THE BIRCH AND THE ALDER. 83 



neously with the opening of the leaves, when they droop elegantly, and 

 in vast profusion, a female catkin ordinarily accompanying every male, 

 but so delicately small as almost to elude observation. The males are 

 light brown, nearly two inches in length, and pendulous ; the females 

 are green, beautifully variegated with the crimson stigmas, and gene- 

 rally erect or nearly so. The age attained by the birch is of course not 

 BO considerable as that of trees of greater girth arid robustness ; the 

 maximum stature would seem to be fifty or sixty feet. No mention of 

 the tree is made in Scripture, nor does it appear to have attracted the 

 notice of the classical poets, a fact explained perhaps by its compara- 

 tively rare occurrence in Southern Europe, where moreover it is found 

 only in mountain fastnesses. 



The Alder possesses none of the lady-like charms of the birch ; as an 

 invaluable ornament of river- scenery, it stands, however, quite on a 

 level with the willow. No tree is more easily told ; the broken, or torn, 

 or cut inside of the stem and branches, though whitish when growing, 

 very soon acquires a peculiar reddish colour, while the leaves are 

 differently shaped from any other. Ordinarily the leaves of trees 

 possess' a point, more or less attenuated, owing to the onward push of 

 the midrib. But in the alder the extremity of the leaf is absolutely 

 pointless, and there is frequently a little tendency to a sinus or inward 

 curve, resembling a bay on a coast-line. This gives the leaf an exceed- 

 ingly broad and almost circular character. While young, the twigs and 

 leaves are excessively clammy, whence the appropriate name Alnus 

 glutinosa. The darkness of the green is another feature by which they 

 may be recognised. That which is most noticeable in the tree is 

 perhaps the beautiful aspect it holds when in flower. The catkins 

 are very numerous, large, and of a deep rich brownish-red colour ; 

 coming out long befoi-e the leaf-buds expand, they are displayed, like 

 those of poplars, to the highest perfection, and gently moving to the 

 breeze, seem like legions of caterpillars, a circumstance even more 

 striking in some of the American kinds. Then in autumn we have 

 a condition more pleasing yet. At this season, upon most individuals 

 that have reached maturity, may be seen standing side by side, the 

 representatives of three distinct and successive seasons of growth. 

 Many of the black and emptied seed-catkins of the preceding year still 

 cling to the twigs ; abundance of the fat green seed-catkins of the 

 current year, resembling clusters of little fir-cones, are within reach ; 

 and upon every branch there is promise of the season to come, that is 

 to say, of the following spring, in the shape of rudimentary stamen- 



