196 SCIENCE or THE STUDY OF TREES. PART II. 



other raniose-headcd trees, the length of naked trunk bears a much less pro- 

 portion to the head. Slirubs are disthiguishcd from trees, not only pictorially, 

 but also hotanically, by liavhig no distinct trunk, or naked stem, but, wlietlicr 

 large or small, forming one entire bush. 



The trunks of trees may farther be considered with reference to the manner 

 in which they rise out of the soil, and to the manner in which the head of the 

 tree is supported by thcjn. Trees which grow in thick woods, where tlic 

 annual crop of leaves falls down, and rots into mould, have their trunks 

 a|)parently without bases ; but trees which stand in open situations, where tiic 

 falling leaves are blown away, always rise out of tiie ground with a conspicuous 

 base, formed by the junction of the trunk with the roots. No circumstance 

 adds more to the effect of a tree, as a stately and durable object in a landscape, 

 than tiie apj)carance of its trunk, rising from a secure and widely spreading 

 base ; and this appearance is one which may be imitated by art, both in drawing 

 landscapes, and in landscape-gardening, and whether the trees to be introduced 

 are young or old. 



The perpendicularity or inclination of the trunks of trees are circumstances 

 well deserving the study of the artist. Wherever trees have grown up for- 

 tuitously in groups or masses, the trunks of many of them will be found more 

 or less inclined to the horizon ; and their heads will often appear ill balanced 

 when taken singly, though in combinations such trees make the most varied 

 groups. Trees which have been planted singly, and exposed alike on every 

 side, grow up with erect trunks, and form the most stately and well-balanced 

 heads. Such trees always have the appearance of having been i)lantcd by art ; 

 svhile the others seem to convey the idea of their having been subjected to the 

 operation of natural causes. Trees of the first kind may be called gardenesque 

 trees, and of the latter, picturesque trees. Trees which grow out of rocks, or 

 on precipices, or on the banks of water, almost always have their trunks in- 

 clined to the horizon ; as trees on level surfaces, other circumstances being 

 the same, have their trunks at right angles to the horizon. 



Though shrubs arc without trunks, yet the same general remarks will apply 

 to them^ A detached shrub, on a level surface, is clothed to the grounil on 

 every side ; a shrub which has grown up among other shrubs or trees, or which 

 stands on a slope or hangs over water, will be inclined to one side. Shrubs, 

 however, admit of much less variety in point of attitude than trees. 



The branches of trees difter in many particulars. The frondose branches of 

 the pine and the fir tribe never, except under accidental circumstances, attain 

 any great size; on the other hand, the ramose branches of the oak, the chest- 

 nut, &e., frequently attain a size which rivals that of the trunk. The branches 

 of some kinds of trees proceed regularly from the stem, in some definite and 

 obvious order of succession ; others proceed from the stem apparently in an 

 irregular manner. Some extend a great length horizontally, or at right angles 

 to the stem; and others a great length acutely, or obliquely to it. The heads 

 of some trees, as the cedar of Lebanon, in a detached situation, seem to coni- 

 sist entirely of spreading branches ; of others, such as the pinaster, ot a few 

 branches at the upper "extremity of the trunk. The ramifications of the 

 branches are as various as their mode of insertion in the trunk : some are quite 

 regular, as in the fir tribe ; and others are exeedingly various and intricate, as 

 in the oak. Tiie branches of some trees have few branchlets, as in most of the 

 poplars ; others have many branchlets, as in the oak, the beech, the birch, ilc. 

 The same observations will apply to shrubs, but not in the same degree. In 

 the case of shrubs, numerous stems arise from the root ; ami these stems, in 

 many cases, produce only branchlets and spray, and, in others, only leaves. In 

 some shrubs, as in the conunon laurel, the branches trail on the ground ; in 

 others, as in the berberry and the lilac, they are numerous ami erect. Certain 

 shrubs have stems which twine round, or areotherwi.se supported by, trees or 

 other objects ; such as the ivy, the clematis, &c.; and others rise up, and fall 

 down, as in the case of the common bramble. Some shrubs arc, in their details, 

 like a collection of miniature trees ; as, for example, the butcher's broom. In 



