THE LIMB, 87 



all trees ; wanting the white limbs of the " lady-of- 

 the-woods," the lime is still fashioned after the sweet 

 ideal which the others disclose in leaf and stem ; and 

 if we cannot single out, in a mechanical and prosaic 

 manner, a speciality which shall at once decide its 

 claim to be placed in the feminine section, that 

 comes of the perfect manner in which the qualities 

 of this beautiful tree are intermingled and adjusted.* 

 Is it not just so with a true woman the ultimate 

 and crowning perfection of all those amiable features 

 and qualities which in plants and flowers have a 

 sweet foreshining ? For here the heart is appealed 

 to and satisfied, not alone by red and white, such as 

 an artist can apply ; not alone by gentle demeanour, 

 which may be practised for the stage; not alone 

 either by kindly words and fair courtesies and gene- 

 rosities, but by that matchless combination of all 

 these, and many more things, for which there is only 

 one name a true woman. 



The Lime-tree is less known as a tree of the 

 woods and forests than of parks, pleasure-grounds, 

 and gardens. It is very frequent, also, as an orna- 

 ment of squares and open spaces in towns and cities, 

 as witness those delightful avenues past which the 



* In speaking of the Lime as a " feminine " tree, of course 

 we do not mean that, like the female plants of willows and 

 poplars, it is female in sex. Every blossom, and consequently 

 every individual tree, is in the most perfect sense bisexual, 

 every blossom having its own pistil and many stamens. 



