73 



has glossy, oval leaves of a satin-like finish, and 

 branches, with strong thorns. 



Let us now come back to the junction of cross-walks, 

 and follow the continuation of the Walk, which began 

 at the Seventh Avenue Gate northward under the Arch 

 beneath the Drive, toward the Ball Ground. 



Just before you pass under the Arch, on your right, 

 a well-grown American hornbeam leans out its leaves 

 to you. You can pick it out easily by its smooth- 

 barked trunk and branches, which are ridged here and 

 there with gentle swellings that give them a muscle- 

 like look. This muscular effect is chiefly the charac- 

 teristic of the American species. Note, too, the fine 

 silvery veining of the smooth gray bark, and how 

 closely the tree's leaves resemble those of the birch. 

 Indeed, this resemblance is so striking in the Euro- 

 pean species of hornbeam that it has given the tree 

 its botanical name, Carpinus betulus. The staminate 

 flowers, in drooping catkins, make the tree very beauti- 

 ful in spring, veiling it with a hanging cloud of lace. 

 The pollen-bearing anthers are under the bracts of the 

 catkins. The fertile flowers are at the ends of the 

 branches, little crimson-tipped feathers of pistils wound 

 up in a leafy cluster, so small and delicate you would 

 scarcely notice them had you not looked for them. 

 These are succeeded by conspicuous clusters of hal- 

 berd-shaped seed bracts, very large in the European 

 variety. 



On passing through the Arch, you meet, close by, 

 on your left, a lamp-post. Up the bank, almost west 

 of the lamp-post, back of the bushes by the Walk, there 



