308 AUTUMNAL LEAVES. 



overspreads it. The margin of the Alder leaf is 

 waved and slightly crenated, its form is almost 

 round, and it has, ordinarily, a slight depression 

 at its apex. The venation is especially prominent 

 at the back of the leaf and consists of a waved 

 mid-vein and parallel branches which run alter- 

 nately on either side of it to the apices of the short 

 lobes into which its wavy course divides the 

 margin. Across the parallels formed by the 

 principal branch veins, run, at right angles to the 

 latter, a series of nearly parallel veins and 

 between these the tissue is traversed by a dense 

 network of venules. 



Comparing the Alder with the Willow, Gilpin 

 says that the first-named is ' the more picturesque 

 tree, both in its ramification and in its foliage ; 

 perhaps, indeed, it is the most picturesque of any 

 of the aquatic tribe, except the Weeping Willow.' 

 6 He who would see the Alder in perfection/ con- 

 tinues the author of Forest Scenery, c must follow 

 the banks of the Mole, in Surrey, through the 

 sweet vales of Dorking and Mickleham into the 

 groves of Esher. The Mole, indeed, is far from 

 being a beautiful river ; it is a silent and sluggish 



