322 DECIDUOUS TREES. 



adapted to receive grand masses of light. In this respect it is 

 superior to both the oak and the ash. Nor is its foliage, shadow- 

 ing as it is, of the heavy kind. Its leaves are small, and this gives 

 it a natural lightness; it commonly hangs loosely, and is, in 

 general, very picturesque. The elm naturally grows upright, and 

 when it meets with a soil it loves, rises higher than the generality 

 of trees, and, after it has assumed the dignity and hoary roughness 

 of age, few of its forest brethren excel it in grandeur and beauty." 

 The blossoms of this species are of a dark crimson color, and on 

 old trees are sometimes so abundant as to enrich the just-budding 

 verdure of the tree with peculiar beauty. 



THE ENGLISH CORK-BARK ELM. Ulmus suberosa. This is a 

 marked variety of the U. campestris, with its young branches very 

 corky. The leaves are rough on both sides, more rounded, and 

 two or three times as large as the normal size of the leaves of that 

 species, and in this respect resembles our red elm. 



THE DUTCH CORK-BARK ELM. Ulmus major. This variety 

 has still larger leaves and more corky bark than the preceding, 

 and a more spreading habit of growth. It is not considered so 

 healthy as the English elm. 



THE PURPLE-LEAVED ELM. Ulmus purpurea. This is a com- 

 pact, upright grower, with quite small leaves, of a dull purple color. 

 A variety of the English elm. 



THE SCOTCH OR WYCH ELM. Ulmus montana. This resem- 

 bles more our great American elm than any other British species, but 

 it is still very distinct in many respects. Singularly enough, this tree 

 so hardy, vigorous, and beautiful, and so long valued in Scotland 

 and England, is yet but little known in this country. It is one of the 

 most valuable of trees for avenues ; beautiful in any situation, and 

 picturesque from its youth upwards. Loudon says of it : " The 

 trunk is so bold and picturesque in form ; the limbs and branches 

 are so free and graceful in their growth ; and the foliage is so rich 

 without being clumpy as a whole, and the head is so finely massed 



