©n tbe Stuov? of IRatural Scenery. 19 



which they form a striking feature. In Europe, the ivy is 

 found in all countries and in every imaginable position, 

 growing over stones and rocks iu sunny places, on trunks of 

 elm and other trees in mixed woods, or covering the ground 

 farther north, a beautiful symbol of enduring faith. With 

 us the Virginian creeper, grape-vines, green briar, and vari- 

 ous forms of clematis are most common and noteworthy. 

 Growing everywhere over dead trees, on the face of rocks, 

 climbing to the crowns of the tallest trees and falling in 

 graceful drapery from the branches, they add a beauty and 

 a luxury to the scenery which it would be well to imitate 

 in many a garden. 



As to the trees themselves, they are almost as varied in 

 form and character as the lesser vegetation. In most de- 

 ciduous woods they mingle in a familiar manner : birch and 

 maple, beech and chestnut, lindens and hickories, many 

 species of oak and numerous flowering trees, such as halesias, 

 cherries, and flowering dogwood, are familiar objects in 

 American woods. In many parts of Europe, one species 

 very often forms the main body of deciduous woods, as 

 birch or beech. Beautiful in spring, when the tender 

 leaves unfold, and still more so in the fall, when the autumn 

 colors dazzle the eye with the most vivid shades of gold 

 and scarlet; imposing in summer or winter, with massive 

 trunks or widely branching crowns, the deciduous trees form 

 a most important part of the natural scenery in temperate 

 countries. 



Now and then the hemlock and the white cedar become 

 familiar objects in mixed, deciduous woods, and add a 

 charm of their own to the scenery. But there is a line 



