44 SYLVAN WINTER. 



But if we would consider next a really ' pic- 

 turesque ' tree, and one that has not obtained, 

 so far as we know, any reputation for winter 

 beauty, we should select the Plane (page 128), the 

 leafless aspect of which is singularly and excep- 

 tionally beautiful and striking, on account mainly 

 of the zigzag character of its ramification. The 

 bole is oftentimes very long, and it tapers 

 gradually with a series of gentle turns. From 

 irregular points all round it, the branches are 

 given off. They may be called limbs, but they 

 are not large ones. As they ascend, they become 

 twisted, proceed in curves, and then, continuing, 

 droop alternately in rounded and also in angular 

 form ; rise again, dip once more, and finally rise 

 and droop and rise again. The branches give off 

 zigzag boughs, which proceed in the same manner, 

 turning, twisting, bending, and rounding. Twigs 

 and spray follow a similar course, and the final 

 result is that the whole space occupied by the 

 outline (enclosed, that -is to say, within the out- 

 lines) of the tree is well filled by its ramification, 

 which, though irregular and picturesque, is never- 

 theless symmetrical ; for there is systematic 



