JUNE EFFECTS ON THE LA WN. 59 



The beeches, indeed, are all facile princeps among trees, 

 both for beauty of color and nobility of form. No trees 

 have cleaner-cut and more elegant contours of trunk and 

 adjacent branching, and few more symmetry combined with 

 picturesqueness. As we look at them, the thought at once 

 arises how complete and enduring they look, what a sense 

 of reserve power and noble perfection they convey. 



And among them, perhaps among all trees, the purple 

 beech stands pre-eminent for broad masses of rich glowing 

 leaves in June. If we look at the young growth of the 

 purple beech against the evening or morning sun we shall 

 find displayed a peculiarly rich sparkling red, quite inde- 

 scribable. The finest tints appear on the outer portions of 

 the foliage, where the sun's magical influence can work 

 most effectually. August finds broad, shining masses of 

 more or less purple leaves on this beech when viewed from 

 certain directions, but its prime is past for color, although 

 it still holds high rank for its other excellent qualities. 



Another interesting tree for color of foliage is the Keel- 

 reuteria. Its ornamental value, though much inferior to 

 that of the purple beech, is considerable on account of the 

 warm, sunny tone and peculiar feathery conformation of the 

 foliage on the outer ends of the branches. 



Among shrubs, a fine dark purple- or red-leaved shrub 

 during June is the purple berberry. It is generally richer- 

 colored than most purple-leaved trees and shrubs, but in 

 June the color is particularly fine on the new growth. 



Another shrub of as rich color in its way is the dwarf 

 variegated-leaved Weigelia. Both have rich, pure golden 

 tints, but the dwarf variegated Weiyelia is the most useful 



