1966 AliBOIlETUM AND FIlUTlCETUiM. I'AK'J' III. 



supposed the shade of the beech to be as wliolesoine, as that of the wahiut 

 was the reverse. 



The purple beech, and tlie other varieties, are trees of singularity, which 

 produce a strikini,' effect when judiciously introduced among other scenes 

 composed of foreign trees, and mark in an especial manner, wherever they are 

 seen, the hand of art and refinement. 



For till- piclures(]uc Properties of the Beech, we shall resort to our usual au- 

 thority,Gilpin. "After timber trees," this author observes, " the beech deserves 

 our notice. Some, indeed, rank the beech among timber trees; but, I believe, 

 in general it does not find that respect, as its wood is of a soft spongy nature, 

 saj)py, and alluring to the worm. In point of picturescjue beauty, I am not 

 inclined to rank the beech much higher than in point of utility. Its skeleton, 

 con)pared with that of the trees we have just examined, is very deficient. Its 

 trunk, we allow, is often highly picturestiue. It is studded with bold knobs 

 and projections, and has sometimes a sort of irregular fluting about it, which 

 is very characteristic. It has another peculiarity, also, which is sometimes 

 pleasing, — that of a number of stems arising from the root. The bark, too, 

 wears often a pleasing hue. It is naturally of a dingy olive; but it is always 

 overspread, in patches, with a variety of mosses and lichens, which are com- 

 monly of a lighter tint in the up[)er parts, and of "a deep velvet green towards 

 the root. Its smootiiness, also, contrasts agreeably with those rougher appen- 

 dages. No bark tempts the lover so much to make it the depository of his 

 mistress's name. It conveys a happy emblem: — 'Crescent ilia;; crescetis 

 amores.' In a chequered grove, we sometimes see very beautiful efiects pro- 

 duced by the brilliant sparkling lights which are caught by the stems of beeches : 

 but, having [)raised the trunk, we can praise no other part of the skeleton. 

 The branches are fantastically wreathed, and disproportioned, twining awk- 

 wardly among each other, and I'unning often into long unvaried lines, without 

 any of that strength and firmness which we admire in the oak, or of that easy 

 simplicity which pleases us in the ash : in short, we rarely see a beech well 

 ramified. In full leaf, it is equally unpleasing : it has the appearance of an 

 overgrown bush. Virgil, indeed, was right in choo^ing the beech for its shade : 

 no tree forms so complete a roof. If you wish either for shade or shelter, 

 you will find it best ' patulte sub tegmine fagi.' This bushiness gives a great 

 heaviness to the tree, which is always a deformity. What lightness it has 

 disgusts. You will sometimes see a light branch issuing from a heavy mass ; 

 and, though such pendent branches are often beautiful in themselves, they are 

 seldom in harmony with the tree. They distinguish, however, its character, 

 which will be seen best by comparing it with the elm. The elm forms a 

 rounder, the beech a more pointed, foliage ; but the former is always in liar- 

 mony with itself. Sometimes, however, we see in beeches of happy com- 

 position the foliage falling in large flocks, or layers, elegantly determined ; 

 between which the shadows have a very forcible effect, especially when the 

 tree is strongly illumined. On the whole, however, the massy, full-grown, 

 luxuriant beech is rather a displeasing tree. It is made up of littlenesses, 

 seldom exhibiting those tufted cu[)s, or hollow dark recesses, which disport in 

 the several graml branches of the beautiful kind of trees. Contrary to the 

 general nature of trees, the beech is most pleasing in its juvenile state, as it 

 has not yet acquired that heaviness which is its most faulty distinction. A 

 light, airy, young beech, with its spiry branches hanging, as I have just de- 

 scribed them, in easy forms, is often beautiful. I have seen, also, the forest 

 beech, in a thy hungry soil, preserve the lightness of youth in the maturity of 

 age. After all, however, we mean not to repudiate even the heavy luxuriant 

 beech in picturesque composition. It has sometimes its beauty, and oftener 

 its use. In distance, it preserves the depth of the forest; and even on the 

 spot, in contrast, it is frequently a choice accompaniment. We call a forest 

 dee[) when we cannot see through it ; so that, at a distance, a thin wood of 

 beeches will have the effect of a large one. In tlie corner of a landscape, 

 when we want a thick heavy tree, or a |)art of one at least, which is olten 



