THE ALDER. 215 



like little Fir-cones, but are not produced until spring. 

 When these ripen, the thick scales of which they are 

 composed separate and allow the seeds to fall, but remain 

 attached to the tree themselves all the winter, and by them 

 the tree may be distinguished when stripped of all its 

 foliage. In the young trees the bark is smooth and of a 

 dark purple-brown hue, but in old trees it is rugged, and 

 nearly black. When allowed to attain its full growth, it 

 reaches a height of forty or fifty feet, if the situation be 

 favourable ; but in the mountains and in high latitudes it 

 does not rise above a shrub. 



There are probably few rivers in England which have 

 not Alders growing somewhere or other on their banks. 

 Where they most nourish is in good soil which is at 

 all times a little raised above the level of the water ; for 

 although they will grow in swampy ground, they prefer 

 places where their roots are not always covered with water. 

 It has been observed that their shade is much less inju- 

 rious to vegetation than that of other trees : 



" The Alder, whose fat shadow nourish eth 

 Each plant set neere to him long flourisheth." 



BROWNE. 



The haunts of the Alder being the places where beyond all 

 others we should expect to find picturesque scenery, it 

 cannot fail to form a part of many a beautiful landscape, 

 though it contributes but little itself, the outline of the 

 tree being in most cases too formal, and the foliage not 

 broken into varied masses. Yet it has its admirers. 

 Gilpin considers it " the most picturesque of the aquatic 

 trees, except the Weeping Willow. He who would see the 

 Alder in perfection must follow the banks of the Mole, in 

 Surrey, through the sweet vales of Dorking and Mitcham, 

 into the groves of Esher. The Mole, indeed, is far from 

 being a beautiful river ; it is a silent and sluggish stream ; 

 but what beauty it has it owes greatly to the Alder, which 

 everywhere fringes its meadows, and in many places forms 



