234 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



PEPPER TREE. 

 Aralia or Japanese paper tree in foreground. 



A resinous gum which, perhaps, acts as 

 an absorbent is tbe coat of mail for these 

 "bouquets of ferns and red currants." 

 But like many another beauty her chief 

 asset must offset all others, for the wood 

 of the pepper is brittle and useless and 

 the foliage too thin to afford sufficient 

 shade from summer sunshine. The 

 leaves are subject to attacks of black- 

 scale and a sorry sight it is to see the 

 rows of trees, which last winter excited 

 so much admiration, in summer trans- 

 formed to skeletons, cut back almost to 

 the trunk, hart* stumos of limbs with not 

 a leaf left of the drooping foliage in 

 growth so like the weeping willows that 

 in walking the streets one must often 

 • hick to avoid their contact. Next win- 

 ter these skeleton trees will be again 

 clothed with green for, like all Western- 

 ers, Nature here does quick, energetic 

 work. 



Other trees much used for street orna- 

 mentation are the Grevillias and Acacias. 

 The former are a disappointment for, al- 

 though they put forth feathery foliage 

 and grow rapidly at first, they become 

 scraggly later and are only pretty when 

 in blossom. The flowers at close view 

 are very interesting — a mass of little yel- 

 low sticks with chocolate tips standing 

 straight up from the horizontal stem; at 

 a distance they give the effect of a mist 

 of golden clouds amongst the green foli- 

 age. 



There are over one hundred species of 

 Acacia to be seen in the show places of 

 Redlands, Riverside and Pasadena. The 

 later winter months are glorified by their 

 brilliant blossoms varying in shape from 

 little gold buttons to drooping tassels and 

 tall, feathery plumes of bright yellow. 



Some trees are interesting for shape 

 and mode of growth. The odd Auri- 



AURICARIA— "MONKEY PUZZLER. 



