200 DICOTYLEDONS CONIFERS DIAGRAM 16. 



which bear handsome flowers, and are not fruit trees. It is also a 

 native of Asia. It is extensively grown in England for ornament, 

 and is much more frequently seen than the Spanish chestnut. It 

 is a hardy tree of very rapid growth, and presents a beautiful 

 appearance in the spring, when in full flower, but the fruit is not 

 eatable, and the wood is of little value. 



FAMILY SALICACE^E. 



The Poplars and Willows generally prefer a damp situation. 

 Their wood is light and of little value, but is used for purposes 

 where lightness without great durability is required, for making 

 cricket-bats, for instance. Their fruit differs from that of the oak 

 and hazel, and is a capsule which contains seeds furnished with a 

 kind of down ; and they are sometimes carried by the wind to a 

 very great distance, when the capsule opens. The young shoots 

 of the willow are extremely strong and flexible ; they are called 

 osiers, and are employed for all kinds of basket-work. 



FAMILY BETULACEJE. 



The Birch, which belongs to this family, may be immediately 

 recognized in woods by the conspicuous whiteness of its trunk, and 

 by its foliage, which is not so thick as in other trees. The birch- 

 bark flakes off outside, but is very solid, and when a large branch 

 is cut into lengths, very strong boxes can be made of the bark. 



FAMILY CONIFERS. 

 [ DIAGRAM 16. ] 



This family may be known at once by the very peculiar ap- 

 pearance of the trees which compose it, such as the pine, the fir, 

 the cedar, the larch, and the juniper. They resemble no other 



