Around the " Pond " — First Excursion 



Horse-chestnut. — If the fabric of some foliage 

 were not thick and heavy, we should not realize how 

 light, airy, and translucent it sometimes is. The gar- 

 ments of the horse-chestnut, like rich silk, almost 

 ** stand alone," and if her figure were Venus-like — 

 which it is far from being — she would be the envy of all 

 her tree-neighbors. Throughout the summer what a 

 refreshing coolness beneath those large, palmate, deep- 

 green leaves; but the latter glory often exceeds the 

 former, as in fall its mantle is sometimes dyed a golden 

 bronze. Its whole form is too stiff, round-topped, and 

 symmetrical to be strictly picturesque, yet a full-grown 

 specimen is of commanding aspect, and it is so luxuriant 

 and vigorous as to have become one of our most familiar 

 trees, although not indigenous, but an importation from 

 China. Its compact, numerous pyramids of white 

 flowers are of a piece with its general stiffness, but like 

 erect torches they illuminate the dark background in a 

 striking fashion. 



Our native allied species, the Ohio buckeye, has but 

 five leaflets and pale yellow flowers. Another sort, 

 probably a hybrid of the Chinese and a native, with 

 five to seven leaflets, has rose-red petals, and is quite 

 pretty, and a still finer one {/Esculus Pavid)^ of Amer- 

 ican origin, whose entire flower is red, is found in 

 cultivation in the Northeastern States. 



Poplars. — How unobtrusively yet forcibly trees im- 

 ,age human temperaments and conditions ! Some are 

 born to command, others are menial ; and one of the 

 lordly sort certainly is the cottonwood or river poplar, 



71 



