339 WAYSIDE AND WOODLAND BLOSSOMS. 



diffused than Montana. The Elms are both tall trees, but cam- 

 pestris usually attains a slightly greater height than montana, 

 though the latter has a much stouter trunk. Their flowers 

 appear before the leaves, and, although they are individually 

 minute and inconspicuous, they are united in bundles, and the 

 colour of the perianth and stamens renders them conspicuous. 

 The perianth is bell-shaped, cleft into five or more lobes, 

 reddish ; the purple anthers are equal in number with the 

 divisions of the perianth, to which their filaments are attached. 

 The two styles are awl-shaped, their inner surfaces stigmatic. 

 The flower-cluster is succeeded by a bunch of one-seeded 

 samaras, winged all round. In montana the seed is placed in 

 the centre of the samaras ; in campestris it is distinctly above 

 the centre. The leaves of montana are as large again as those of 

 campestris, broader at the base, more inclined to be unequally 

 heart-shaped. There are, however, many varieties of each, 

 which make the identification of the species often very difficult. 

 The flowers appear in March and April, those of campestris 

 a little earlier than the others. The name is the Latin word for 

 the tree but probably derived from the Hebrew z//, to be 

 strong or vigorous. 



The Beech (Fagus sylvaticd). 



A Beech-tree growing on a chalky hill is one of the most 

 beautiful of forest trees. It is, moreover, a tree that has left its 

 marks upon our topography and literature, for many place- 

 names (such as Buckingham, Buckland, Bookham) record the 

 fact that in early times Beeches grew plentifully in the neighbour- 

 hood, and book is a survival of the period when the Runic 

 poems were written upon slabs of Buk. 



Without being at all glossy, like portions of the Birch and 

 Cherry, the bark of the Beech is smooth, and remarkably even 

 If allowed to grow naturally, without the pollarding which has 



