274 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers 



where snow seldom falls heavily, and never lies in 

 unwieldy masses. 



The little needle-shaped or scale-like leaves of 

 northern evergreens make up in number what they 

 lack in size. 



But though the trees are evergreen their leaves 

 are not. One by one they fade and fall, till, in 

 the course of a few years the entire foliage has 

 been shed. Thus the spruce drops all its needles 

 in the course of six or seven years. The yew- 

 leaves fall after they have weathered the gales of 

 about eight winters, and the leaves of the silver-fir 

 drop to the ground when they have reached the 

 ripe old age of twelve years. The discoloration of 

 ageing leaves is not noticed amid the general 

 greenness of their surroundings, and the void made 

 by their fall is soon filled by fresh individuals. 



The larch in the North and the " bald-cypress " 

 in the South have departed widely from the family 

 custom of the cone-bearers. Like the broad-leaved 

 trees they drop their foliage each autumn, and 

 they appear in spring clothed in complete new 

 suits of tender green. 



The true evergreens which retain their needles 

 throughout, assume a sombre tint witli the coming 

 of the first heavy frosts. This is because the 



