THE TREES IN SUiMMER 



253 



every year so long as the tip remains alive. Wherever there 

 is an opening in the crown, adjacent twigs tend to crowd 

 into it and fill it up. 



In summer, the trees are flowering and fruiting. A few 

 of them, like the tulip tree and the magnolias, have very large 

 flowers. A few, like the maples and the linden or basswood, 

 have smaller nectar-bearing flowers that are thronged by 

 bees and other insects. Basswood, indeed, stands next to 



Fig. 97. Leaf outlines; w, sycamore; n, red oak. 



white clover in the quality of the honey it yields. Most of 

 the larger trees have small and inconspicuous flowers, that 

 shed their pollen lavishly and depend on the wind for its 

 distribution. Some trees, like the soft maples, flower early, 

 and ripen and shed their fruit before the summer is well imder 

 way; and others, like the black oaks, hasten slowly, taking 

 two years for mattiring a crop of acorns. So, at any time, 

 we shall find some trees bare of flower and fruit, and others 

 with one or both in various stages of development. There 

 is nothing more interesting about the trees than this wonder- 

 ful variety of habit. How interesting they are, you may 



