788 Home* Xature-Studv Course. 



ness. They are very thin, smooth and silken, oblong, pointed, with very 

 short stems, and stand out horizontally from the twig, so that it is 

 no wonder that the beech in summer is the best of shelter, both in sun and shower, 

 for its shade is very dense and it yields more slowly to the penetration of the rain 

 than any other tree. The veins spring straight from the mid-rib to the small sharp 

 tooth at the edge of the leaf. In spite of their delicate fineness the leaves are very 

 strong and firm. 



Often the four-lobed, spiny burs cling to the twigs till late in the winter, and 

 still show where the bases of the two triangular nuts rested. 



The winter buds show just above the ring of leaf-scars, or the leaves themselves 

 if they still remain. They are long, slim, smooth and pointed, their many scales 

 very tightly folded, shining like silk, and of a lighter brown than the twig which 

 bears them. Like all the rest of the tree they have an expression of delicacy and 

 strength combined. 



Lesson XXVIII. 



STUDY OF THE BEECH IN SPRING. 



In April it is possible to find in the undergrowth beneath a beech tree 

 some nuts which have escaped the hungry squirrels and mice. These are 

 ready for germination and make a most interesting study. They may be 

 brought to the schoolroom, placed in a pot of wet moss and their develop- 

 ment watched. The unfolding of the leaf buds may also be observed in 

 the schoolroom by putting a handful of large twigs in a jar of water in 

 a sunny window. But to see the dainty blossoms one must visit the tree 

 itself in May when the leaves are not quite half grown. 



Observations by pupils: 



(i). If you have germinating beech nuts tell whether the shoot appears 

 at the point, at the base, or at the side. 



(2). What emerges first, the leaf -shoot or the root? 



(3). Draw as well as you can the shape of the first leaves which unfold. 

 Are they like the beech leaves which you have seen on the tree ? Did the 

 seed-leaves draw out of the shell or lift it up and wear it like a helmet? 



(4). If 3^ou are forcing a jar of beech twigs note whether the bud 

 scales lengthen as they loosen and unfold. 



(5). Are the new leaves fuzzy or hairy? 



(6). Do the scales which protect them drop away as soon as they un- 

 fold? 



(7). If you are observing a blossoming beech describe the flowers. Are 

 there more than one kind? From what part of the twig do they spring? 

 Are the flower-stems long or short? 



