. 



THE ^* 





TENACIOUS v -^ 

 OAK-LEAVES 



April 28th 



/? 



SB T is not easy to get at the secret of the oak 



1 in retaining its leaves throughout the whole 

 ___ Bj calendar, for here, in late April, are seen the 



f J&A_ 



I white and red oaks still defying the winds. 

 Now, if the oak-leaf were constructed on 

 the plan of the button-wood leaf, whose stem grows 

 like a protecting cup over the bud of the following 

 year, we could readily frame a theory; but it does noth- 

 ing of the kind. These persistent oak-leaves are placed 

 beneath the new buds, while those of the button -wood 

 fell in early autumn, exposing the tender bud to the 

 winter storms. 



If we examine the white- oak branch, we shall find 

 that many of the leaves have been twisted off by the 

 wind, leaving only a short remnant of a stem beneath 

 the buds; and even these adhere so tenaciously as to 

 leave a fresh green scar upon removal. They yield 

 only as they are pushed off by the swelling bud above 

 them. 



