IVY. 219 



O'er bole and branch, with leaves that shine 

 All glossy bright, tenacious twine, 

 And the else naked woodland scene, 

 Clothe with a raiment fresh and green.' 



But it is much more than * fresh and green.' 

 Delightful as is this its characteristic it revels in 

 the laveliness of other colours, and none are finer 

 than those seen on the sunny sides of autumn 

 hedgebanks ; for there, when much of the summer 

 vegetation has gone and fallen leaves give room 

 for the display of the beauty of the glossy trailer, 

 it may be seen in perfection, dark green, light 

 green, bluish green, red, orange, purple and yellow, 

 with shades and markings and blen dings of all 

 these which make variety that is very beautiful. 

 As with many leaves, so with the Ivy the veins 

 give play, so to speak, and variety to the tinting, 

 for the reason that the tissues of which they are 

 composed and the tissues immediately surrounding 

 and investing them longer retain the normal green 

 colour of the leaf. Very frequently after the 

 leaf- stalk has turned reddish purple or purple the 

 principal veins and adjacent tissue remain green 

 whilst the smaller veins and the spaces of tissue 



