338 THE ASPEN. 



principal defect is the thinness of its foliage and spray ; 

 its small branches are few and far apart, and its leaves 

 small and sparse. Yet the beauty of each individual leaf 

 is unrivalled. It is heart-shaped, finely serrate, and when 

 young is fringed with a soft, silky, and purple down. It 

 would be difficult to select a branch from any other 

 tree, when in leaf, so beautiful as a spray of the Small 

 Aspen. 



I do not understand the botanical difference between 

 the Aspen and the poplar, except that the former includes 

 certain species that possess in an exaggerated degree the 

 family characteristic of a tremulous leaf. The Aspen, 

 however, is the proverbial tree, the tree of romance and 

 fable. Hence we regard it with more interest, though in 

 America the two aspens fall short of the poplars in 

 almost every point of elegance and beauty. 



