ON THE CHARACTERISTICS OF TREES 255 



that deserve especial notice, and while thousands have dilated 

 upon the effects of lig:ht and shade, and the advantages or dis- 

 advantages of a blue or a muddy sky to the pictures under their 

 critique, they have been altogether indifferent as to the character- 

 istic features presented by various trees, and the differences 

 exhibited by the rigid tortuosity of the oak, the cumbrous 

 uniformity of the elm, the lofty and majestic bearing of the ash, 

 the umbrella-like umbrage of the sycamore or beech, or the 

 thousand vivifying and latticed wiry sprigs of th« dependent 

 lime, letting in the mellow sunbeams as through the traceried 

 interstices of an oriel window, Strutt, indeed, has admirably 

 depicted many of our forest trees in his "Sylva Britannica" and 

 *'DeliciaB Sylvarum ;" these are works of which we may be justly 

 proud — many, too, of Westall's views on the Thames represent 

 waving willows not to be mistaken — but the subject yet remains 

 to be treated in a scientific and botanical manner, with regard to 

 our indigenous trees. 



Every tree has some peculiar character, which, though perhaps 

 at first difficult to describe, is at once caught and recollected by the 

 eye of the observant naturalist, so that whatever difficulty he 

 may have to make out the trees of the landscape-painter, he has 

 none with those of the real landscape itself. •'^ The funereal yew, 

 the bending willow, and the sturdy oak, will occur to all. This 

 *' physiognomy" of vegetation depends, generally speaking, on a 

 very few peculiarities. Of these the most obvious is the mode of 

 branching, or ramification of a tree or shrub. The importance of 

 this characteristic is so perceptible, that even in winter, trees may 

 be distinguished by it, and the observer of nature needs not 

 foliage to perceive the striking difference between a poplar, an 

 oak, a beech, or a willow. The branches of a poplar form acute 

 angles with the main stem ; both are straight, giving the tree a 

 pyramidal appearance, which in contrast with others, renders it 

 ornamental in plantations. The willow, on the other hand, 

 " stooping as if to drink," if in its prime of beauty, gracefully 

 waves its tresses over the ruffled waters, or as an old pollard on 

 the bank of the stream, looking like a giant, with huge distorted 

 head, cannot be mistaken. The beech darting round its con- 

 voluted spokes in regular order, with its wiry branches and smooth 

 bark, forms another character; while the " gnarled " and *' knotted 

 oak," stiff, rigid, and motionless, even amidst the most furious 

 blast of winter, merely moans a gruff defiance to the storm. 



* An instance exemplifying this occurred to me a few weeks since. "Walking 

 with a friend in the country, an extraordinary large misletoe bush caught our view 

 among the branches of a tree on an eminence at some distance. Its great size had 

 a curious effect, and from the shape of the branches of the trees around, I thought 

 it was an oak. My companion differed from me in opinion, and we had an arduous 

 scramble "over bush, bank, and scaur," to determine the matter, when it actually 

 proved to be a lime, but growing so close to an oak, that the branches of two trees 

 were intermingled together. What was also very curious, numerous oaks grew on 

 this ridge, but no other lime. 



May, 1835. — vol. ii. no. x. 2 l 



