TREES, EVERGREENS, AND SHRUBS. 25 



mosses — tlie green which tinges the trunk of the beech ; 

 the brimstone-coloured, and black, which stain the oak ; as 

 the yellow, which is frequently found on the elm and ash, 

 are among the most beautiful of those tints which embel- 

 lish the bark of trees. 



" I have often stood with admiration before an old 

 forest oak, examining the various tints which have en- 

 riched its furrowed stem. The genuine bark of an oak is 

 of an ash colour, though it is difficult to distinguish any 

 part of it from the mosses that overspread it ; for no oak, 

 I suppose, was ever without a greater or a less proportion 

 of these picturesque appendages. The lower parts about 

 the roots are often possessed by that green, velvet moss, 

 which, in a still greater degree, commonly occupies the 

 bole of the beech ; though the beauty and brilliancy of it 

 lose much when in decay. As the trunk rises, you see the 

 brimstone-colour taking possession in patches. Of this 

 there are two principal kinds, — a smooth sort, which 

 spreads like a scurf over the bark ; and a rougher sort, 

 which hangs in little rich knots and fringes. I call it a 

 brimstone-hue, by way of general distinction, but it some- 

 times inclines to an olive, and sometimes to a light green. 

 Intermixed with these mosses, you often find a species 

 perfectly white. Before I was acc^uainted with it, 1 have 

 sometimes thought the tree whitewashed. Here and 

 there a touch of it gives a lustre to the trunk, and has its 

 effect ; yet, on the whole, it is a nuisance ; for as it 

 generally begins to thrive when the other mosses begin to 

 wither, (as if the decaying bark were its proper nutri- 



