AUTUMN WOODS. 249 



of admiration in autumnal scenery, but the shrubs, though 

 less conspicuous on account of their inferior size, are not 

 less brilliant. It is also remarkable that reds predominate 

 in the shrubbery, and yellows in the trees. Reds and pur- 

 ples distinguish the whortleberry, the cornel, the viburnum, 

 and the sumach, including all their species. There is 

 indeed so small a proportion of yellow in the shrubbery, that 

 it is hardly distinguishable in the general mass of scarlet, 

 crimson, and purple. Among trees, on the contrary, yel- 

 lows prevail in all miscellaneous woods. They distin- 

 guish the poplar, the birch, the hickory, the tulip-tree, 

 the elm, and a good proportion of the maples. It ought 

 to be remarked, however, that there are more shrubs 

 than trees that do not change materially, but remain 

 green until the fall of their leaves. The alder remains 

 green; and as it covers a large proportion of our wet 

 grounds, it might seem to an observer in those situations 

 that the tints of autumn were confined to the trees. 



Many persons still believe frost to be the great limner 

 of the foliage, as if it were a sort of dyeing material. On 

 the contrary, the slightest frost will destroy the tints of 

 every leaf that is touched by it. It is not uncommon to 

 witness a general tarnishing of the autumnal tints by 

 frost as early as September. In some years they are 

 spoiled by it before they have begun to be developed. 

 An autumn rarely passes when the colors of the foliage 

 are not half ruined before the time when they ought to 

 be in their brightest condition. But the injury they re- 

 ceive from slight frosts is not apparent to careless ob- 

 servation. In the meridian of their beauty, heat will 

 damage the tints as badly as frost. A very hot and sunny 

 day occurring the first or second week of October makes al- 

 most as much havoc with the ash and the maple as a freez- 

 ing night, fading their leaves rapidly and loosening their 

 attachment to the branches, so that the slightest wind 

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