156 THE BIRCH AND 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 exceedingly broad and almost 

 circular character. While young, the twigs and 



THE ALDER. 



leaves are excessively clammy, whence the appropri- 

 ate 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 before 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 



