THE ROMANCE OF OUR TREES 



or more tall, with a cylindric, slightly tapering trunk 

 sometimes 30 feet in girth at breast height above the 

 ground. Young free-growing trees commonly have 

 their primary branches radiating in clusters (false 

 whorls) from the stem, tier above tier, and the out- 

 line of the tree is distinctly spirelike. Very rarely 

 does this habit obtain at ripe old age. Most usually 

 the crown is made up of several massive, ascending 

 and ascending- spreading branches and innumer- 

 able irregularly disposed, but more or less horizon- 

 tally spreading, often semi-pendent branchlets. In 

 such trees the habit is from loosely pyramidal to more 

 or less conical. Round-headed trees are not un- 

 common but a flat-headed one I have never seen. 

 The branches are rigid and when clothed with leaves 

 decidedly plumose in appearance. The bark on the 

 trunk is from pale to dark gray, somewhat corky, and 

 fissured into ridges of irregular shape. The wood is 

 white or yellowish white and is not differentiated into 

 heartwood and sapwood; it is fine grained, something 

 like that of a Maple, is easily worked but is of no 

 great value. In Japan it is used as a groundwork for 

 lacquer-ware and for making chess-boards and 

 chessmen. 



The leaves are quite unlike those of any other tree 

 or shrub and are unique in their fan-like shape; 

 they are stalked, have no midrib but many forked 

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