THE LIME. 101 



of trees, for the foundation of the combs ; then build 

 into arches the viscid wax. These, on the other 

 hand, bring up and tend the younger ones, the hope 

 of the nation ; others again, distend the cells with 

 liquid nectar." f 



One other circumstance connected with the lime 

 deserves mention : it is one of the trees upon which 

 the mistletoe occasionally grows. The limes in the 

 Home Park, Windsor, are, or were a few years ago, 

 richly adorned with it ; there are other examples in 

 Bushy Park, and in the avenue at Hampton Court, 

 and at Penshurst Park, in Kent, with doubtless very 

 many more in different parts of the country. History 

 connecting the mistletoe so especially with the oak, 

 it is well to know that this famous parasite grows 

 upon nearly a score of other kinds of tree, including 

 the maple, the ash, the poplar, the apple and pear, 

 the hawthorn, the white-beam, the service, the willow, 

 the hazel-nut, the Robinia, the holly, and the walnut,. 

 In summer we seldom notice the mistletoe. Con- 

 cealed by the foliage of the tree it inhabits, not until 

 autumn has stripped all away, and winter has ren- 

 dered the woods transparent, and the splendours of 

 the ivy and holly are disclosed, do we discover its 

 presence. Then how beautiful the contrast of its 

 innumerable green quills and glistening pearls, with 

 the dark -brown armour around and below all of 

 those stalwart foresters that lies open to view. Then, 

 t Georgic iv. 158-164. 



