Trees and Shrubs of Massachusetts. 179 



sober colors of their spray, render them no less interesting 

 amid tiie snows of winter : and when spring awakens her 

 floral beanties to renewed life, the new-born garniture of the 

 forests, from the delicate and pleasant green of its infancy to 

 the rapidly changing verdure and dark foliage of its matured 

 vigor, is full of wondrous charms. The great variety of 

 woody plants found in the United States of America, and 

 even in our own little State of Massachusetts, affect most ma- 

 terially the diversified scenery of the country. The most 

 rugged and bleakest hills, whether on our own sea-coast or 

 more inland, if covered with forest growth, are interesting 

 objects at all seasons of the year, and equaUy, according to their 

 peculiar merits, the deciduous forests, or the evergreen woods, 

 are full of sylvan charms. Stretching for many a mile, the 

 craggy and precipitous range of low hills inSaugus and Lynn 

 are picturesque in winter or summer, for their black forests of 

 Juniper and Red Cedar, clinging among the fissures of the 

 rocks, and disputing with struggling pertinacity with each 

 other, or with some chance species beside, for food and nutri- 

 ment ; while, in the lighter and more sandy soils, the rich and 

 towering White Pines give an air of comfort and elegance to the 

 surrounding country. The little village in which we reside, 

 seems surrounded almost, with a belt of this fine tree ; and 

 now, while the lingering snow of winter is lying about us, the 

 different colors and tints of the masses of spray, branches and 

 groups of trees, afford pleasing subjects for observation. In 

 the distance and background, two or three shades and varia- 

 tions of green, from the evergreen woods: nearer, the grey 

 branches of a young copse of some species of oak, surmounted 

 with the reddish hue of the last summers growth, relieves 

 agreeably the dull and prim drab color of the dead grass, 

 where the absence of the snow allows it to be seen. One 

 familiar with the appearance of trees and shrubs finds, in 

 his mid- winter walks, more tints and even strongly expressed 

 colors in the twigs, branches and trunks of the forests, than 

 the skilful painter could imitate : and, from the "hybernal 

 vestiges" of some tall annual, to the sempervirent or con- 

 tinued vital beauty of stronger and more enduring forms of 

 vegetable life, he can find many pleasing subjects, which escape 

 the careless eye. 



