300 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [13:7— Oct., 1917 



strong, cross-grained and difficult to split. It is very durable in 

 water and soil. 



It would depend a great deal upon the season whether you would 

 find buds, leaves, flowers or fruit. You are not to observe our 

 friend in only one season but under all conditions and times of the 

 year. Perhaps he would have secrets to tell, and I assure you he 

 has, during each of the seasons. 



During the resting period, winter, you would find buds on the 



twigs. They are rather sharp-pointed or acute, flattened, and 



smooth. These are the leaf buds. If you observed closely you 



would find larger buds placed along the sides of the twigs. These 



are the flower buds. 



o 



Along in March vou would find in the place of these flower buds, 

 before the leaves come out, if you observed closely, small incon- 

 spicuous, greenish red, true and perfect flowers in umbel-like 

 clusters, that is, the stems of the separate flowers are about equal 

 in length and starting from the same point, slender and drooping. 

 In May, you would find in place of these flowers, smooth, flattened, 

 oval bodies. These are the fruits. Upon closer observation you 

 would flnd that they each have a seed enclosed in a thin membran- 

 ous envelope-like structure which extends out and all around the 

 seed, forming a wing. At the opposite end from the place where it 

 is attached to the stem there is a deep notch. 



In the summer the tree is in full foliage or leaf. Each leaf is 

 from two to six inches in length, shaped like a section of an egg with 

 the broader end nearer the tip of the leaf. We call such a leaf, 

 obovate. The edges of the leaf are notched, and look like the 

 cutting edge of a saw, each tooth pointing toward the tip. Each 

 tooth is notched, and we call this double notching, double serration. 

 Thus the leaves are double toothed or serrated along the edges. 

 The tip of the leaf is decidedly sharp pointed or acuminate. The 

 base has a lop-sided or unequal appearance. The surfaces of the 

 mature or full-grown leaf are smooth. We also find that the ribs 

 of the leaf are parallel, extending from the central or mid-rib to 

 the edges of the leaf. 



To better understand the parts of the tree we must name its 

 parts. The main stem which is thicker than the rest and which 

 comes from the ground is spoken of as the trunk or bole. Branch- 

 ing out from the upper end of the trunk we have the branches, and 

 at the end of the branches the finer twigs or branches which we 



