272 Trees for Shade and Ornament 



A. polynwrphum S. &. Z. (palmaliim) (156), the basis of the finest 

 series of low varieties, the type twelve to eighteen feet, with deeply cut 

 to palmate (five-fingered) leaves, formed of oblong to elliptic, small 

 leaflets of various shades. The prettiest, daintiest is .1. atropitrpureiim 

 dissectnm (156a), five or six to twelve feet high, with a foliage of fern-like 

 appearance and dark purple foliage throughout the year, on grac.ful, 

 spreading sprays of branchlets. Not hardy in Ottawa. 



A. sanguineum (1566) (blood-leaved) vies with the former for first 

 place, with a brighter-colored hue. 



A. roseopictiim (156c) is a rarer treelet, with variegated white, yellow, 

 rose, and green tints. 



ALDERS 



Alnus. Some twenty species, mostly of northern range, hence hardy, 

 of small trees or (mostly) tall shrubs, rapid growers, with dark, simple 

 foliage, mainly adapted for wet soils along streams, but will thrive in 

 drier sites. They are useful as cheap nurses, for grouping in thickets, 

 and as fillers, and combine well with foliage of a leathery or semi-ever- 

 green character, for fringes along watercourses, ponds, and lakes, 

 massed as they appear in nature, and as a background to refined plan- 

 tations; the few tree fonns fit for small lawns. Their early flowers, 

 appearing with the first breath of spring in graceful, yellowish tassels, 

 are their most attractive feature. 



Of the tree fonns, the largest and best is the European — ■ 



A. glutinosa Gaertn. (157), Black Alder, an interesting as well as 

 handsome small tree, with a symmetrical, conical, or elliptical outlir.e 

 and with luxuriant, shiny, dark green foliage, of very long leaf period; 

 its slender, yellowish, tassel-like catkins in early spring, and its cone- 

 like fruit and dark bark making fine winter efi"ects. Although most 

 natural near water, it will grow well in dry situations, and is very com- 

 mendable for small places. It is somewhat subject to attacks by leaf 

 miners. It is a rapid grower, adaptive to all soils, and hardy even to 

 Manitoba. 



A cut-leaved variety, A. impcrialis {iSia), is very handsome, with 

 compact, very finely shaped foliage, and pleasing, conical form. 



A. cordifolia (cnrdata) Ten. (158), from Italy and the Caucasus, a 

 round-headed tree, is said to be still more ornamental than the former, 

 with a distinct, glossier foliage, changing to orange-yellow, but is not 

 quite hardy in the north. 



