42 PHENOMENA OF PLANT-LIFE. 



doubled up fan-wise, the leaf is rolled up like a scroll 

 of paper, a plan varied by beginning from the edges, 

 or beginning from the centre. Sometimes the leaf is 

 rolled up from the apex downwards and inwards ; and 

 sometimes it is doubled up in a curious way that can 

 be compared only to a succession of saddles, placed 

 one upon the other, and with an opposite set similarly 

 packed together. And these peculiarities are peculiar 

 to their own races, so that a single one will declare to 

 the experienced eye, almost as much as the fully 

 formed leaf. Cherry and plum trees may thus be dis- 

 tinguished from one another, before there is a speck 

 of either green or white on their dark-hued boughs. 



The trees that come out next are the beech, the al- 

 der, and the lime. The buds of the beech resemble 

 long brown thorns. If we open one of them carefully, 

 the rudimentary leaves may be distinctly seen, every 

 leaf folded fan-wise, and completely covered with 

 straight white hairs, that seem atoms of the finest silk. 

 The brown sheaths that cover them up are also ex- 

 ceedingly delicate ; the sheaths that lie next the leaves 

 are pink, and when the foliage is pretty well opened, 

 present a charming contrast of colors. The silky 

 hairs also remain for a long time, so that new beech 

 leaves may be identified by their presence, especially 

 as a large portion form a kind of fringe to the leaf, 

 after the manner of the eyelashes along the eyelid. 

 The fair green emerald light of a young wood is with- 



