OUR TREES IN WINTER. 49 



ciduous. The Magnolia glauca is deciduous at Gloucester, 

 but retains its leaves throughout the winter at the south. 

 The Apple is an evergreen tree at Madeira, and the 

 Rhododendrons, of which the hardier varieties are grown 

 in New England, although they do not lose all their 

 leaves annually, they persist only three or four years at 

 the most, while in England and at the south, they often 

 remain upon the plant seven or eight years. This is 

 certainly suggestive that the great preponderance of 

 deciduous trees in our climate is not the work of mere 

 chance, but is the result of ages of slow adaptation to 

 the unavoidable influences which surrounded their an- 

 cestors. 



To one not familiar with our native trees, to recognize 

 them in winter seems a difficult task. The wood-cutter 

 best knows them at this season of the year, and his 

 knowledge is chiefly derived from the appearance of the 

 trunk of the tree, or of the wood after it has been cut. 



There are many persons who have an excellent knowl- 

 edge of our herbaceous wild flowers, who are absolutely 

 ignorant of the different trees, except to distinguish, per- 

 haps, between such strikingly different families, as Oaks 

 and Maples, or Elms and Ashes. The Hickories and 

 Walnuts are always confused, and many botanists are 

 astonished when they discover, that there are four- 

 teen distinct Willows common to our own neighbor- 

 hood. 



Notwithstanding the supposed difficulty of determining 

 the different trees in summer, it is not difficult to distin- 

 guish them even in winter. A glance at the tree is often 

 sufficient, and in some families, a few twigs, bearing the 

 leaf-buds, will be enough to separate the species. Of 

 course, this is not always possible, but it will answer in 

 a majority of cases. 



ESSEX INST. BULLETIN, VOL. XIII. 4 



