SPEAT. 181 



In summer the light-green tint of their foliage, 

 and in autumn the glowing berries which hang 

 clustering upon them, contrast beautifully with 

 the deeper green of the Pines; and if they are 

 happily blended, and not in too large a proportion, 

 they add some of the most picturesque furniture 

 with which the sides of these rugged mountains 

 are invested.' * 



The lightness of the pinnate foliage of the 

 Mountain Ash does not adorn the wintry land- 

 scape, but another contrast with the dark-green hue 

 of the Pine is furnished by the absence of leaves 

 and the presence oftentimes of red berries, which 

 enkindle the twigs, bared of their summer dress 

 so that still the tree is beautiful and striking. 



The prickly Blackthorn must not be forgotten 

 in our enumeration of the spray of trees. Com- 

 monly seen as a bush, it often becomes a not 

 inconsiderable tree. Twisted, bent, irregular in 

 its growth and sharply spined, the spray of this 

 common but interesting plant is worth notice. 

 Cultivation and domestication have largely de- 



* ' Forest Scenery,' page 59. 



