Trees, Shrubs and Vines 



of the *' Ramble," in a large open space, as must needs 

 be if it is to have full development. Trees ought to be 

 very grateful to mankind, and probably are, for taking 

 them out of a state of nature, and putting them into a 

 state of grace. What ambitious but often disappointed 

 affairs dense forest-growths are ; climbing over each other, 

 as it were, to reach the top and sunlight, where alone 

 they are verdant, and all below leafless and branchless, 

 tall barren trunks, a wilderness of gaunt forms. Nature 

 has the ability but not the room, the landscape-gardener 

 has the room but not the ability ; but let the two work 

 in conjunction, and nature finds the chance to realize 

 the ideals she has had from the foundation of the world. 

 Its late vernation and unsightly appearance for half of 

 the year prevents the coffee-tree's wide cultivation. For 

 six months it is uncouth, for the next six luxuriant and 

 stately, and all the year a curiosity. Its June flowers 

 are small and greenish-white, the staminate in very 

 short racemes, the pistillate in clusters nearly a foot 

 long, followed by pods somewhat like those of the 

 honey-locust. 



Siberian Pea-tree. — A genuinely feminine type 

 of sylvan growth is the Caragana or Siberian pea-tree, 

 its hght pinnate foliage in drooping sprays, enriched 

 with abundant small clusters of yellow flowers of pea- 

 shape, presenting a graceful but not assertive aspect, 

 with the meUifluous mood of a Keats or a Shelley. 

 There are all varieties of temperament in the trees of 

 the '* Ramble," and an imaginative mind would find 

 it a pleasant task to wander through these winding 



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