TREES IN \VINTER 



By Henry Thew Stephenson 



C OME people who are fond of flowers and delight in 

 ^ the association of trees relate their pleasure wholly 

 with summer. It is true that few flowers bloom in the 

 winter. But it is a mistake to think for that reason the 

 winter woods are silent. In spite of the many flowers 

 gfrowing beneath the foliage of the forest one hardly 

 feels unsafe in saying that in the wood the tree's the 



BITTERNUT 



It is easier to identify many trees in winter than in summer, when 

 unmistakable charactcrist.es are camoutiagcd by the thick foliage. 



thing. And by all odds the winter is the best time to get 

 acquainted with the trees. 



Many attempt to identify the trees only by the leaves. 

 An experienced woodman considers the leaf as the least 

 important mark of identification. And as to flowers 

 the flowers of many of our largest trees are so inconspic- 

 uous that many people have never even noticed them, 

 perhaps would not have recognized them as flowers if 

 pointed out. 



Let me see if I can make a little plainer what I mean 

 by saying that winter is the season to be preferred for 

 the task of learning to recognize the trees. 



One who knows trees thoroughly, as a rule, recognizes 

 them by indications that cannot be accurately put into 

 words. He recognizes a tree in its entirety as one rec- 

 ognizes a person. This is the surest kind of identification. 



It is also the most difficult to acquire. One character- 

 istic feature is the method of branching, a quality plainly 

 visible in winter, but so masked by foliage in summer as 

 to be impossible of observation. If one could imagine 

 an ash and a maple, one the exact counterpart of the 

 other in outline and general branch distribution, the two 

 trees would still look so different that the accidental 

 similarity might pass unnoticed. For there is a clumsy 

 coarseness about the twigs of the ash in sharp contrast 

 to the graceful delicacy of the slender twigs of the maple. 

 But the twig of neither tree can be seen against the sky 

 in summer. How often does one lament the disappear- 





SYCAMORE 



The graceful, reaching white arms of the Sycamore are seen at 

 their best in winter when undisguised by foliage. 



ance of a distant line of white sycamore tops as they are 

 gradually blotted out by the growing foliage. 



Bark is another significant characteristic best observed 

 in winter. The form, texture and color of bark is a very 

 illuminating subject of contemplation. And it is not so 

 easily studied when poorly lighted beneath a mass of 

 foliage which may also materially influence the tone of 

 the color. And the tone gradation of bark is a matter 



