98 FAMILIAR TREES 



familiar to us in rounded clumps of a bushy habit, 

 with several stems, none of which exceeds half that 

 size. Then it is that what beauty it possesses is re- 

 vealed, as it grows, either with Willows or isolated, on 

 the banks of streams in our midland or northerly 

 counties. Gilpin indeed speaks of it as growing in 

 perfection on the banks of the Mole ; but there are 

 far finer specimens by many more northern streams. 

 " He who would see the Alder in perfection," he writes, 

 " must follow the banks of the Mole in Surrey, through 

 the sweet vales of Dorking and Mickleham, into the 

 groves of Esher. The Mole, indeed, is far from being 

 a beautiful river : it is a quiet and sluggish stream ; 

 but what beauty it has it owes greatly to the Alder, 

 which everywhere fringes its meadows, and in many 

 places forms very pleasing scenes, especially in the 

 vale between Box Hill and the high grounds of 

 Norbury Park." 



In such situations our attention has often been 

 claimed by the beauty of its rich masses of foliage 

 as they overhang the golden beds of Marsh- 

 marigolds, or, later in the year, the foamy banks of 

 Meadow-sweet and the gorgeous magenta spikes of 

 the Loose-strife. Like all water-side plants, it retains 

 its leaves longer than the deciduous trees of dry situ- 

 ations, keeping them sometimes until January ; and, 

 as they do not change colour in autumn, its verdure 

 is pleasing, even though the rigidity of its branches 

 detracts from its gracefulness. Sir Thomas Dick 

 Lauder justly supplements Gilpin's remarks with 

 the observation that the Alder is as often associated 

 with the more rugged scenery of the glens and ravines 



