Around the " Pond " — First Excursion 



the purple-leaved beech, a mere variety of the European 

 form, said to have been discovered by a clergyman in a 

 German forest. A cluster of four can be seen on the 

 right after crossing the bridge. The dark color is 

 deepest in spring and summer, but largely '* burns off" 

 by fall, when the green is but slightly tinged. The 

 foreign beech is recognized by its smaller, rounder and 

 scarcely serrate leaf. The base of the trunk is but- 

 tressed by spreading roots even in a small beech more 

 than in any other tree. 



European Alder. — Darkly rising from the water's 

 margin — its congenial situation — both at the Pond and 

 the Lake, is the alder, a gloomy but effective tree : not 

 a native growth, but from Europe, for our own alders 

 are only shrubs. It is ominous-looking in so sombre 

 hue, and sure to attract attention either in winter with 

 its branches thickly hung with black cone-like fruit, and 

 blackish bark, or in summer, luxuriant in dusky foliage. 

 The leaf is much like that of native alders — thickish, 

 oval and sharply serrate — not a handsome type, yet one 

 that masses up finely in suitable situations. In early 

 spring the alder is conspicuous for its abundance of long, 

 slender yellowish catkins. Although this is a primitive 

 mode of inflorescence, it sometimes is strikingly effec- 

 tive, coming as it often does, especially in birches, al- 

 ders and willows, before the leaves develop. Indeed, 

 one will rarely see a more beautiful view of its kind 

 than a white birch in early May, laden with slender 

 yellow tassels, like a rain of gold ; no ornate blossoms 

 could be more pleasing, the effect being heightened by 



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