balls which hang from the ends of lony wiry peduncles. They become dry and remain on the branches until well on into the winter, or until their seeds are scattered by the wind. About this striking tree there is an almost matchless dignity, and its bearing, so different from that of any other, has caused it to be very generally known. On all sides we hear it said, " that is a sycamore." Unfortunately this name is, although in error, most commonly used. We should, however, accustom ourselves to calling it by another of its English names. The tree at times grows to a height unrivalled by any of the Northeastern American forests, and it lives to be very old. An unusual feature about it is the way in which the outer bark peels off as the season advances and displays the polished inner bark. As it then raises these white almost spotless branches upward, it seems as though the tree in mute elo- 48 TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. quence proclaims that it has suffered all things. It has braved the fierceness of tempests and watched the struggling of many generations. But it is not dismayed ; and when, espe- cially in the moonlight, its shimmering branches are seen towering above other things they testify that it has triumphed. It is most pathetic to see the tree W when it has at last suc- cumbed and is about to die. Stripped of its foliage and its swinging balls of fruit, it appears a gaunt figure upon the landscape. The wood is reddish brown and has a most beautiful grain. It is used for the interior finish of houses although it is quite prone to crack. The beautiful tree is also largely made into tobacco boxes. FicusSycomorus, sycamore, the tree to which the name is prop- erly applied, is a native of Egypt and Syria. It is of medium size, very bushy and is closely allied to the fig tree. Its fruit is much eaten, and at one time its wood was used for the coffins of mummies. Platdnus occidentalis. RIVER BIRCH. RED BIRCH. {Plate XIV.) Bdtula nigra. FAMILY Birch. SHAPE Slender^ drooping. HEIGHT RANGE yy-do/eet. Mass. south-ward and westward to Minn. TIME OF BLOOM Aprils May. Bark : reddish brown ; dotted and peeling, not as the white birches but becoming loose and hanging in thin light brown sheets. Leaves: simple; alter- nate ; often two together; with short and pubescent petioles; ovate, fre- Scale c/cone. PLATE XIV. RIVER BIRCH. Betula nigra. (49) 5o TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. quently pointed at both ends; unequally and rather doubly serrate with entire base ; green above, whitish and pubescent underneath. Flowers: grow- ing in long, downy catkins. Fruit : very small ; broadly-winged ; pubescent at the base. Not until it reaches the lower part of New York is this birch very commonly seen, and from there it travels southward as though in search of a still warmer climate. None other of the birches is found in the south, and therefore it seems strange that this one should reach its best development south of Balti- more. The tree is very graceful, and when seen along the banks of rivers and lakes its drooping branches appear as though they were longing to stretch down and drink of the cool water. They sometimes hang nearly to the ground. In the autumn its foliage turns a bright yellow. This is the birch from the twigs of which are made brooms. SPECKLED ALDER. HOARY ALDER. Alnus incdna. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Birch. Bushy , spreading. , Z-io/eet. Pennsylvania northivard. April. Bark : green ; shiny. Twigs : glabrous. Leaves : simple ; alternate ; with short petioles ; broadly ovate, pointed at the apex and squared or rounded at the base ; irregularly and finely serrate or sometimes coarsely toothed ; the veins brownish and prominent on the under side ; pale dull green above, whitish and very downy below ; with age becoming smoother. Flowers : reddish brown ; growing in catkins from naked buds and appearing some time before the leaves. Staminate catkins about three inches long ; pistillate ones thick and shorter. Nut: orbicular. How eager the alders are to greet the spring. It seems as though they could hardly wait for the winter to be gone. When there is not a flower astir and the air is still full of the scent of dried leaves, they and the white maples begin to bloom. A point of interest about their pretty catkins is that while they are formed one summer they do not develop until the next season. Throughout the winter they have remained naked on the trees. In earliest spring therefore they are quite ready with their seeds and toss them about in the spirit of unconcern Flowering branch. PLATE XV. SMOOTH ALDER. Alnus rugosa. (50 $2 TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. and lavishness which it sometimes pleases Nature to display. They are then picked up by the wind or carried along with the stream until they find some fitting niche to rest in, and to grow. The quaint little cones are often seen in the autumn hanging on the branches together with the young catkins. Although usually a shrub, the speckled alder sometimes becomes a small tree. A. rugbsa, smooth alder, [Plate XV.) is also a shrub or small tree which ranges in height from five to twenty-five or forty feet high. That its obovate leaves are green and rather smooth on both sides will serve as a means to distinguish it from Alnus incana. Its young twigs are also slightly pubescent. Its fa- vorite home is along the borders of streams where it forms close thickets. It is found also on moist hillsides. A11ERICAN HORNBEAH. WATER BEECH. BLUE BEECH. IRONWOOD. {Plate XVI.) Carplnus Caroliniatia. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Birch. Head open; 10-40 feet, New Brunswick to Aprils May. branches spreading, higher southward. Minnesota^ south- Fruit: Aug.^ Sept. ward to Florida and Texas. Trunk and branches ; ridged. Bark: smooth; greyish black, and irregularly and vertically lined with stripes of dull grey. Branchlets : slender ; when young, brownish purple, terminating in green-bronze ; those that are older, with an ashy hue. Leaves; simple; alternate; with short, slender petioles; ovate-lanceolate, or oblong, with pointed apex and rounded or slightly cordate base ; sharply and unevenly serrate ; ribs straight; pubescent ; especially so in their angles ; above smooth. Fruit : growing in a green, elongated, drooping cluster. The small nuts growing singly at the base of two opposite, halberd- shaped, three-lobed bracts. This enchanting little tree or shrub is sometimes found grow- ing in a one-sided fashion which allows its branches to droop over a stream. As they do so the flower or fruit clusters hang at right angles to the boughs ; so they are thrown into prom- inence and give a light effect to the foliage. The bracts of the clusters are much more strongly tinted with yellow than are the dark green leaves. A young spray of the tree is very beauti- Nuts and bracts. PLATE XVI AM E R I CAN H ORN BE AM . Carpinus Caroliniana. (53) 54 TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. ful, and we may fancy it would make a bewitching decoration for the white, fleecy gown of some woodland fairy. The tree is slow of growth, and as the name ironwood implies, its wood is very strong and compact. It is well adapted to the making of farming implements, such as the teeth in rakes and other similar articles where durability is required. BLACK WILLOW. (Plate XVII.) Salix nigra. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TfME OF BLOOM Willow. Head open, irregular; 15-35 feet. New Brunswick south- April, May. branches, stout, ward and westward to upright. California. Bark : Blackish or light brown ; rough ; flaky. Branches : yellowish brown ; slender; brittle at the base. Stipules: inclined to vary. Leaves: simple; alternate ; about two inches long, with short petioles ; narrowly lanceolate, pointed at both ends or wedge-shaped at the base ; finely and sharply serrate or entire ; pubescent, and later becoming smooth excepting along the midrib ; the under side paler than the light green upper surface. Flowers : growing in catkins and terminal at the end of the season's branches. Staminate ones with from three to five stamens. Pistillate ones scaly. A particular charm and freshness seems to cluster around the willows ; and although about one hundred and sixty species of them are recognised by botanists, there runs so strong a family resemblance through them all that it would be difficult to confuse any one of them with another genus. By their gen- eral aspect and leaves many of the species can be known. The study of the differences in their flowers is one that requires minute observation and carefulness. Although each one of the willows has its own habitat, the greater number of them are fond of water and seek the river's edge. Here they have their own work to do in holding the soil together and often forming strong breastworks against the wind. They abundantly scatter their seeds, and detached twigs and branches strike root with great facility. In low places and the adjoining meadows their trail can often be followed by numerous ones that have sprung up and whose ancestors live on the river's bank. Salix nigra, however, is seldom found growing away from water. Its wood Rife and unripe pistillate flowers. Stamens. Pistil* PLATE XVII. BLACK WILLOW. Salix nigra. (55) 56 TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. is soft and weak and from the bark a tonic is extracted that has considerable efficacy in the curing of fevers. The willows that are native to America are mostly small and do not always become arborescent, many of them being shrubs. Of them, Salix nigra is the most conspicuous. The introduced ones are large and generally fine trees. SCYTHE-LEAVED WILLOW. Salix nigra falcdta. TIME OF BLOOM Aprily May. Bark ; dark grey; rough. Leaves : simple ; alternate ; with short petioles, and two circular leaf-like and serrate stipules at their bases ; linear or scythe- shaped; pointed at both ends or having the base slightly rounded ; finely serrate ; green on both sides ; glabrous above and with soft, silky hairs un- derneath when young. In its best state of development the scythe-leaved willow is a small tree, and quite as often it occurs as a shrub. Its leaves are characteristic. WESTERN BLACK WILLOW. PEACH-LEAVED WILLOW. ALMOND WILLOW. {Plate XVIII.) Salix amygdaloldes. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE Willow. Irregular; branches ««$/!»'• Massachusetts to stout. Florida. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Willow. Trunk inclining; tranches, curving upward. tys°/*et. New York to Ohio, west' ward to Missouri and New Mexico. April, May. Bark: brownish red; scaly. Stipules: reniform, encircling the stem; re- motely serrate and falling early. Leaves : simple; alternate; with long slender petioles; broadly lanceolate, with pointed apex and pointed or narrowed base; sharply and evenly serrate ; dark green above and smooth at maturity, paler and slightly glaucous below. Flowers: growing in long, cylindrical and pubescent catkins and terminal at the end of leafy branches. Staminate ones with from five to nine stamens and filaments that are hairy at the base. Pistillate ones with yellow scales. Most commonly this rather small tree is seen growing along the banks of streams from Ohio to Missouri. It has also a more northern range from Quebec to British Columbia and thrives well about the Great Lakes. It is a native of America. PLATE XV 1 1 1 . WESTERN BLACK WILL 0 W. Salix amygdaloides. copyright, i9oo, by Frederick a. stokes company. PRINTED IN AMERICA. : TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. 57 The accompanying illustration shows the beauty of the pistillate catkins at maturity. The stalks of their capsules have length* ened, and they are bursting that the cotton-tufted seeds may escape. SHINING WILLOW. AMERICAN BAY WILLOW. GLOSSY BROAD-LEAVED WILLOW. (Plate XIX.) Salix liicida. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Willow. Regular \ bushy: \%-iofeet* New England to N. J. and April, May. branches^ erect. Kentucky and westward. Bark: dark brown ; smooth, or slightly scaly. Branchlets : yellowish or green; smooth; polished. Leaf-buds ; yellowish ; ovate ; smooth. Stipules : mostly persistent; small; oblong or cordate; falling late in the season. Leaves: simple ; alternate; with short, stout petioles, at most, half an inch long ; elliptical or lanceolate, with sharp-pointed apex and narrowed or slightly rounded base; finely and sharply serrate; dark green above, lighter below; smooth; shiny on both sides; the midrib whitish and distinct. Catkins: short, with leafy bracts and terminating a sparingly leafy branch. Staminate ones : fluffy, with five or more stamens in each flower. Pistillate ones : long ; dense. We have no more beautiful willow shrub than Salix lucida. It is a native species. In the swamps or along the borders of streams it appears to attract and hold the sunshine which makes gay shimmering upon its glossy leaves. About the catkins of the willows, — they are borne on different plants ; and in the springtime we see many sorts of insects darting in and out among them. They are busy seeking honey and also performing the service of cross-fertilization. That so many flowers grow in one inflorescence is a fact which must always appeal to the sagacious insect. From twenty-five to one hundred pods have been counted in a willow catkin. He can therefore suck the honey and carry off the pollen with much greater rapidity than he can when flowers are borne singly. To save time, it must be remembered, is a most impor- tant matter, for the more flowers that can be fertilized the better it is for the tree. When the pollen is ripe it should then be carried to another flower, otherwise it is liable to be injured Staminate branch. Pistil. Stamens, PLATE XIX. SHINING WILLOW. Salix lucida. (58) ■• TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. 59 by rains or in many other ways. The fertile catkins can be easily distinguished. They are generally the short, green ones that develop soon after the sterile ones have been stripped of their golden pollen. The seeds of the willows are very small. Amid the tufts of cotton-like hairs which surround them at the base it is almost with difficulty that they are detected. When the pods open their beaks to release them, the slightest breeze is able to carry them aloft, and the air is often apparently filled with their lint. Of the millions that are tossed about very few germinate and become shrubs of trees. Nature is far seeing and, knowing the many imminent perils of their existence, strews with a lavish land. BEBB'S WILLOW. LONG-BEAKED WILLOW. OCHRE- FLOWERED WILLOW. (Plate XX.) Salix Bebbiana. AMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Willow. Bushy; branches^ 4-18 or 25 feet. Hudson Bay to New Jersey^ A/rt'l, May. erect. northward and westward. Bark: dark green or reddish. Branches: yellowish. Twigs: reddish brown ; pubescent when young. Stipules : semi-cordate. Leaves : simple ; alternate ; elliptical or oblong-lanceolate, tapering into a point or blunt at the apex and rounded or wedge-shaped at the base. Edge : variable ; remotely toothed ; wavy ; serrate or entire. Dull olive-green and smooth above, pale bluish green and covered with silky hairs underneath, becoming glabrous ; thin. Flowers : growing in sessile catkins and appearing with the leaves. Staminate catkins: long; obovate ; pale yellow at maturity. Pistillate catkins: rather short and with flowers growing loosely in them. In earliest spring, almost as soon as the sap has begun to flow under the bark of this willow, its catkins hasten to develop and glisten in contrast to the bareness of the earth. The leaves do not fully unfold until some time later. Although the flowers in these strange little catkins have no beautifully- coloured envelopes, the rich yellow anthers of the staminate blossoms can hardly fail to attract the attention. Thousands of bees are seen buzzing about them. This species is one that is a native of America, and it occurs either as a shrub or as a Staminatc branch. Stamens. Pistil. PLATE XX. BEBB'S WILLOW. Salix Bebbzana. (60) PLATE XXI. SILKY WILLOW. Salix sericea. (61) 62 TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. small tree. It establishes itself along the borders of woods and often in dry soil as well as remains faithfully by the side of streams. SILKY WILLOW. {Plate XXI) Saltx sericea. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Willow. Bushy, irregular. 5-12 feet. Maine southward to Virginia. May. Twigs: reddish purple; slender. Stipules: narrow; deciduous. Leaves: simple ; alternate, with petioles three to four inches long ; lanceolate, with taper-pointed apex and pointed or rounded base ; serrate ; extremely soft and silky when young. As the leaves dry they turn dark brown or black. Flow- ers; growing in long sessile catkins with leafy bracts at their bases. Surely there is an inspiration to be found in the willow shrubs as they unfold the earliest signs of spring. About them there is a golden halo as soon as the sap begins to flow. The little buds expand so radiantly, and the shy catkins peep out and grow longer with every touch of warm, sunny air. There is something so fresh and lively about them. They are eager to cast off every sign of deadness. Along the streams and by the borders of swamps the silky willow seems to cling with a tender affection. The shrub is a native of America. WEEPING WILLOW. RING WILLOW. (Plate XXII) Salix Babylonica. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Willow. Branches, pendulous. 30-60 feet. In cultivation. April, May. Bark: grey; rough. Twigs : greenish; long; drooping ; supple; bitter to the taste. Leaves: simple; alternate; linear-lanceolate; pointed at both ends; sharply serrate all around ; when young slightly pubescent on the under side. Flowers : dioecious; growing in long, loose catkins with entire scales and ter- minal at the end of short, leafy and lateral branches. When the spring winds skimmer gaily Along the mirthful stream, Then the stately, reverend willow Wears a gown of tender green. PLATE XXII. WEEPING WILLOW. Salix Babylonica, (63) 64 TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. s£*T. And throughout the happy summer It breathes as oft before — For its heart is grave and solemn — The sweetest tales of yore. 'Till in tune with winter's sorrow It moans a plaintive cry, And its boughs are bent with weeping That calms the passer-by. There isf perhaps, no other tree about which more sentiment clusters than the weeping willow. It is not like a flower that remains on the earth only long enough to accomplish its purpose of reproduction ; it lives to cast its shade upon many generations. When it has attained a great age and grown to a large size there is a gravity about it which is most impressive. The idea of its weeping and its specific name have, it is said, been suggested by the lamen- tation of the Hebrews in Psalm cxxxvii, although Populus Euphratica is also be- lieved to be the Garab-tree of the Arabs, SMix Babyldnica. and the weeping willow of the Psalmist. " By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remem- bered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof." Thoreau, however, who is always cheerful, says of the tree : " It may droop — it is so lithe and supple — but it never weeps. It droops not to represent David's tears, but rather to snatch the crown from Alexander's head." The story of its introduction into Europe and America from the Orient is an interesting one. Shortly after Alexander Pope had built his villa at Twickenham on the Thames, he received from a friend in Smyrna a drum of figs. Within it there also was a small twig which excited the poet's curiosity. He stuck TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. 65 it in the ground by the river's bank. It rooted, and soon grew to be the delight of Pope and his friends. Were it still stand- ing it would be regarded with peculiar interest ; for it was the ancestor of all those that have since lived in Europe and Amer- ica. In 1775 a young British officer who went to Boston took with him, carefully wrapped in oiled silk, a twig from Pope's willow. His expectations of settling peacefully in the new world were not as speedily fulfilled as he had anticipated, and so he presented the twig to Mr. Custis, the step-son of General Washington, who planted it near his home at Abingdon, Vir- ginia. There it took kindly to the soil and grew vigourously. It was a child of Pope's willow, and the first one to strike root in America. Later, in 1790, General Gates took a twig from the tree and planted it at the entrance to the farm he had bought on Manhattan Island. It also grew to a consider- able size, and for many years was familiarly known as Gates' weeping willow. The entrance to the farm where it stood is now Third avenue and Twenty-second street. It is believed that the staminate trees have never been intro- duced into this country, and the willow is, therefore, not able to reproduce itself by seed. The twigs of S. Babylonica have been used as divining rods, and Herodotus mentions that the Scythians found them excellent for this purpose. S. Babylonica annularis, hoop willow, is known by the pecu- liarity of its leaves. They curve and recurve into rings. WHITE WILLOW. HUNTINGTON WILLOW. Salix alba. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Willow. Thick set, branches, 50-90 feet. Introduced, New York April, May. ascending. and Penn . Bark: grey; rough. Twigs: olive-green, not yellowish; brittle. Stipules'. lanceolate ; deciduous. Leaves : simple ; alternate ; with very short peti- oles ; lanceolate to linear, tapering at both ends ; sharply serrate ; pubescent on both surfaces, the lower one retaining its white, velvety hairs even when ma- ture. Catkins : growing at the end of the season's short, leafy shoots. Although generally familiar and common throughout a con- 66 TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. siderable part of the country, S. alba is one of the introduced willows that have escaped from cultivation. Its growth is free and rapid ; as though it were quite independent of all care and attention. Of the species there are several varieties, and it is not always a simple matter to tell them from each other. The fact that its own twigs are not yellowish will serve in one instance to distinguish it from S. dlba vitelhna, yellow willow, or golden osier. S. dlba ccerhlea has olive coloured twigs, and its leaves are of a bluish green hue. S. alba arg/ntea, as the name implies, has foliage that is very silvery. This is a particularly beautiful feature of the tree, and when a strong breeze is seen playing through it the under sur- faces of the leaves appear like flashes of light through the green. YELLOW WILLOW. GOLDEN OSIER. {Plate XXIII) Salix dlba vitelllna. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Willow. Erect, thick; spreading 30-40 feet. Introduced, general May. broadly. in U. S. Twigs: yellowish green or reddish; smooth; brittle at the base. Leaves: simple; alternate; lanceolate; pointed at both ends ; when very young often blunt or rounded at the apex; sharply serrate; pubescent, the silky white hairs appearing on the upper surface of the leaf as well as underneath. This is es- pecially so when young. Catkins : long; slender. Early in the spring especially, a golden glow from this wil- low appears to lighten the whole of its surrounding atmos- phere. It is a tree very common in America, perhaps the most so of any one of the family. Even about old houses it is found, and it grows abundantly in low places. For its commercial value the golden osier has been exten- sively planted in France, where it principally supplies the mar- ket with hoops, and it is also exported by the French to Great Britain and other countries. Staminate branch. PLATE XXIII. YELLOW WILLOW. Salix alba vitellma. (67) 68 TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. BRITTLE WILLOW. CRACK WILLOW. {Plate XXIV) Salix frdgilis. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOO Willpw. Head, bushy, irregular. 60-80 feet. Introduced, Mass. to N. J. and Penn. April, May. Bark: grey; slightly rough. Branches: greenish, tinged with red; smooth; very brittle at the base, the most so of any species with this characteristic. Leaves : simple ; alternate, with smooth petioles with two wart-like extuber- ances near the base of the leaf; lanceolate; taper-pointed at both ends; unevenly and sharply serrate, the teeth somewhat incurved ; smooth and dark green above, whitish below and only slightly downy, even when young. Flowers : growing in catkins at the ends of the season's leafy shoots. Stami- nate catkins : shorter than the long, loose pistillate ones. Among the willows, Salix fragilis has its distinct place, and it is regarded as a valuable tree. From its withes much of the basket work with which we are so familiar is made, and the industry in Europe, where it is generally distributed, is a large one. The timber that it yields is fine and of a rich salmon colour. From the old plants its twigs break away and grow into new ones with astonishing facility. It is probably in this way that it has escaped so widely from cultivation. It has also many varieties and hybridizes well with other species. An amusing story is told of a country school mistress who prided herself on her knowledge of the family of willows. One day she told a young lad to fetch her a twig with which she might flog him. He sought one of a near-by willow and, being wise in his generation, made slight circular incisions all along the twig with his ever-ready pen-knife. When he returned, he calmly held out his hand to the mistress. She raised the twig ; but before the first blow was fairly adminis- tered, it had flown in innumerable pieces all over the room. " It is the brittle willow," said she with an air of wisdom to the rest of the pupils. Staminate branch. Pistillate branch at maturity. Pistillate branch. PLATE XXIV. BRITTLE WILLOW. Salix fragilis. (69) 7o TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. DOWNY POPLAR. RIVER COTTONWOOD. COTTONWOOD. {Plate XX V.) Pdpulus heterophylla. SHAPE HEIGHT 4,c-%ofeet. FAMILY Willow. Head narrow, round- topped; branches, ir- regular. RANGE Southern Conn. southward and westward. SWAMP TIME OF BLOOM April, May. Bark: reddish brown ; rough; and broken into long, narrow plates. Leaves: simple; alternate, with long, round petioles; rounded ovate, with blunt apex and cordate base, the lobes of the base often overlapping the leaf- stem ; serrate, with obtuse and incurved teeth. When young the leaves are covered with a white wool which falls as the leaves mature ; the veins and petioles, however, always retain traces of the down. Staminate catkins : very large; dense; drooping. Pistillate ones : raceme-like; loose. It almost seems as though a little innate stubbornness were displayed by this tree in the persistent bluntness of its leaf. It also clings with much tenacity to the soft down of its early youth. That it has these decisive characteristics, however, af- fords us a good means of its identi- fication. When its tiny seed is caught on its upward sail in the air, and exam- ined, it is found to be snugly placed within a mass of silvery, white hairs which at their bases are tinged with orange-yellow. This touch of colour and the beauty of the design for its purpose in a thing so small is only another instance of the fineness of Nature's conceptions. In the northern Atlantic states the tree is local and rare. Its wood is closely-grained, but soft and not durable. Pdpulus heterophylla. BALSAM POPLAR. TACAMAHAC. Pdpulus balsamifera. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT Willow. Erect; narrow, open 60-80-100 feet. RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Northward and April. westward. Fruit: May, June. Bark: grey, tinged with red ; ridged; bitter. Branches: smooth, with wart- like excrescences. Leaf-buds ; large ; covered with a yellow, resinous gum Staminate and pistillate catkin. Bursting catkin. PLATE XXV. DOWNY POPLAR. Populus heterophylla. (7i) 72 TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. which is scented like balsam. Leaves: simple; alternate; ovate-lanceolate; pointed at the apex and rounded or sub-cordate at the base; three-ribbed,* finely serrate; bright green and shiny above, rather whitish below; glabrous. Flowers : dioecious ; growing in drooping catkins, and appearing some time before the leaves. Stamens : numerous. Scales of the pistillate flowers recurved at the apex. It must be a dull heart that is not stirred by the sight of this noble tree. Against the intense blue of a summer's sky its great size and stately trunk make it indeed a noteworthy object. It grows along the borders of streams and lakes and inhabits bottom lands that have been inundated. Occasionally it is found in dry soil. The fishermen of the Great Lakes know the tree well. They seek the outer bark from the base of old trees and use it as they would cork to float their nets. The wood of the tree is brown and soft. It is made into pails, tobacco boxes and also paper pulp. BALH OF GILEAD. HEART-LEAVED BALSAM POPLAR. {Plate XX VI.) Pdpulus cdndicans. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Willow. Head, broad, open; branches, spreading. 40-50 feet. In cultivation. April. Bark: greenish grey, the branches often darkly spotted. Leaf-buds: large; fragrant. Leaves: simple ; alternate, with petioles that are almost round and more or less hairy; broadly-ovate, or cordate, pointed at the apex and heart- shaped at the base; coarsely serrate; netted-veined; the margins outlined by fine white hairs. Bright green above; whitish below; pubescent along the ribs and veins. Flowers : growing in catkins, similar to those of the preced- ing species. This beautiful tree with its gracefully-shaped and abundant foliage is frequently planted about dwellings and along drives. It has in fact quite abandoned the forests and no longer luxuri- ates in a state of wildness. Professor L. H. Bailey, however, tells us that it is indigenous in Michigan and that there, it is said, groves of it existed when the country was first settled. Afterwards they were cut down to supply lumber. It is dis- tinguished from the balsam poplar, of which it has been re- PLATE XXVI. BALM OF GILEAD. Populus candle COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY. PRINTED IN AMERICA. PLATE XXVII. COTTONWOOD. Populus deltoides. (73) 74 TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. garded as a variety, by the width of its leaves with their cor- date bases and ciliate margins and by their pubescence. The seeds have wonderfully fine hairs which envelop the fruit with thick masses of soft, snow-white cotton. The illus- tration shows the pistillate catkins at maturity. Then the seeds become detached from their capsules and are wafted by the breezes to great distances from the trees. COTTONWOOD. RIVER POPLAR. CAROLINA POPLAR. NECKLACE POPLAR. {Plate XXVII) Populus deltoldes. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Willow. Symmetrical, open 80-150 feet. Quebec westward and April. head. southward to N. y., Fla. Fruit: Junt. and New Mexico. Bark : granite-grey ; smooth when young but becoming rough and furrowed with age and breaking off in short, flaky pieces. Branchlets : greenish. Leaf- buds : glutinous, with a substance like balsam. Leaves: simple; alternate, with stout petioles which are flattened sidewise ; broadly-ovate, with taper- pointed apex and squared or slightly cordate base. Irregularly and coarsely serrate, with incurved teeth ; when young, sticky and fragrant like balsam ; occasionally coarsely pubescent underneath ; the margins fringed ; at maturity bright green, smooth and glossy above, paler below; ribs whitish on both sides; thick. Flowers: dioecious; growing in catkins, and appearing before the leaves; the fertile ones sometimes a foot long; their scales cut-fringed. Sterile calkins: growing on stout stems; dense. Seeds : covered with a whit- ish or rusty coloured substance. There is to-day standing in Washington Hollow, Dutchess county, New York, a cotton-wood tree the trunk of which measures fifteen feet, two and a half inches in circumference. The soft grey of its bark and its lustrous restless foliage form an imposing spectacle against the sky. By those that live near its shade its slightest movements are watched with interest. Owing to the softness of its wood large branches are apt to break away from the tree when there is a high wind. To look out in the night when a storm is raging and see that all is safe, — that no danger is impending from the cotton-wood, — has become a custom. During the first part of June it is also a care to those that live near it. It is then that its tiny seedc which are not more than one twelfth of an inch long begin to Flowering branch. Single flower. PLATE XXVIII. SWAMP WHITE OAK. Quercus piatanoides, (75) 76 TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. fly. They are hidden within a mass of soft, delicate cotton which is surrounded by tufts of long, white or rusty coloured hairs. As if with fleecy, etherial sails, they are then borne aloft by the slightest breeze. So abundantly are they dispersed that they have to be taken up in quantities from a near-by straw- berry bed, and when the windows on the tree's side of the house are left open the seeds can be gathered in basketfuls from under the furniture. This cotton-like fibre which sur- rounds the seeds of the poplar has been experimented with for the manufacturing of cloth ; but as yet the enterprise has not proved itself financially successful. Its wood also is of little value commercially and warps badly in drying. This poplar is the most rapid-growing tree of eastern North Amer- ica and under favourable circumstances reaches a height of forty feet in five or six years. East of the Rockies the tree has been much planted ; but it is not regarded as being long lived or thriving well in other than a moist soil. Its natural habitat is along the banks of rivers and streams and by lakes. Not one of the least remark- able features of the large tree that has been mentioned is the fact that it grows in dry soil. SWAMP WHITE OAK. {Plate XXVIII.) Quercus ftlatanoldes. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Beech. Head, narrow, round- 30-70 feet. Maine to Iowa, south- May, June. topped; lower branches, ward to Delaware Fruit: Sept., Oct, somewhat declined. and Georgia. Bark : light grey and divided into large, flat, flaky scales. Leaves : simple; alternate; obovate, with wedge-shaped and entire base and pointed or rounded at the apex ; sinuate-toothed, the waves far apart and so large as to resemble small lobes ; sinuses rounded and those of the middle waves extending deeper into the leaves than the others ; dull, dark green above and smooth; silvery and downy underneath. The ribs appear rusty. Acorns : ovoid; growing usu- ally in pairs on a puduncle sometimes three inches long. Cup: round ; covered with pubescent scales, the upper row becoming bristle-like and forming a fringe about the edge. Nut: chestnut-brown ; oval ; about one inch long ; edible; sweet. To see this tree in all the glory of its best development we Fruiting branch. Flowering branch. PLATE XXIX. WILLOW OAK. Quercus Phellos. (77) 78 TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. should go to the region of the Great Lakes. When its identity is once known it is not easily forgotten, or confused with other trees. The manner in which its lower bark separates into thin scales and the little weird branches that are so often pendulous from larger limbs — and sometimes from the trunk — make it a marked figure on even a winter's landscape. From its leaves it is known as belonging to the group of chestnut oaks, as in outline they somewhat resemble those of the chestnut tree. The wood of the swamp white oak is light brown, closely grained and strong. Commercially it is not distinguished from that of the white oak, Q. alba, and of the burr oak, Q. tnacrocarpa. Pages 188 and 132 respectively. WILLOW OAK. PEACH-LEAVED OAK. (Plate XXIX) Quircus Phellos. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Beech. Conical head; y>2>ofeet. L. I. and N. J. southward April, May. branches, slender. " and westward. Fruit: Sept., Oct. Bark : reddish brown; almost smooth, although having close scales. Leaves: simple; alternate; with short grooved petioles; lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, with pointed and bristle-tipped apex and pointed base ; entire and slightly un- dulate edge. When young, brilliant light green and soft above, dull and with a whitish down underneath ; becoming thick and shiny above as they grow older. Flowers; monoecious. Acorns: very small; almost sessile. Cup ; saucer-shaped; pubescent inside. Nut: brown; three-eighths to one-half inch long; globular. Kernel: bright orange ; bitter. There seems to be nothing about the foliage of this attractive tree to suggest to us the family to which it belongs ; but along with the autumn comes the little tell-tale, the acorn. No doubt there is lurking within it a strong sense of grace and outline, or perhaps a sort of hero-worship for the willows has led it to imitate their leaf. But in any case we cannot believe that it laments having stepped out of the beaten track of its relatives ; as its aspect is most gay and happy. In the southern towns it is much planted for ornament and has besides its beauty the advantage of growing rapidly. Its leather-like leaves remain fresh long after those of most other trees have fallen. They Flowering branch. Fruiting branch. PLATE XXX. LAUREL OAK. Quercus laurifolia. (79) 80 TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. then turn a pale yellow. In moist woods and on sandy uplands the tree occurs as well as by the borders of swamps. LAURELOAK. SHINGLE OAK. WATER OAK. (Plate XXX.) Quercus laurifblia. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Beech. Head, dense, round-topped; 30-80 _/ire-like; branches, horizontal. 30-90 feet. Atlantic seaboard and Gulf states to Miss. April, May. Bark : light reddish brown ; very fibrous ; separating into loose scales. Branchlets: brown, their thin bark also separating. Leaves: tiny ; simple ; ovate and awl-shaped ; overlapping each other like scales and growing closely together in rows of four, up and down the branchlets. Dull brownish or blue- green ; glaucous. Cones : hardly one-half an inch wide; globose; sessile on leafy branches ; purplish at maturity ; glaucous, and opening towards the centre when ripe, not towards the base. Scales : thick ; several-pointed and as though ^s. Enlarged bud. PLATE XLV. SOUTHERN WHITE CEDAR. Chamcecyparis thyoides. (102) PLATE XLVI. ARBOR-VITAE. Thuja occidentals. COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY PrflNTEU IN AMERICA TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. 103 fastened at their centres. Seeds : one or two under each fertile scale ; oval ; winged at the sides. In the fulness of Nature's heart she has provided this beau- tiful and fragrant tree to flourish abun- dantly in places where other useful timber trees are very chary of establishing them- selves. It grows in deep, cold swamps which are frequently immersed during several months of the year. In New England and the Middle States it is not as well-known as it is throughout its more southern range. The deeply tinted little cones which it develops are a pretty sight as they jauntily sit among the blue- green foliage: and the symmetrical figure of the tree makes a clearly cut and distinctive feature on the landscape. In the south the wood of the tree is used in ship-building. It is slightly fra- grant, light-coloured and most durable when in contact with the soil. The fact that it is soft and easily worked makes it desirable for many purposes. Cham&cy/aris thyo\des. ARBOR VIT>E. FAMILY SHAPE Pine. Conical; branches^ pendulous. WHITE CEDAR. Thuja occidentdlis. HEIGHT RANGE 20-65 feet. North Carolina north- ward into Canada, and westward. {Plate XL VI.) TIME OF BLOOM April, May. Bark : greyish brown ; tinged with orange or red, and separated into narrow, deciduous strips. Leaves ; simple ; opposite ; blunt ; scale-like and overlapping each other as they'grow closely together on branchlets that are very flat. Bright green; aromatic; especially so when bruised. Cones: tiny; yellowish brown; ovate ; nodding and opening to the base when ripe. Scales : six to ten ; ob- long ; without points ; smooth. Seeds : one or two, with thin broad wings notched at the apex. This very formal and prim appearing tree has for a long time been extensively planted. In fact it was probably the first io4 TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. North American tree to be known in Europe and has been cul- tivated in Paris since before the middle of the XVIth century. It forms an excellent hedge. When under the gardener's care it is very prone to vary and produce new varieties, but it can hardly be said to become more beautiful than when in its wild state. The extremes of climate affect it very little. In America it becomes smaller and grows less abundantly as it reaches the limits of its southern range. Northward it covers large areas of swamp land, and the forests that it forms are al- most impenetrable. As of all coniferous trees, its fruit is inter- esting. The tiny cones remain on the branches over the winter to greet the new growth in the springtime. This is an act of pure courtesy on their part, as during the preceding autumn they have finished their own work and ripened and scattered their seeds. Speaking of this tree, Thoreau says : " How little I know of that arbor vitae when I have heard only what science can tell me. It is but a word, it is not a tree of life. But there are twenty words for the tree and its different parts which the In- dian gave, which are not in our botanies, which imply a more practical and vital science. He used it every day. He was well acquainted with its wood, its bark and its leaves. No science does more than arrange what knowledge we have of any class of objects. But, generally speaking, how much more conversant was the Indian with any wild animal or plant than we, and in his language is implied all that intimacy, as much as ours is expressed in our language." It is true the Indians had many uses for the fragrant, yellowish brown wood of the tree. They separated its thick layer of sap* wood, as they could do with ease, and with it strengthened their canoes. They also used parts of it in the making of their baskets. Fluids of medicinal value are yielded by the tree, and they have some local popularity for the curing of warts. The fresh young branches are used to make brooms. TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. I0S AHERICAN LARCH. TAHARACK. HACKHATACK. {Plate XL VI I) Lartx laricina. rAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Pine. Tall, straight; branches, spreading. 50-100 J 'eet. Northern III. to N. E., northward to New Foundland. May. Bark : close, becoming scaly. Leaves : less than three quarters of an inch or two inches long ; simple ; thread-like ; growing in bunches of many on short twigs along the branches and having no sheaths ; pale green ; soft ; delicate ; they wither and fall in the autumn. Cones • about half an inch long ; broadly ovate; growing on short peduncles at the ends of the branches; greenish when young, and becoming purplish or brown at maturity. Seeds : few ; rounded ; thin ; entire. 11 Give me of your roots, O Tamarack ! Of your fibrous roots, O Larch-Tree I My canoe tc bind together, So to bind the ends together That the water may not enter, That the river may not wet me I And the Larch with all its fibres, Shivered in the air of morning, Touched his forehead with its tassels, Said, with one long sigh of sorrow, PTake them all, O Hiawatha I " How beautifully has Longfel- low depicted the Indian as one in sympathy with nature. When Hiawatha began to build his canoe, he went to all the trees that he knew has such materials as were necessary to him, and said, " Give me — " ; and although it should have caused their death, they answered, " Take, O Hia- watha ! " Here was no ruthless tearing away of life without per- mission ; it was the tribute of a man's understanding to these mute inhabitants of the forest. Staminate Scale of cone. PLATE XLVII. AMERICAN LARCH. Larix lartcina. (166) TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. 107 Although they have no souls, life must still be sweet to them. The American larch with its soft, fine foliage is one of our most graceful trees. In the early spring its flowers peep out, much before the leaves ; they grow from broad lateral buds, and although the sterile ones are yellow the fertile ones are a brilliant crimson. The light brown wood of the tree is resinous tnd very durable. Its more practical uses than those already eferred to are in the making of railroad ties and various parts of ships. L. Europcea is a relative of the American tree which is fre- quently seen in cultivation. It is of rapid and fine growth and very ornamental. Perhaps its colour is a deeper shade of green than that of the native one, and its leaves are a trifle longer. Its branches appear to droop more, and its cones too are longer and have many more scales. There is a weeping form of the European larch which is also known in cultivation. Trees Preferring to Grow in Moist Soil: Lowlands and Meadows. All about the soil was moist and traversing it was a road that had become hard and dry. On either side of the road grew trees. They were water trees that had strayed away from home. In the distance trailed a sluggish stream. Did the trees long for it ? The ones on the farther side of the road inclined over it so that a squirrel could hardly sit upright under them ; a?id those on the side nearest the water leaned away from the road until they continually broke down its hard bank. It was a strange scene through which to travel. In the lowlands, away from the streams and swamps, there are many trees ; but they are mostly contented with their lot, and not so unhappy as those by the road. UMBRELLA-TREE. ELK- WOOD. (Plate XL VIII.) Magnblia tripttala. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Magnolia. Bushy. 20-40 feet. Southeastern Penn. to Ala.; ivest-ward to A rk. and Miss. May, June. Bark: light grey; smooth; marked with small dots similar to blisters. Branches: green ; turning brown and grey as they grow older; brittle. Juice : fragrant; bitter. Leaves: simple; alternate; ovate-lanceolate; with short, stout petioles and growing in clusters at the ends of the branches ; pointed at the apex and tapering to a point at the base ; entire ; bright green ; the lower surface covered with a thick tomentum at maturity ; glabrous. Flowers : seven and eight inches in diameter ; cream-white ; growing at the ends of the branches. Sepals: light green ; obovate ; reflexed ; thin. Petals : six to nine ; narrow and concave. Filaments: bright purple. Cone oi fruit: ovoid ; rose coloured at maturity. A glance at this tree either when it is in bloom or in fruit is enough to assure us that it is a magnolia. Clustered about it PLATE XLVIII. UMBRELLA-TREE. Magnolia trifietala. (109) PLATE XLIX. NORTH AMERICAN PAPAW. Asimina triloba, (no) PLATE L. JAMAICA CAPER TREE. Capparis Jamazcenszs. COPVRIQHT, 1900, BY FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY. PRINTED IN AMERICA. TREES GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. Ill are many family traditions. Although it cannot vie in beauty or outline with the great-flowered magnolia, it is far from being without its own loveliness. Among the great, lustrous leaves, which are often twenty inches long, the cylinder-shaped bunches of ruddy fruit rest perhaps even more peacefully than do the unfolding blossoms. The ribs of an umbrella are somewhat suggested by the arrangement of the leaves at the ends of the branches and it was this peculiarity which led the early settlers in Virginia and North Carolina to call it umbrella or parasol tree. Its specific name refers to its three petaloid sepals. The tree is nowhere common. It grows in rather wet, deep soil, a little inland from the great swamps, and by the borders of woods it is found intermingled with masses of rhododendron. The tree is more hardy than many others of the family, and for this reason much attention has been paid to it by horticulturists. It is the spe- cies most generally seen in the northern United States and in Europe. NORTH AriERICAN PAPAW. CUSTARD APPLE. {Plate XLIX.) Asimina triloba. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Custard apple. Branches^ 10-40 feet. Penn. and western N. K., May \ June. spreading. southward to Ioxva Fruit: Sept. yOct. and westward. Bark : dark brown ; marked with silvery blotches ; smooth. Branchlets : light brown, fringed with red and marked with narrow, parallel grooves. Leaves : five to ten inches long ; simple ; alternate ; with pubescent petioles ; obovate-lanceolate, with pointed or slightly rounded apex and taper-pointed or rounded base ; entire ; light green above, paler beneath and covered on the lower surface with a rusty down ; glabrous at maturity ; thin ; glossy. Flow- ers : solitary ; axillary; pendulous ; growing on club-shaped, pubescent ped- uncles and appearing with the leaves. Sepals : three ; pubescent. Petals : greenish yellow, gradually turning to dull purple ; six, in two rows, the inner ones small. Stamens ; numerous ; on the receptacle. Pistils : appearing as though enclosed in a round head formed by the anthers. Fruit : three to five inches long ; oblong ; yellow and glaucous when young, becoming dark brown when fully ripe. Fragrant ; edible ; sweet. From the true papaw of the West Indies, this one is very different ; and the genus is the only one of its family which is not tropical in its preference. It can hardly be said, however, to attain its full state of development in the north. It is a ii2 TREES GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. small tree or shrub, often only a bush, and when in full foliage appears as though it were weighted down with the abundance of its large, shining leaves. In the valley of the Mississippi the tree is very common, and about that district its fruit is sent in large quantities to the markets. Before it is fully ripe it emits, as do the other parts of the tree, a peculiar and disagree- able odour. The papaw is a cautious little character and mistrusts the vagaries of the wind. To perform the office of cross-fertiliza- tion it relies with greater faith on the insects, for they can assuredly be attracted by their appetites. At the base of the inner petals, therefore, the flowers secrete abundant nectar. The stamens are raised in a hemispherical mass from the cen- tre of the bell-shaped flowers, and from it the stigmas protrude. As the insect squeezes his body through the small opening be- tween the stamens and the inner petals in search of the feast, he is, no doubt, quite unconscious that the stigmas are eagerly taking from him the golden pollen which he has attracted at his last stopping place. JAMAICA CAPER TREE. {Plate Z.) Cdpparis Jamaice'nsis. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Caper. Trunks straight, slender. \%-%o/eet. Southern Florida. April, May. Bark : dark reddish brown ; irregularly broken. Branchlets : angular. Leaves: simple; alternate; oblong-lanceolate or elliptical; growing on peti- oles about a quarter of an inch long; rounded and notched at the apex, rounded at the base ; entire ; dark yellowish green and lustrous on the upper side, paler below and rough from the presence of tiny scales ; the midrib con- spicuous. Flowers ; white ; fragrant ; growing at the ends of the branches in a terminal cluster. Sepals : recurved. Corolla : with four rounded petals which become purple as they fade. Stamens: long; numerous; with purple filaments and yellow anthers. Pods : two to several inches long ; brownish red when ripe and containing several kidney-shaped seeds. There is an inspiration to be had from the pure, white flow- ers of the Jamaica caper tree, with their long filaments as deli- cate and misty in colouring as the threads of a spider's web. Their fragrance also seems to be quite in harmony with the warm, luxurious atmosphere upon which they lean. In the PLATE LI. RED BUD. Cercis Canadensis. COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY FREOERICK A. STOKES COMP:.::*. PRINTED IN AMERICA. TREES GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. 113 West Indies the tree has many relatives, and there when the pods of the species have turned to dark, reddish purple they are called, with a strange attempt at hilarity, " dead man's fingers." After the seeds have fallen they twist many times in drying. The specimen from which the coloured illustration was painted was found at Jew-Fish Key, in southern Florida. The yellow wood of the tree is tinted with red. It has a fine grain and a surface not unlike that of satin. RED BUD. AMERICAN JUDAS-TREE. (Plate LL) Carets Canadensis. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Senna. Broad, flat head; 10-50 feet. Ontario to N . J . southward April, May. branches, and westward. Fruit: Sept. spreading. Bark: purplish grey, the young branches almost smooth. Leaves: simple; alternate ; with petioles which are swollen at each end into a small, round ex- tuberance. Rounded-cordate, the apex tapering into a blunt point and the midrib sometimes projecting into a bristle. Palmately-veined ; entire ; glab- rous or often slightly pubescent on the under side of the veins. Flowers : handsome ; several growing in sessile, umbel-like clusters on the old wood and appearing before the leaves ; acrid to the taste. Calyx: red. Petals: rosy pink; the wings overlapping or covering the small standard. Pods: small ; shuttle-shaped ; winged along the seed-bearing margin and containing many flat, puckery-tasting seeds. This little tree, for we are most accus- tomed to seeing it small, is handsome at all seasons of the year ; but it is truly a sight in the early days of spring when it is radiant with its exquisitely bright and cheery blossoms. So eager then is the tree to cover itself with them that they sometimes appear even upon its trunk. From a distance many might be allured to its presence and think they were approaching a profusion of deeply-tinted c/rds Canadensis. peach blossoms, especially when it grows in among the haw- thorns and flowering dogwood. As soon as the leaves unfold, however, their shape would forbid such an error and the flowers have the papilionaceous corolla of the senna ii4 TREES GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. family. The legumes are a more yellow tone of green than are the leaves and add in their turn touches of colour, like high lights, throughout the tree. When given good soil and sufficient room for development it grows rapidly in cultivation and is a charming acquisition to parks and gardens. Its dark, reddish-brown wood is not strong. An ugly tradition that clusters about the old world relative of this tree is that from its branches Judas hanged himself. FOUR-WINGED SNOWDROP TREE. BELL TREE. {Plate LII.) Mohrodhidron Carolinum. SILVER FAMILY SHAPE Storax. Head, narrow; branches, stout. HEIGHT RANGE 30-90 feet, West Va. to Illinois or a shrub, southward to Fla. and Texas. TIME OF BLOOM March, A/ril. Branches : reddish brown ; ridged. Leaves ; simple ; alternate ; slender- petioled ; ovate or oblong, with pointed apex and rounded or wedge-shaped base; slightly serrate; bright green and glabrous above, slightly pubescent underneath; thin. Mowers: growing in loose, drooping clusters along the branches and appearing with or before the leaves. Calyx : short; four- toothed. Corolla : campanulate ; four-parted. Stamens : eight to sixteen. Pistil: one. Seed-vessels: long; oblong; four-winged and conspicuously tipped with a remnant of the style. So few leaves and flowers are to be seen when these fair snowdrops cover the tree that one is almost inclined to look upon them with suspicion and to wonder whether in spite of their unsullied freshness they have been desirous of taking a peep at the earth before it was fully clothed. Butwhatevermayhavebeen their motives, it is truly a joy to have them come forth so early in the sea- son and to feel that the back of father Winter is broken. When hung with them the tree is a most pleasing PLATE Lll. FOUR-WINGED SNOWDROP TREE. Mohrodendron Carol in urn. COPYRIGHT, 3, BY FREDERICK A. SIOKES COMPANY. PRINTEO IN AMERICA. TREES GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. 115 sight. Often we then stop and wonder to find it among the hickories and buckeyes : it would seem as though it should find the company of the magnolias and cherry trees more congenial. On moist, wooded slopes, in woods or nearing the banks of streams it grows, and it is hardy as far northward as eastern Massachusetts. It then however becomes a shrub. NARROW-LEAVED COTTONWOOD. {Plate LIU.) Pdpulus angustifblia. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Willow. Pyramidal^ slender. 30-65 feet. Dakota westward and to Aprils May. Arizona and New Mexico. Bark: yellowish green and broken on old trees into broad, flat ridges. Branches : grey. Leaves: simple; alternate; with petioles that are not flattened laterally; lanceolate, or ovate-lanceolate; pointed or blunt at the apex and narrowed or rounded at the base ; finely or coarsely serrate ; yellow- green above, lighter below; the mid-rib yellow; thin. Statu inate catkins : cylindrical. Pistillate ones: from two to four inches long. Capsule: ovate and surrounded by fine soft hairs. When the flower-buds of the poplars begin to swell and their colour changes to deeper tints every day, then we feel as though the sleeping spring had indeed awaked. In fact many mistake these early unfolding flowers for the first shimmer of young foliage. But on both the staminate and pistillate trees the catkins lengthen and have satisfactorily settled their little domestic affairs some time before the leaves burst from their silver buds. And in this hastening into bloom there is some- thing of method to be detected. The poplars rely on the wind to carry their pollen from one plant to another and to facilitate its reaching them, the pistillate flowers hang mostly near the tips of the branches. Were the trees fully clothed with foliage it would greatly obstruct the flying pollen and direct it into idle paths. When the leaves of Populus angustifolia unfold their out- line is rather a surprise and is seen to resemble that of one of the broad-leaved willows. From their buds exudes abundant balsam. In moist soil and along the banks of streams of the Capsule. Seed. PLATE Llll. NARROW-LEAVED COTTONWOOD. Populus angusttfolia. (lid) TREES GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. "7 far west, especially throughout the Rocky Mountains, this poplar is the common species. Its wood is light, soft and very weak. AMERICAN HOLLY. (Plate LIV.) Ilex opaca. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT Holly. Head) compact; QQ-$ofeet. branches, spreading. RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Southern Maine along the April-June, coast to Fla. and westward. Fruit: Sept. Bark: light grey; smooth. Branchlets : slightly pubescent. Leaves: sim- ple; alternate; elliptical or oval, with pointed apex and pointed base; the teeth, sharp and spine-like ; far apart. Sinuses : rounded. Feather-veined, the veins indistinct on the lower surface. Evergreen; dark green and glossy above ; lighter and tinged with yellow below ; thick ; stiff ; glabrous. Flowers: white ; both staminate and pistillate ; axillary, and having their parts in fours. Fruit : a bright red drupe which frequently remains on the tree well into the winter. The associations of the holly are all with the season of merry-making and the blazing log of the yule-tide. When in a wild state it needs, to bring out the beauty of its bright, red berries and thick, shining leaves, the glistening white of a snow-covered earth and the bare, gaunt branches of other trees. By contrast then its freshness is very attractive. During the dusty, heated summer it might readily be passed by unseen. The American holly is not thought to be as beautiful as the English one. There are fewer berries to be found on it ; and its leaves have not nearly so high and clear a lustre. But it is still a crisp and cheery appearing tree and worthy of a more extended cultivation than it receives. The wood of the holly is almost white. It is hard and fine of grain. When made into work tables, boxes and similar arti- cles it is very pretty. /. monHcola, large-leaved holly, bears a leaf which is very distinctive from that of I. opaca. It is ovate-lanceolate, with a taper-pointed apex and a finely serrated edge. In texture it is Ilex opaca. Single flower. PLATE LIV. AMERICAN HOLLY. Ilex opaca. (118) PLATE LV. THREE-FLOWERED THORN Crataegus triflora. COPYRIGHT. 1900, BY FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY. PRINTED IN AMERICA. TREES GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. 119 thin and not evergreen. The tree is rather tall and slender and occasionally reaches a height of forty feet. Again it occurs as a shrub. In May we shall find it in bloom. By many it is well known and sought for in the damp woods of the Catskill Mountains. It extends southward along the mountains to Pennsylvania and to Alabama. THREE-FLOWERED THORN. {Plate L V.) Crataegus tri flora. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Apple. Spreading /rem base. xi-vo/eet. Georgia and Alabama. April. Bark of branches ; light greenish grey and close, becoming scaly. Spines : dark red; branched; numerous on the main stem. Leaves: simple; alternate; growing at the ends of the twigs; ovate ; pointed at the apex and rounded at the base or tapering into a margin which extends along each side of the short petiole ; irregularly or doubly serrate ; bright dark green above and pubescent when young, later becoming rough ; paler below and pubescent. Flowers : large ; growing in corymbs of mostly three flowers on pubescent petioles, the lateral ones, the longest. Calyx : with five lanceolate fringed lobes. Corolla: with five rosaceous white petals. Stamens: numerous. Fruit: globose; brilliant orange or red. Crataegus triflora is a rare tree : one quite imbued with the idea of seclusion. At the present time it is only known to occur at two stations ; along the cliffs of the Coosa River in Georgia and near Birmingham, Alabama. Mr. Beadle, of Bilt- more, who has made an exhaustive study of the genus, has seen it in bloom at the former place where, he says, there are about fifty of the trees ; and he describes the effect they en masse produce, when they unfold amid the russet tints of early spring, as very lovely. " Individually," he says, " the shrub is rather poor." At the top its branches divide many times and the leaves appear to be thrust at the ends of the twigs so as to form a covering for their nakedness. The particular charm of its flowers is that they are large, and the two side ones seem to have been quaintly prolonged so as to give a sort of pro- tection to the one in the middle. From the coloured plate this feature and the brilliancy of the fruit can be seen. It was through the aid of a glance into the note book of Mr. 120 TREES GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. Beadle and a well dried specimen that the accompanying description was written. AMERICAN ELM. WHITE ELM. (Plate L VI.) Ulmus Americana. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Elm. Head, round, broad; 100-120 feet. New Foundland south- March, April. branches, pendulous. ward to Fla. and west- ward to Texas. Fruit: May. Bark: ashy grey ; flaky. Branches: light green when young and without corky ridges. Buds : flattened ; smooth, or slightly pubescent. Stipules : linear to lanceolate. Leaves : simple ; alternate ; with smooth petioles ; oval, or obovate, with taper-pointed apex and rounded or slightly pointed base ; unequal sided ; coarsely or doubly serrate. Ribs : straight ; conspicuous ; veins and veinlets numerous ; glabrous, or slightly rough above, pubescent underneath and be- coming smooth at maturity. Flowers ; dioecious ; minute ; growing in close, drooping clusters on jointed stalks from lateral buds and appearing before the leaves. Samaras : oval or ovate ; glabrous, with thickly fringed margins. The American elm is very grace- ful and stately. Its great arching limbs uphold a spray of dark and beautiful foliage which appears on the landscape like a suddenly ar- rested fountain. It is not strange that so much sentiment clings about these trees ; for at times they have been associated with thrilling events in their country's history. It was under the shade of a great elm at Cambridge, Mass., that Washington stepped forward, drew his sword, and in a few words assumed com- mand of the American army. The tree, after that eventful morning, was known as the "Washington Elm " ; and longer than any other being it remained to testify to the younger generations that it had been a witness of the scene. Although not at all a phenomenal tree in size, the estimate was at the time made ulmus A tnericana. PLATE LVI. AMERICAN ELM. Ulmus Americana. COPYRIGHT, 1900, BV FKEOERICK A. STOKES COMPANY. PRINTED >* AMERICA, TREES GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. 121 that it developed every year a crop of seven millions of leaves, and that they exposed to the air a surface of foliage equal to about five acres. On the banks of the Delaware there stood also a famous elm tree. Under its branches William Penn made his treaty with the Indians. It was not for lands, but for peace and friend- ship. On March 3d, 1810, "The Treaty Tree," as the elm was called, was prostrated by a storm. Its consecutive rings proved it to be over two hundred and eighty-three years old. On its site a monument with a suitable inscription was erected by the Penn society. The elms are dioecious ; their staminate and pistillate blos- soms grow on different trees, or, to use the popular but erro- neous expression, they are male and female. From each other the two can be readily distinguished. The bud-scales of the elms with their fringed margins and tufts of soft, white hairs are very pretty. Very early in the spring they blow about and often tint the ground while the flowers that have sprung from them are unfolding. The wood of the American elm is rather coarsely grained, hard and heavy. Its medullary rays and its large open ducts are conspicuous. For the making of small articles, floors, and in ship building, it is very useful. The Indians occasionally substituted its bark for that of birch when building their canoes. It is to be lamented that so much damage is inflicted upon these trees by insects and that their beauty is thus often marred. Throughout New England, where the elms have con- tributed so much to the beauty of the towns, it is quite pathetic to see so many in a dilapidated condition. When planted the tree requires soil where it can imbibe abundant moisture, and to be away from the shade of other trees. It is very rapid of growth. 122 TREES GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. CORKY WHITE ELJ1. ROCK ELM. HICKORY ELH. (Plate L VII.) Ulmus racembsa. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Elm. Head, round-topped; %o-ioo feet. New England southward April. branches, rigid. and westward. Fruit: June. This species of elm might readily be mistaken for Ulmus Americana as in general characteristics there is much that is similar between the two. The marks of distinction, however, are that the young branches of Ulmus racemosa are pubescent, and as they grow older they develop large, corky wings. The fringed bud-scales are more often than not covered with a soft down, and the flowers grow in a raceme. The leaves, too, have many fine hairs on the upper surface and are not so noticea- bly serrate as those of Ulmus Americana. In the autumn its foliage turns a bright yellow. The tree inhabits low grounds where a heavy, wet clay soil prevails ; or it flourishes in gravelly uplands and on the high bluffs of rivers. It grows slowly, and its wood, although valuable, is threatened by extinction. While it has been neglected by planters, the axe has sought it with dili- gence. In the forests of Canada and North America most of the large trees have already been felled. U. alata, winged elm, Wahoo, is a comparatively small tree, forty or fifty feet high, with an open, round-topped head and slender branches, which are mostly covered with corky ridges. The leaves are somewhat rough on the upper surface and especially pubescent along the under veins. The samaras, also, are pubescent and are densely fringed on their margins. In wet, gravelly, or dry soil, the tree is known to grow. It in- habits the country from Virginia to Illinois and southward. 5LIPPERYELM. MOOSE ELM. RED ELM. (Plate L VI II.) iJlmus fitlva. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Elm. Head) broad, flat; 6070 feet. Quebec and New England March, April, branches, spreading. southward and westward. Fruit: May. Bark: reddish brown; rough. Branches: bright green when young, and turning to light grey ; very rough, although not having corky wings. Inner Enlarged flower. PLATE LVII. CORKY WHITE ELM. Ulmus racemosa. (123) i24 TREES GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. bark: white; slippery. Leaf-buds: large; round and covered with a reddish scurf. Leaves : simple ; alternate ; with rough petioles about an eighth of an inch long ; ovate or obovate, with taper-pointed apex and rounded or slightly cordate base. Coarsely and doubly serrate ; rough and harsh on the upper sur- face, soft and downy underneath in the angles of the straight ribs. Flowers: growing on short pedicels in globular clusters ; fragrant when dried. Samaras : dull yellow; semi-orbicular and containing a round, flat seed. The margins of the wings unfringed ; glabrous, excepting over the seed. There is something intensely human in the desire to chew,— to chew the cud of meditation ; and when in the open country one meets a boy with a certain felicitous expression and wag- ging jaws, it is good evidence that somewhere in his rambles he has met with the slippery elm tree. Should his pockets be turned inside out there would also be a chance of finding a quantity of its fragrant, inner bark stored away for future dis- posal. To chew this gummy, slippery substance is not, per- haps, the smallest item in his enjoyment as he carelessly breathes the summer air or gazes at a cloudless sky. Unfortunately this innate desire of the boy is often gratified at the tree's ex- pense. In fact, it is almost impossible to protect it from him, when it is cultivated as an ornament in parks, and its identity is known. In a more conventionalized form the inner bark is sold by chemists, and its properties are medicinal and nutritious. The tree has a fine, shapely outline, and grows rapidly. Its dark reddish wood is strong and durable and is largely used for the making of posts. When green it splits very readily. U. ca?npkstris, English elm, is in this country very frequently seen in cultivation and has distinctive char- acteristics which prevent its being confused with the native wild ;.% species. Its branches are compar- E£* atively short and grow in a hori- zontal or ascending line. This gives it^Zt camftstris, it a compact, robust look ; very dif- Enlarged flower. PLATE LVIII. SLIPPERY ELM. Ulmusfulva. (125) 126 TREES GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. ferent from the graceful, languorous droop of the American elm. The leaves are smaller and grow densely on the wingless branches. Their upper surfaces, also, are less rough. Some- times for weeks after those of the native tree have fallen they remain fresh on the branches. The samaras of the English elm are smooth and without fringed margins, and its bark is very dark and much broken. It is not frequent that the tree es- capes from cultivation. U. subcrbsa, is a variety of the preceding species and has an immense amount of corky stuff on the branches. HACKBERRY. SUGAR-BERRY. FALSE ELM. NETTLE-TREE. {Plate LIX.) Cdtis occidentalis. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Elm. Round-topped; 15-50-140 feet. Quebec southward and April, May. branches, spreading, westward. Fruit: Sept. or pendulous. Bark: silver-grey or brown ; crumpled; rough. Stipules: linear; whitish, with a soft down. Leaves: simple; alternate; with slender, grooved petioles; ovate, with taper-pointed apex and one-sided, pointed, rounded or cordate base; serrate, becoming entire at the base. Very variable. Bright green; glabrous and lustrous above, paler underneath and sometimes pubescent along the ribs. Flowers: greenish; axillary; the staminate ones clustered; the pistillate ones solitary and drooping on a peduncle. Calyx: five and six parted. Stamens: long. Fruit: a small, globular drupe; purplish red, be- coming nearly black when ripe, with a thin pulp; edible; sweet. It is a very unusual sight to see this tree or, sometimes, shrub growing over fifty feet high, although at times it stretches it- self upward until it reaches one hundred and forty feet. Not long ago one was reported to measure one hundred and twenty feet high, and five feet in diameter at a distance of four feet from the ground. Its appearance was strongly suggestive of a very old elm. The tree is admirable for the purpose of trans- planting and when well developed is very effective. It grows rapidly and displays great endurance against dry weather or a long drought. The leaves in the autumn turn a light yellow. From its wood which is coarsely grained and rather soft a PLATE LIX. HACKBERRY. Celtis occidentalis. (127) 128 TREES GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. cheap kind of furniture is made. Celtis is the ancient name of the Greeks for the lotus. RED riULBERRY. (Plate LX.) Mbrus rubra. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Mulberry. Head, round, dense; 15-60 feet. Western Neiu England, Aprils May. branches, spreading. southward and westward. Bark : greyish brown ; rough and separating into plates. Leaves: three to seven inches long; simple; alternate; ovate; approaching orbicular, with pointed apex and rather cordate base; or frequently occurring with unequal lobes at the sides when the sinuses are rounded; coarsely serrate; thin ; yellow- green and rough on the upper surface when young, becoming dark bluish green and smooth; paler and downy or smooth below. Ribs: whitish and distinct. Flowers: growing in axillary, catkin-like spikes; either dioecious or monoecious, usually the latter. Fruit: similar in appearance to a long, wild blackberry; red, turning when ripe to a rich, dark purple ; edible ; sweet. A homely barnyard scene, where chickens and pigs rove about at will and a lordly tur- key gobbler exercises a sur- veillance over all, is hardly complete without the shade of a red mulberry tree. No doubt it has been planted there by the farmer or his predecessor who knew that its juicy fruit would fatten his hogs and nourish well his poultry. The flavour is a trifle insipid, but these ani- mals are not over discriminating and root and scratch under the tree when the berries are falling until the ground is often stained to the same deep, blood hue. The juice of the tree itself is milky. Horticulturists have paid little attention to Morus rubra as a fruit tree although it would seem as though it had possibilities for a better development. The tree is very ornamental. In early summer the green of its leaves is par- ticularly enchanting and can hardly fail to attract the attention Mbrus rubra. PLATE LX. RED MULBERRY. Mortis rubra ), BY FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY. PRINTED IN AMERICA. PLATE LXI. WHITE MULBERRY. Morns alba. (129) *3o TREES GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. rfP-T*6 tt-: I of those that have an eye for colour. In their composition there is an abundance of yellow, and they give an effect as though they were continually glowing with sunshine. The Indians of the southern states have some way of obtain- ing fibres from the tree's inner bark, and these they weave into cloth. The wood is light yellow, soft and very durable when in contact with the ground. It is quite valuable. M. alba, white mulberry, {Plate LXI.) e5s$w$?S?^3e*3 is a similar and very familiar tree which is also seen about old farmhouses. It has escaped from cultivation. The tree is small and has leaves that differ from those of the red mulberry in being smooth and shiny on both sides. Its short, compact, staminate spikes grow on slender peduncles. The fruit is white or slightly tinted with pink and has an insipid, sweetish flavour. In about 1830 the tree was intro- duced from China, and in the old world, as is well known, its leaves have for a long time been fed to silkworms. Mbrus alba. PAPER MULBERRY. {Plate LXII) Broussone'tia papyrifera. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Mulberry. Low branching. 20-30 feet. New York southward. May. June. Fru it: June, July. Bark : light; fibrous ; rather smooth. Leaves : simple • alternate ; with long, round petioles; broadly ovate, with pointed apex and slightly pointed or cor- date base, or frequently occurring with from two to three unequal lobes when the sinuses are rounded ; serrate ; thick ; the upper surface rough, like velvet, the lower surface downy. Flowers • dioecious ; the sterile ones growing in spike-like catkins, the fertile ones in rounded heads; scaly; bristly. Ftuit : fleshy; not edible. Very frequently about old houses or in dilapidated grave- yards we find this tree which has escaped from cultivation. Its low-growing branches afford in such places a desirable Flowering branch . PLATE LXI!. PAPER MULBERRY. Broussonetia papyri/era (131) i32 TREES GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. shade. In Japan, whence it has been introduced into this country, and also in China, the very fibrous bark is utilized to make paper and this circumstance is responsible for its English name. The leaves of the tree might readily be confused with those of the red mulberry, but its club-shaped fruit is quite different and is far from being edible. The tree spreads itself by suckers. BURR OAK. MOSSY-CUP OAK. OVER-CUP WHITE OAK. {Plate LXIII.) Que'rcus macrocdrpa. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Back. Round-topped, broad; 60-80-160 Maine to Penn. and May, June, branches, spreading. feet. westward to Montana, southward to Texas. Bark : brownish grey ; furrowed. Branchlets : marked with corky-winged ridges. Leaves : six to fifteen inches long: simple 5 alternate; with thick pet- ioles, flattened and enlarged at their bases ; obovate ; lyrately pinnatifid, with wedge-shaped base and from five to seven long, irregular lobes ; rounded or hollowed at their apexes ; entire or wavy. The sinuse of the middle lobe sometimes extending to within an eighth of an inch of the midrib. Dark green, smooth and lustrous above; silvery white and downy underneath. Staminate flowers : growing in slender catkins with greenish-yellow stems. Pistillate cat- kins: sessile. Acorns : very large; handsome. Cup: cup-shaped; covered with rough, pointed scales, the upper row of which terminate in long bristle points and form a mossy soft fringe about the nut; pubescent on the inner surface. Nut : orfe to one and a half inches long; oval and almost covered by the cup. About this noble tree there is the same semblance of strength and durability as is so generally associated with the oaks. It is one of the largest of the family of Eastern North America and is more widely distributed than any other, although compara- tively rare east of the Alleghanies. To various climatic condi- tions it shows much adaptability. On the prairies the " Oak Openings " are mostly composed of the burr oak ; and one that has entered them has said, " he knew not whether he shuddered from fear or delight." In the Mississippi basin it is commonly seen in lowland forests. As it occurs northward it is interesting to notice that the acorns become very much smaller, and as the length of their fringe is proportionately reduced, they cease to PLATE LXIII. BURR OAK. Quercus macrocarpa. COPYRIGHT, 1900. BY FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY. ORINTEC .N AMERICA. TREES GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. *33 suggest the dainty bird's nests that they do in the south. Hardly a more beautiful tree can be imagined in cultivation when enough room has been given it to follow its own bent of deveiopment. One then looks upon its great head and branches with almost a feeling of awe. As a timber tree it is excelled in value by few trees of North America. Its dark brown Que"rcus macrochrpa. wood closely resembles and is sometimes confused with that of the white oak, but it is superior to it in strength. PIN OAK. WATER OAK. SWAHP SPANISH OAK. {Plate LXIV.) Qudrcus palustris. FAMILY Beech. SHAPE Tapering towards the toP; lower branches, declined. HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 40-60 feet, or Mass. southward May, June, higher. and westward. Pruit: Sept., Oct. Bark: dark grey or greenish brown ; rough, with furrows that are slight and far apart ; the bark of the branches often cracking and showing the reddish inner bark. Leaves: three to five inches long ; simple ; alternate; with yellow petioles ; obovate ; broad ; tapering or squared at the base, and having from five to nine lobes which are toothed and bristle-tipped at the ends. Sinuses: broad ; rounded ; and extending fully three quarters of the way to the midrib ; bright green ; smooth and lustrous above, paler below and tufted in the *34 TREES GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. angles of the ribs with reddish hairs. Flowers : monoecious ; the staminate ones growing in slender catkins; pistillate ones mostly solitary. Acorns: small; growing on short stems or sessile. Cup: flat; saucer-shaped; finely scaled. Nut: light brown; rounded; often striped ; very broad, with a thin shell. Quircus paltistris. The leaves of the pin oak strongly suggest to us in general outline those of the scarlet oak, page 244. When we come to examine them closely, however, we notice among other things that they are smaller and that their sinuses extend nearer to the midrib. These very differences, although they may seem slight, do in reality change the whole aspect of the trees, and give to the pin oak a lighter, more delicate appearance which is very pretty. When young it is tapering and symmetrical in outline ; but age seems to distort it, and it be- comes irregular and straggling. Its pendulous branches mark it distinctively. In early spring when the tree is blooming, its delicate maize-coloured cat- kins hang among the tender green leaves and sway and nod with them most enchantingly. In lowlands and guarding the borders of streams the tree is common, and it sometimes is found extending its roots into the river bed. In all places the tree has its own peculiar beauty, and it is an excellent one for plant- ing. In the autumn its leaves turn a deep, rich red. Its wood is coarse and not of any great value. It warps badly in drying. Galls, or oak-apples as they are sometimes called, are the round excrescences made on the branches of oak trees by gall- flies and their larvae. In some parts of New Jersey it seems as though they had an especial preference for this species. Often in the spring before enough green has been put forth to cover the bareness of winter it is quite pitiable to see so many galls cling- ing to the branches and destroying the appearance of really fine PLATE LXIV. PIN OAK. Quercus falustris. (135) 136 TREES GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. trees. " That is a typical degenerate," is a criticism called forth by one poor tree that was almost covered with them. And it was so. When broken open little green worms are found to be inhabitants of the galls, and they seem to thrive amazingly well in the porous substance. SWEET GUM. BILSTED. ALLIGATOR TREE. STAR- LEAVED GUM. {Plate LXV.) Liquiddmbar Styraciflua. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Witch-hazel. Rounded; branches, 60-140 feet. Conn, and southern April, May. slender. N. Y. southward and westward to III. Bark: reddish brown ; very rough. Branchlets : usually covered with corky ridges. Stipules: lanceolate; entire. Leaves: simple; alternate; with slen- der petioles ; rounded in outline ; cordate at the base ; palmately-lobed, the lobes from five to seven, usually five ; finely serrate ; brilliant, smooth and lustrous above ; ribs tufted in their angles below. Odour : pleasant, when bruised. Flowers : monoecious ; the staminate ones growing in a dense terminal raceme ; the pistillate ones growing in an axillary, peduncled head. Fruit : a hanging globose ball of woody, pointed pods which open and release the few good seeds contained within each one. This most beautiful tree has many distinctive features. In fact it seems to have a horror of doing things after any conven- tional pattern. Its ideas are most chaste and original. In the symmetry of their form and texture the star-like leaves are per- fect, and the quaint balls of fruit which hang on the trees over the winter are most interesting. The tree is also the only species of this country. In the south it grows to a greater height than it does northward, and its spicy, fragrant gum exudes more abun- dantly from its bark. Amber fluid is the translation of the tree's generic name which was bestowed on it in reference to this gum or copal. It is quite valuable and is much used as a sub- stitute for storax. The leaves contain tannin. Every year we notice that this tree is being more extensively planted, and in beauty of outline and detail it might almost be said to be unri- valled. As soon as the summer has begun to wane the leaves turn a brilliant, deep crimson. There is a shining bright- PLATE LXV. SWEET GUM. Liquid ambar Styraciflua. COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY PRINTED IN AMERICA. St a tn ina te flower. PLATE LXVI. CORAL SUMAC. Rhus Metopium. (137) 138 TREES GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. ness about these leaves, and when a spray of them is gathered they bear well a close inspection ; for they are not defaced or worm-eaten as is so much of the autumn foliage. In fact insects are very shy of the tree, and borers inflict no damage on the wood. The brownish-red wood of the sweet gum is smooth and has a fine finish. It is not very strong and in drying warps badly. It has, however, been used as a substitute for black walnut. CORAL SUriAC. POISON WOOD. HOG GUM. (Plate LXVI.) Rhiis Met opium. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Sumac. Head, broad; branches, spreading or pendulous. 20-40 feet. Florida and Florida Keys. April-June. Bark: reddish brown; separating into thin plate-like scales. Inner bark : orange. Branchlets : with many deep, orange-coloured excresences. Leaves: compound; alternate; growing near the end of the branches, with petioles that are enlarged at their bases; odd-pinnate, with usually five ovate leaflets rounded at the apex, and rounded, squared or wedge-shaped at the base; entire; thick; glabrous on both sides; olive-green above, paler below, the terminal leaflet sometimes longer than the others. Flowers: dioecious; growing in long axillary, erect panicles. Fruit: many deep orange-coloured drupes about half an inch long; obovate; glabrous; poisonous. About the southern keys and along the shores of Bay Bis- cayne in southern Florida the coral sumac is common. It is one of the most beautiful of all the smaller trees. In colour its young bark is exquisite and suggests the mellow tones of deeply tinted copper. Even though it is so fair, however, confidence in it is sadly misplaced. The breath exhaled by the dainty flowers is very poisonous, and its juices produce the same symptoms of illness as do those of Rhus toxicodendron, poison ivy. From incisions made in its bark an emetic and resinous gum is obtained which has some commercial value. The wood of the tree is not much used for it is rather weak. In colour it is dark brown and is very effectively lined with red. Floiver stripped of envelope. PLATE LXVII. WESTERN LOCUST. Robinia Neo- Mexicans (139) i4o TREES GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. WESTERN LOCUST. {Plate LXVII.) Robinia Neo-Mexicana. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Pea. Spreading. 10-25 feet. Colorado to New Mexico May. and westward. Bark: light brown; rough and scaly. Stipules: developing later into spines. Leaves : compound; alternate; with long pubescent petioles and having from fifteen to twenty-one leaflets; oblong-elliptical, rounded or pointed at the apex and rounded at the base; entire; bluish green and glabrous above, slightly pubescent on the lower sides of the veins and midrib. Flowers : rose colour; or nearly white, growing in short, compact racemes. Calyx : hairy. Corolla : papilionaceous, the standard low and broad. Legumes: linear; curving; pointed at the lower end and covered with bristly hairs. Seeds : dark brown. There is something particularly distinct and beautiful about all of the locusts ; and if we have followed only one of them in its course of development from the early swelling of its buds to the change and oxidation of its leaves in the autumn, it is only reasonable to feel ourselves somewhat in harmony with the whole genus. It then becomes a matter of intense interest to note the smallest variation in flower or foliage or fruit that aids to distinguish one species from another. In Colorado only, does Robinia Neo -Mexicana become a tree ; in other places it occurs as a shrub. Through cultivation it is becoming familiar, and it is quite hardy in New England. Time however is required for it to regard the nearness of man with fearlessness. Its instincts warn it, like those of the savage, to be on the defensive. We notice therefore that it is most abundantly supplied with sharp spines. Along the banks of wild mountain streams in its natural habitat these were its faithful weapons and protected its buds and bark from the ravages of small animals. AMERICAN MOUNTAIN ASH. ROWAN TREE. AMERICAN SERVICE TREE. {Plate LXVIII.) Sdrbus Americana. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Apple. Almost pyramidal^ ro-yafeet. New Foundland westward May, June. slender. and southward along the Fruit: Sept. Alleghanies. Bark : dull brown; almost smooth; odour, astringent. Leaves: compouiuJ: alternate; odd-pinnate; with red, grooved stalks and from nine to seventeen \> \ t> t m PLATE LXVIII. AMERICAN MOUNTAIN ASH. Sorbus Americana. COPYRIGHT, 1900, B/ FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPAN ORINTEO •• AMERIC- TREES GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. 141 almost sessile, long ovate or lanceolate leaflets, taper-pointed at the apex and pointed or rounded at the base. Finely serrate ; bright green above ; paler below and glabrous on both sides. Flowers: small; white; growing in large flat cymes, as many as a hundred blossoms in some clusters. Fruit: bright red scarlet berries about the size of large peas with a black spot at the apex. It is not only in the spring that there is so much of beauty about the trees ; although they then seem to be having their revel of mirth and lavishness. The autumn, with its line of purple in the sky, its many tinted mountains and hills, its richly-coloured fruits that are busy scattering their seeds, so beautifully fulfils the promises of early spring that there seems to be about it an even greater charm. But there is a note of sadness in the autumn, for it sings that the summer is past. Grim Winter is on his way, and who would stay his unerring step as he returns to reclaim his own ? At this season of the year the berries of the mountain ash are cheerful things to look upon. Their shower of scarlet is abundant, and they remain on the trees for a long time. In cultivation the tree is now so frequent and familiar that it is almost a surprise to meet it in its natural habitat. It then grows in low or moist ground ; sometimes even in swamps and cold mountain woods. An identical form of the tree occurs in Japan. S, sambucifblia, Western mountain ash, or elder-leaved mountain ash, has broader and shorter leaflets than those of Sorbus Americana which are doubly toothed and have blunt points. It also grows in moist soil. S. cuicuparia, Rowan tree or European mountain ash, differs again in having leaves that are pubescent on both sides, espe- cially so when young. The calyx of its flowers and the pedicels are woolly. Rowan tree as it is generally called is reported to have escaped from cultivation on Prince Edward Island. Just how it did so is not related ; but it probably hoodwinked the officials or tossed a sleeping draught to the gate keepers, for it has a long established reputation for witchcraft and the power to dispel evil spirits. 142 TREES GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. BILTHORE ASH. {Plate LXIX.) Fraxtnus Biltmoreana. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE Olive. Head% open; branches^ 30-100 feet. Ga. to Va.y Tenn. spreading. and Ala. TIME OF BLOOM April-June. Upper bark: light bluish grey. Twigs: stout; velvety. Buds: dark brown. Leaves: two to three inches long; compound; opposite; with dark, pubescent petioles; with from seven to nine oval, ovate or oblong-lanceolate, leaflets pointed at the apex and pointed or rounded at the base; entire or remotely dentate; soft light green and glabrous above, lighter and velvety below. Samaras: large, growing three to five inches long in dense panicles; the wing many nerved and slightly lobed at the apex. Seeds : elliptical. Among the ashes there is hardly one more graceful or with foliage of a more sunny, ex- quisite green than that of the Biltmore ash. It is light and restless, and after it has faded and fallen the tree looks as though it missed it sadly ; but the seed pods which have then turned to a dull tan colour still cling to the tree and for a long time hang in great bunches upon its boughs as though to cheer it for its loss. The tree received its name from Mr. Beadle who so christ- ened it because it is the common species on the Biltmore estate. It there grows abundantly along the French-Broad and Swanona Rivers. In general appearance the tree suggests the white ash, Fraxtnus Americana, more than any other, although it may be distinguished from it by the pubescence of its twigs and petioles. Occasionally it grows to the height of a hundred feet, but when it occurs in drier soil and among the mountains it is generally small. Fraxinus Biltmoreana. PLATE LXIX. BILTMORE ASH. Fraxinus Biltmoreana. COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY. "HINTED IN AMERICA. PLATE LXX. WESTERN BLADDER-NUT. Staphylea Bolanderi. (143) i44 TREES GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. WESTERN BLADDER-NUT. {Plate LXX.) Staphylea Boldnderi. FAMILY 8HAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Staff-tree. Erect; branches , stout. About 3-6 feet. "Pacific forests." April. Fruit: July. Branches: reddish brown, the new growth light yellow or green. Leaves: compound ; opposite ; three-foliate ; with long petioles ; the leaflets broadly oval ; abruptly pointed at the apex, and pointed or blunt at the base ; serrate; glabrous. Flowers : greenish white ; perfect ; regular, and growing in drooping, terminal panicles. Sepals : five. Petals : five. Stamens : five ; exserted. Pis- til : one, with three styles. Fruit: large ; bladder-like, and containng from one to four flattened seed in each cell. To follow the woods and streams with eyes alert to all that is growing is to live upon the brink of discovery, and when a rare or unknown plant is found there is a certain dread and ex- citement lest one may have been deceived, and a fear that the illusion will be shattered by some one pointing out that it has been known and written about in ages past. The specific name of the western bladder-nut commemorates the collector who first discovered it growing at McCloud's Fork of the Sacramento River. It is one of the rarest shrubs of the Pacific coast ; and it is not thought that it has been intro- duced into cultivation. Even more interesting than the fine delicate flowers are the curious bladder-like seed vessels. That they have sprung from things so small seems indeed a mystery. ELDER. (Plate LXXI.) Sambucus Canadensis var. Mexicana. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Honeysuckle. Round-topped, 10-30/eet. Western Texas to March-July, compact. California. Bark: brownish red ; broken in horizontal ridges. Leaves : compound ; op- posite ; odd-pinnate ; with pubescent stalks and five ovate-lanceolate leaflets, pointed at the apex and wedge-shaped at the base ; sharply serrate, and be- coming entire at the base ; yellow-green ; thick ; pubescent along the veins. Flatvers: white; minute ; growing in large, flat cymes. Fruit: a blue-black drupe ; juicy, and having no bloom. There are, perhaps, few that are not familiar with the com- mon elder, the shrub about which cluster so many old tradi- tions. In western Texas, and extending to California, the vari- PLATE LXXI. ELDER. Sambucus Canadensis var. Mexicana. (145) 146 TREES GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. ety called Mexicana differs from it in becoming arborescent in its habit. It is a very ornamental tree, free from objectional features, and about houses it is much planted for shade. Its fine light foliage makes it desirable for the purpose. The Indians and Mexicans assiduously gather its fruit every year and have many ways of preparing it as food, which, it is said, they keenly relish. S. Canad/nsis, sweet elder or elderberry, is a well known woody shrub, which commonly grows from five to ten feet high. Its flowers and cymes of deep purple fruit are possessed of medicinal properties. The leaves when crushed emit a heavy scent. SWEET BUCKEYE. BIG BUCKEYE. YELLOW BUCKEYE. {Plate LXXII) ^Esculus octdndra. FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Soap-berry. Compact; branches, 3090 feet. Along the Allegkanies April-June, slightly pendulous. to Ga. westward to Iowa. Bark : dark brown ; separating into thin pieces. Branchlets : orange-brown when young. Leaves : palmately-compound ; opposite, with usually five or some- times seven long, oval, or elliptical leaflets, taper-pointed at the apex and base; sharply serrate ; glabrous above and pubescent along the ribs underneath. Flowers: pale yellow; growing on short pedicels in close panicles. Calyx: oblong ; with five points. Corolla : with five petals, the lateral ones long, nar- row at the ends and rounded. Stamens : shorter than the petals. Fruit : a round, green husk ; uneven on the surface, but without prickles and enclosing one or two large brown nuts. In the outline of the buckeyes there is something particularly compact and well-regulated, and their symmetrical leaves cling together as though to shut out the intrusion of other ideas than their own. We can hardly fancy the boughs of these trees waving poetically ; they are much too conventional. The leaflets, as can be seen from a comparison of the illustrations, are very differently shaped from those of the horse-chestnut, which is an introduced tree. The sweet buckeye is so named because the odour of the meat of its nut is not peculiar like that of others of the genus. It is a handsome and shapely tree, PLATE LXXIi. SWEET BUCKEYE. Aesculus octandra. COPYRIGHT, 1900. BY FREOERICK A. STOKES COMPANY. PRINTED IN AMERICA. TREES GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. 147 and appears well in cultivation. In the early spring when it is covered with its yellow flowers it seems to have suddenly be- come quite frivolous. In the southwest the tree is hardly more than a shrub. Its wood is creamy white, strong, and difficult to split. A. octandra hybrida, purple sweet buckeye, is readily dis- tinguished from the preceding species in its season of bloom, as its flowers are purple or dull red. The leaves, also, are very Ascuius octandra. downy on their under surface, and the bark of the tree is lighter in colour. OHIO BUCKEYE. FETID BUCKEYE. AZsculus glabra . (Plate LX XIII.) FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Soap-berry, Spreading; branches, 18-35 feet, or Along the Alleghanies May. slender. higher. to Ala. and "westward. Fruit: Oct. Bark : grey; furrowed and separating into thin scales; odour, disagreeable. Leaves: palmately-compound ; opposite; with slender petioles and five or seven long oval leaflets, taper-pointed at the apex and base ; unequally serrate ; yel- lowish green above, paler below ; almost glabrous at maturity. Flowers : not showy ; pale yellow green ; growing in a short panicle ; pubescent. Corolla : with four erect and rather uniform petals having claws. Fruit: two smooth nuts, enclosed in a green round husk with prickles when young. Although this is not a common tree it has grown so exten- sively in Ohio that the name "the Buckeye State " has been the outcome. It is also hardy in New England, In low, moist ground and river bottom lands it finds its natural habitat. For almost every contrivance of man it seems as though there Enlarged flower. PLATE LXXIII. OHIO BUCKEYE. ^Esculus glabra. (148) TREES GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. 49 were a tree which bore the necessary and best adapted wood. Such is the provision and forethought of nature. The wood of the genus yEscu- lus is better than any other for le making of artificial limbs. A. Califor?iicay the California buckeye, is usually a small tree. The accompanying dia- gram was taken from a speci- men that had attained a great size and rounded, compact pro- portions. It bears five leaflets that are slender stalked. AlscuIus Californica. Trees Preferring to Grow in Rich Soil: Forests and Thickets. 7/ was twilight in the denser woods, A 11 the birds had ceased to sing, And a wondrous stillness filled the air As each vine did closer cling. Not a leaf was stirred on all the trees, ' Twas as though their trunks were stone. On the sultry air all there seemed carved ; Too heavy and sad to moan. Had the earth just rung for evening prayer, The twilight breeze lulled to sleep ? Or was it a painting, where all is dead, And shadows are long and deep ? No voice came the question to answer, Nor sign from the cloudless sky ; ' Till frightened perhaps by the calmness, Sailed high a white butterfly. CUCUMBER TREE. MOUNTAIN MAGNOLIA. {Plate LXXIV.) Magnblia acuminata. FAMILY 8HAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Magnolia. Pyramidal, slender. 60-90 feet. Southern N.Y. south- April-June. ward and westward. Bark : dark; rough. Branchlets: pubescent. Leaf-buds: silky; pubescent. Leaves: simple ; alternate; petioled and scattered along the branches ; oblong, pointed at the apex and rounded at the base. Dark green above, lighter below PLATE LXXIV. CUCUMBER TREE. Magnolia acuminata. 050 i52 TREES GROWING IN RICH SOIL. and pubescent. Flowers : three to six inches in diameter ; terminal ; solitary. Calyx: reflexed. Corolla: pale greenish yellow; fragrant, with six large obo- vate, narrow pointed petals. Fruit: large; ovate ; glabrous ; becoming rose coloured when ripe. Seeds : orange-red and hanging when released from the pods by fine white filaments. When we wander through a strip of woodland where the soil is rich and the atmosphere feels as though it were a shroud of humid vapour, we may look about among the white ash, the white oak and the sugar maples for the fragrant bloom of Mag- nolia acuminata. But it is generally a rare find, and it is not sufficiently common to be much associated with the forests. Its growth is most luxurious in the valleys at the bases of the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. At all seasons of the year it is a notable tree, although it can not be com- pared to the great-flowered magnolia, which has, however, attained so leading a place in beauty's ranks that it is per- haps unjust to use it as a standard for others. The resemblance of the tree's fruit when green to a small cucumber is responsi- ble for its English name. Magnolia acuminata has been used with much success as a stock on which to graft Magnolia Vir- ginia and the magnolias of Eastern Asia. They then grow more freely than when left entirely dependent upon themselves. The wood of the tree has been used in cabinet work ; but gen- erally speaking that of the whole genus, excepting Magnolia fcetida, is too soft and spongy to be of any great value. M. cordata, yellow cucumber tree, is a variety of this species which is widely cultivated. It is hardy as far northward as Boston. A most beautiful effect is produced by it when its lemon-coloured flowers are pushing out of the buds. SMOOTH AZALEA. TREE AZALEA. {Plate LXXV.) Azalea arboriscens. FAMILY 8HAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Heath. Rounded. 8-20 feet. Southern Penn. to June, July. North Carolina. Bark: dark, tinged with red. Leaves: simple; alternate; petioled ; obo- vate, acute at both ends, with entire margins which are delicately fringed. Bright green and lustrous above, paler and glaucous underneath ; in drying fragrant. Flowers: rose coloured or white; very fragrant; growing in terminal PLATE LXXV. SMOOTH AZALEA. Azalea arborescent, COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPW. PRINTED IN AMERICA. TREES GROWING IN RICH SOIL. 153 clusters and appearing after the leaves. Calyx : five-lobed ; conspicuous. Corolla : funnel-form with five somewhat irregular lobes ; viscid. Stamens: red; five; protruding. Pistil: one with a red style; protruding. Capsules: oblong. Such a wealth of beauty and fragrance is shed about by this lovely azalea in its season of bloom that its presence is hailed by every breeze that blows. Often when a strip of woodland is entered, and the dark trees cling together as though to shut out the light of day, the perfume laden air bespeaks that by following its guidance the azalea is to be found. Steps are taken and the fragrance becomes stronger. Then as a burst of rosy light the blossoms reveal themselves. Thousands of bees hum about them and guard the tree from hands that would carry its treasures away. Between this tree and the beautiful shrubs Azalea viscosa and Azalea nudiflora there is much that is similar, although they never become arborescent in their habit. Our familiarity with them, however, will help us to appreciate this most charming relative of the south. It has appealed strongly to horticulturists, and is much seen in greenhouses. AHERICAN LINDEN. BASSWOOD. WHITEWOOD. WHISTLE-WOOD. (Plate LXX VI) Tilia Americana. FAMII Y SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM Linden. Rounded, tapering 6o-Zo-x2o/eet. Northward and south- May, June, toward the summit. ward to Virginia and westward. Bark : dark brown deeply ridged vertically, and separating into thin scales. Branches: light grey or brown, terminating in green. Leaves : four to five inches long; simple; alternate; slender-petioled ; rounded in outline with abruptly and conspicuously pointed apex and cordate base ; one side of the leaf gener- ally less developed than the other; sharply and irregularly toothed ; dark green, smooth and glossy above; pubescent underneath, and especially so in the angles of the light coloured and prominent ribs. Flozvers : cream colour ; fra- grant ; growing under the leaves in a cyme on a long, slender peduncle that hangs from the centre of the midrib of a leaf-like axillary bract which is apple- green, lanceolate and smooth. Sepals : five ; pubescent. Petals : five. Stamens: numerous, and adhering in clusters of five to a petal-like scale before each petal. Fruit: greenish grey; round ; downy, and resembling small peas when young; the style and five-toothed stigma projecting from its top. Seeds : ten. A bright but unfortunately unknown poet has said that " the loveliest rose in the world is opportunity." And it is opportu- 154 TREES GROWING IN RICH SOIL. aU>s^, •T} -^m^&m