THE BEECH, CHESTNUT, AND OAKS 



beech have a tendency to revert to the original 

 green, and to insure its peculiar colored foliage 

 gardeners perpetuate it by layers. It is a 

 highly artificial tree, and unless it is carefully 

 placed in appropriate surroundings its effect is 

 far from pleasing. 



Chestnut O ne f ^ ie largest of our forest 



Castanea dentata trees. The bark is dark hard, 

 and rugged, with coarse ridges on old trees. 

 Light brown buds. Alternate leaf scars. Re- 

 cent shoots are coarse and channelled with two 

 grooves running down from the base of each leaf- 

 scar, closely set with white or gray dots. Frtiit 

 ripe in October. 



At all times a giant among trees, the chest- 

 nut seems perhaps most remarkable in winter 

 when the massive trunk and lofty branches can 

 be fully appreciated. There is much beauty 

 in the bark of this tree, the fissures sweep 

 boldly up and down the trunk with broad, 

 smooth spaces between the furrows and give a 

 most pleasing impression. 



It is interesting to find that the chestnut 

 is one of the exceptions in nature to the rule 

 that every tree has an unvarying mathematical 

 arrangement of leaves on the stem. This 

 regular distribution of leaves on the stem to 

 economize space and light is called phyllotaxy, 

 6 81 



