FASHIONABLE TREES 57 



man. The buttonwood tree prepares its seeds in 

 the form of buttons, while its leaves are not unlike 

 coat tails of sheer and fine material. The pines 

 produce leaves which are tassels, while the tulip 

 tree has its seeds in the form of exquisite brooches. 

 The palm grows large and graceful hands with 

 which to fan itself. The flowers of the horse-chest- 

 nut look like aged inebriates, while its five-pointed 

 leaves stand out like grasping hands. The white 

 blossoms of the black haw gleam through the dusk 

 like white teeth or tiny eyeballs. The mangrove 

 tree defies all etiquette by lifting her skirts high 

 above her knees as she wades in the water. Per- 

 haps it was from the mangrove that women first 

 learned of rainy-day skirts! 



The trees follow the fashions of their own par- 

 ticular kind or set but are quite disdainful of those 

 beyond the pale. Most of them consider it stylish 

 to be small around the waist, but the swamp cypress 

 deliberately sticks to the old fashion of hoop-skirts 

 and bustles. The weeping willow strives for grace 

 and daintiness, waving her branches to and fro in 

 every wind. The shell-bark hickory prefers to 

 stand up stiff and unyielding and hold his arms 

 at abrupt and unshapely angles. The Norway 

 maple is of the massive, solid type. The Lombardy 



