THE ASPEK 



ALL lovers of nature admire the Aspen on account of 

 its name, which, like that of the willow, is poetical, both 

 from its musical sound and from association. There is no 

 tree more celebrated in emblematical literature than the 

 Aspen. Its sensitiveness to the least movement of the 

 wind, its restless motions, as if some morbid occasion of 

 disquiet unceasingly attended it, have given it a place in 

 the poetry of all nations. But setting aside its symbolical 

 meanings, its suggestions of fickleness and caprice, of levity 

 and irresolution, of impatience and instability, and the 

 use that has been made of it in satirical writings to sym- 

 bolize the " inconstant temper of woman," the beauty and 

 motion of its foliage alone would always attract admira- 

 tion. As the Aspen is the only tree whose leaf trembles 

 when the wind is apparently calm, its gentle rustling is 

 always associated with still summer weather. 



THE GREAT AMERICAN ASPEN. 



The Great American Aspen is a remarkable tree. In 

 height it is unsurpassed by any of the poplars, though 

 there is little about it that is attractive except its 

 great height and its peculiar foliage. It is seldom of 

 large dimensions, and it is without symmetry or ele- 

 gance in its ramification. Its branches seem to have 

 a straggling growth, not extending so widely, nor at so 

 acute an angle, as those of the poplar. Its foliage is 

 its principal ornament. This would be very dense if it 



