108 FAMILIAR TREES 



branchlets and twigs, bending slightly downwards, 

 and giving to the whole tree a rounded outline. 

 The head of the fine Beech at Knole Park, near 

 Sevenoaks, called the King's Beech, is 352 feet in 

 diameter. 



It is in April, however, that the beauty of the 

 Beech generally first commands our attention. The 

 pointed, dull-brown buds assume a more glossy 

 hue. They swell almost visibly from day to day 

 under the influence of the genial sunshine, warmth, 

 and moisture. As the sunlight falls on a sloping 

 Beech-wood from a white cloud hanging in the deep 

 blue of an April sky, it will be seen to glow like a 

 sheet of bronze ; and just before bursting the buds 

 will be almost red. Then on one particular tree, 

 year after year, often on one particular branch, the 

 first leaves burst forth as the clearest emeralds, 

 heralds of the coming of the full springtide glory. 

 As they grow in size the leaves deepen in tint. 

 To enjoy them in their fullest beauty, we should 

 walk under the trees when the sun is shining 

 brightly through them, and we can then see each 

 pellucid sunshade to be fringed with a row of 

 most delicate silky hairs hairs that protect it from 

 undue moisture or the radiating cold of the late 

 frost. 



When the leaves of each emerald tier of verdure 

 lose these silky hairs, the tree has parted with one 

 of its charms, though when the leaves are more 

 opaque, as they then are, their glossy surfaces, 

 reflecting every glint of sunshine, still render the 

 tree, as a whole, anything but a heavy feature in 



