112 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



Trees and Flowers. 



BY W. C. BANKS, STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT. 



Some years ago, my interest was di- 

 rected to flowers and trees and I be- 

 came painfully aware that I knew less 

 than nothing about them. I deter- 

 mined to remedy this. But at the start 

 I encountered the obstacle that I be- 

 lieve prevents thousands from becom- 

 ing students of nature : a lack of 

 information concerning text-books and 

 methods of study. I did not know 

 where to get the books I needed, nor 

 where to apply for the information. 

 ArcAdi'A? Well, yes, now ; but at that 

 time Sound Beach was more noted for 

 strawberries and clams than as the 

 seat of a popular nature college. 



I had an old Gray's Manual but I 

 do not recommend it to a beginner. 

 At that stage of my knowledge and 

 desires, it repelled me. Finally, I 

 found the books I needed. I procured 

 a copy of "Our Trees and their Leaves" 

 (Matthews) and "Field Book of Amer- 

 ican Wild Flowers" by the same author. 

 I also bought a copy of Gray's "Field 

 and Class Book of Botany." This is 

 Gray's original work, not revised, and 

 although it is perhaps somewhat ob- 

 solete, I value it highly. With this 

 book I studied botany all one winter. 

 It is necessary to have a little know- 

 ledge of the technical side of the sub- 

 ject in order to appreciate and enjoy 

 the study of flowers and trees. In my 

 rambles about the country, I collected 

 the leaves and, as far as possible, the 

 fruits of every available species of tree. 

 By comparing these with the descrip- 

 tions and illustrations in my text- 

 books I soon became well acquainted 

 with most of the trees of this region. 

 The number of beautiful species that 

 we have is really surprising. It is 

 fascinating to study them, they dififer 

 so widely in form and character. Com- 

 pare, for instance, the white oak, gray 

 birch, beech, tupelo, bilsted and chest- 

 nut, not forgetting the white elm and 

 the tulip tree. What a difiference in the 

 habit of growth and in the form and 

 color of their leaves. I have a large 

 box full of dried leaves that I collected 

 while studying trees. I have several 

 times thought to destroy them, but 



they are so associated with memories 

 of pleasant rambles in the woods, that, 

 thus far, they have escaped cremation. 

 They are not so much dried leaves of 

 ancient vintage as documents proving 

 that I had a right good time the day I 

 collected those from the tulip tree, and 

 saw the beautiful greenish blossoms 

 touched with red. Also, the day I 

 collected this spray of the hop horn- 

 beam near Gorham's Pond and got 

 caught in a shower, which I weathered 

 nicely, thank you, under the wide 

 branches of a hemlock. Also this big, 

 tinted, sugar maple leaf, which came 

 home with me from the Shepaug Val- 

 ley, together with a bagful of garnets 

 and spathic iron ore, with memories of 

 masses of scarlet and gold on the rocky 

 hillsides under a blue October haze. 

 And so on through the box. I intend to 

 be sentimental and keep those leaves. 

 In studying the wild flowers I se- 

 lected a piece of country about one- 

 half mile long and one-quarter mile 

 wide, on both sides of the Noroton 

 River. Once a week I explored this 

 region. In this way I came to know 

 the flowers in their season. The num- 

 ber of species that a limited area, such 

 as this, will yield, is surprising. This 

 has now been partly cleared and built 

 on and many of the wild flowers are 

 gone, still I find some of my favorites, 

 but in sadly reduced numbers. Wild 

 flowers and civilization do not success- 

 fully mingle. I remember, as quite an 

 event, the time when I found the In- 

 dian cucumbers growing on the edge 

 of a swamp. Also the masses of pinx- 

 ter flowers, and the water lilies, and the 

 half acre of Pentstemon in blossom, 

 and the day that I looked into a tangled 

 growth and discovered the colony of 

 closed gentian. But the "find" that 

 pleased me most was a single stem of 

 the Turk's-cap lily with twenty-one 

 blossoms, looking like a Christmas tree 

 with its candles lighted. And so on 

 down the entire list of finds. There 

 was, and is, a thrill in every one. Try 

 it and see. I began this article intend- 

 ing to tell how I studied flowers and 

 trees. But telling of the pleasure that 

 I have had in their company has taken 

 all my time. To be in their company 

 is the best way to study them ; find 

 pleasure in their society and that will 



