THE ALDER, ETC. 101 



of the speckled alder, abruptly pointed, and wavy at 



the fine-toothed edge ; there is a tuft of down at the 



angles of the veins beneath. The younger branches 



and the stems of the leaves are usually glutinous. 



Several forms of the tree are cut-leaved. 



,_ The hop hornbeam, sometimes called 



Hop Hornbeam. L 



Ironwood. ironwood, is a slender tree with ex- 



Ostrya virginica. ceedingly hard wood, which is used 



Ostrya Virginiana. . . 



in making cogs lor mill-wheels, teeth 

 for wooden rakes, mallets, axe handles, cart pins, and 

 other fanning implements which must possess extra 

 strength. Its leaf is beautifully formed, exquisitely 

 sharp-toothed, and has a somewhat dull, light-green 

 color ; a stem scarcely a quarter of an inch long joins 

 it with the slender twig, from which it grows out 

 horizontally. A comparison of this leaf with that 

 of the black birch reveals a certain similarity ; the 

 great difference, however, lies in the texture : the 

 hornbeam's leaf has a rough finish, and the birch 

 leaf shines ; furthermore, it has a stem fully three 

 quarters of an inch long. 



The bark of the trunk is finely furrowed in per- 

 pendicular lengths of four inches^ rarely more. The 

 young shoots are olive-green of a ruddy tone dotted 

 with dark brown. The fruit, as one may see by my 

 drawing, greatly resembles the hop ; it appears in 

 August or September. The tree rarely grows over 



