OUR NATIVE TREES. 49 



out add to its attractiveness. It roots near the surface, which 

 renders its transplanting when young easy ; and, if done with 

 care, successful. I have seen but few of these trees set purposely 

 for shade and ornament ; but these were fine trees, much prized 

 by their owners. 



The Chestnut, Castanea vesca var. Americana, is the loftiest 

 of our deciduous forest trees. Although in open ground it is a 

 massive, imposing tree, yet on account of its stiff manner of 

 branching and formal outline it hardly commends itself for home 

 or wayside planting. Its place is in pasture grounds or in waste 

 corners of farm lots. There, in old age, when broken and muti- 

 lated by winds and ice, the trunk decayed to a mere shell — still, 

 years after, bearing as in youth leaves, blossoms, and fruit — it is 

 a grand and picturesque object, which excites at once our sympa- 

 thy and admiration. 



The Tupelo, JSfyssa multiflora, is one of the rarer trees of New 

 England. Its habitat is in swamps, near ponds and stagnant pools, 

 which it frequently overhangs, and along meadow streams, from 

 which localities it spreads sparingly to higher grounds. In its 

 manner of growth it is the most eccentric of our native trees. 

 The normal type of its outline approaches the "umbrella" shape ; 

 but without apparent cause different specimens run into a variety 

 of grotesque styles of ramification. The branches usually incline 

 downwards, but without curving ; some straight, some twisted ; 

 some long, others short. The main branches are usually- armed 

 with numerous stiff but finely divided twigs, from trunk to tip. 

 Occasionally, in open ground, may be seen a tupelo perfectly reg- 

 ular in outline ; the closely crowded limbs resting upon each other, 

 the thick, shining foliage covering all — a mound of deep green, 

 glossy verdure. Such a tree is a gem in any landscape. The 

 foliage in autumn is the most brilliant in its red and scarlet dyes 

 of any we have ; and it is the earliest in coloring. In this it pre- 

 cedes the red maple by from one to two weeks. So it flashes out 

 from among soberer trees, often in gloomy surroundings, as though 

 consuming in its own flame. Wilson Flagg says that this tree is 

 one of the brightest ornaments of our forest in autumn. I do not 

 think that it responds kindly to cultivation, and it might not har- 

 monize well with the surroundings of artificially ornamented 

 grounds ; but in the wild and often desolate places which are its 

 native haunts it should delight every lover of sylvan growth. 

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