7:^ FAMILIAR TREES 



physic gardens, rather than in herbaria ; and if the 

 prominent place given to " the vertues " in their de- 

 scriptions ranks them among students of applied 

 botany rather than of pure science, it does not 

 seem to have blinded them to the importance of 

 anatomical investigation. 



Botanists seem to have been generally at a loss 

 for an apt comparison for the leaves of P. tor- 

 minalis. We have already quoted the difference of 

 opinion as to Pliny's reference to the Plane, and 

 have alluded to the modern name "Maple Service?' 

 Caspar .Bauhin, who classes the tree in the genus 

 Mespilus (with the Medlars, that is), calls it Mespilus 

 A'pii folio sylvestris non spinosa, or Thornless Wild 

 Parsley-leaved Medlar ; and Ray compares the leaves 

 to those of the Water Elder or Wild Guelder-rose, 

 adding the qualification, " pedis anserini forma " 

 (shaped like the foot of a goose). 



Without trying to match it among other plants, 

 we may recognise that the form, the lightness, and 

 the early autumnal colouring of the leaf give to the 

 Wild Service-tree whatever claim it has on the score 

 of beauty to a place in our shrubberies. The fresh 

 green turns to light golden brown, and this, mingled 

 with green, as yet unchanged, and patches of purer 

 gold, is by no means a despicable contribution to 

 the glories of autumn. 



