THEE FORMS. 39 



spreading head of the Maple is filled with a most 

 beautiful, elaborate, and complex network. The 

 tree is not high, but often spreads considerably, 

 and in this, as iii its zigzag, contorted aspect, very 

 much resembles the Oak. 



Its near relative, the Sycamore, ought to be 

 mentioned next to the Maple. A well-grown 

 specimen is round and handsome in form, clawing 

 the ground by the peculiar channelling of the 

 trunk which is common to many trees. The bark 

 is tolerably smooth and often rendered green by 

 the presence upon it of lichen-growths. Often- 

 times the trunk rises to a considerable height 

 before it loses its continuity and commences to 

 divide into limbs. In instances where the forking 

 commences at a half or at one-third of the total 

 height of the tree, the branches which form the 

 division are disposed so regularly around the 

 stem, and are so moderate in thickness, that they 

 give a handsome and symmetrical appearance to 

 the tree. The direction upwards of the branches 

 of the Sycamore exhibits that slight irregularity 

 which especially occasions what is termed pictu- 

 resqueness. There is no twisting or contortion, 



