1870.] ON COLOUR IN TREE SCENERY. 465 



would at once realise any great measure of success. To such an individual the 

 scheme would probably appear Utopian. He might, by a momentary effort, call 

 up in his mind the short list of old and familiar trees with purple, white, and 

 yellow leaves — the purple Beech, the white Poplar, the variegated Turkey Oak, 

 and some few others still among the most valuable — but so few in number that he 

 would dismiss the subject as impracticable. But unless familiar with the black 

 and yellow Oaks, the yellow Elm, Acacia, and Alder, the white-leaved Acer Ne- 

 gundo, and the many beautiful Maples recently introduced from Japan — the host 

 of richly variegated trees only now becoming plentiful, — in a word, unless famil- 

 iarly acquainted with the latest introductions of this kind, he would, I submit, be 

 drawing his conclusions from incomplete information. 



In order to bring my views to a practical test, I have here a diagram, in which 

 I have merely sought to obtain the identical colours existing among trees and 

 shrubs, and must refer you to the specimens exhibited to show that these col- 

 ours really exist. This diagram, hastily executed, will perhaps also give some 

 idea of the effect of the arrangement of the colours which we possess. The light 

 green here is supposed to represent the Larch, the dark green the Yew, the red- 

 dish purple the purple Beech, the yellow the golden Oak and the white variega- 

 ted Acer Negundo. There is also introduced here the ordinary green of nature, 

 which may fairly be taken as the groundwork of our operations. 



Now I am well aware, and would not ignore the fact, that the colours of the 

 leaves of trees are influenced in some degree by cultivation and soil ; but this does 

 not affect our argument, as in the majority of cases they still bear the same re- 

 lation to each other. 



I have now to offer a few general remarks, with brief examples in support 

 of the views which I have advanced. Let us remember that we are working 

 with pictorial trees for pictorial effect. We may have spring pictures, summer 

 pictures, autumn pictures, and permanent pictures. Summer and perman- 

 ent pictures are the most valuable because of their greater durability. 

 Specimens of these are before you, and a list of their names will be given 

 at the end of this paper. The materials for spring and autumn pictures can only 

 be shown in spring and autumn. The varying tints of the unfolding leaves of 

 some trees in spring, and the glowing colours of the leaves of other trees in 

 autumn, must be familiar to all observers ; and these trees are beautiful in their 

 seasons, whether regarded individually or in combination. But they are transitory. 

 The varied and telling colours of spring, ordinarily, quickly subside into the uni- 

 versal green ; and the bright leaves of autumn fall speedily before the frost and 

 gales of that season. Yet both are desirable. The warm red and yellow tints of 

 the unfolding leaves are peculiarly cheering in the colds days of early spring, and 

 should be introduced freely when planting. The splendour of the American 

 forests in autumn is a theme on which many travellers have loved to dwell, and 

 leaves from these forests may be seen in that admirable institution the South 

 Kensington Museum. The trees we have long had under cultivation, and they 

 are not only available but capable of being wrought up with magnificent effect in 

 this country. Among the most effective of spring trees the Corstorphine Plane 

 (Acer Pseudo-Platanus fiavo-variegatum), yellow; the Acer colchicum rubrum 

 (red) ; the purple Horse-chestnut (iEsculus Hippocastanum purpureum), purple ; 

 and the Silver Poplar (Populus argentea), white, may be instanced. The shades 

 of green at this season are also innumerable, although for the most part gradually 

 subsiding into one nearly uniform tint. The brightest among the leaves of autumn 

 are perhaps the Scarlet Oak (Quercus coccinea), the Liquidambar (L. styracifiua), 

 the Stag's-horn Sumach (Rhus typhina), the Ostrya virginica, and several varieties 



