THE TREES AND SHRUBS OF HINGHAM. 



BY EDWARD T. BOUVE. 



The beauty of the natural scenery of Hingham, extremely diver- 

 sified as it is by hill and valley, pond and stream, and by its long 

 and varied coast-line, is greatly enhanced by the extent and vari- 

 ety of its woodlands. 



Standing on some of the highest hills, the picture spread out to 

 the view in various directions is that of a sea of verdure, stretch- 

 ing to the far horizon, as impenetrable to the vision as the virgin 

 forest that covered the land like a shadow when the pilgrims first 

 set foot on the darkly wooded shore of this county. 



These woodlands are rich in the number of species, and add a 

 corresponding variety to the landscape at all seasons. In winter 

 and early spring the purplish-gray masses form a picturesque 

 background to the snowy fields, except where these are fringed 

 by dark evergreens. They vary in their summer dress from the 

 black-green of the savins to the brilliancy of the oaks that reflect 

 the flashes of sunbeams from their polished foliage. In autumn 

 they light up the hillsides with colors of fire. 



But not alone do the continuous woods interest the observer. 

 Individual trees remarkable for size and symmetry are not rare ; 

 and the wild hedge-rows along fences or old stone-walls, as well 

 as the clumps and thickets in the fields, are made up of shrubs 

 and woody plants whose very existence, conspicuous as many of 

 these are in their flower, fruit, or foliage, is no more recognized 

 than is their beauty appreciated by the great majority of people 

 who spend a lifetime side by side with them. 



A series of rambles over the hills, through the woods, by the 

 meadow-bordered streams and along the seashores of Hingham, 

 will always well repay 



"him who in the love of Nature holds 

 Communion with her visible forms." 



The woody plants of New England embrace nearly two hundred 

 and fifty species. Of these, there are indigenous to Hingham 

 about half that number. 



BERBERIDACBiE. 



In all parts of the town grows that always beautiful shrub, the 

 Barberry (_Berberis vulgaris, L.). 



