4 8 



TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. 



quence proclaims that it 

 has suffered all things. It 

 has braved the fierceness 

 of tempests and watched 

 the struggling of many 

 generations. But it is not 

 dismayed ; and when, espe- 

 cially in the moonlight, its 

 shimmering branches are 

 seen towering above other 

 things they testify that it 

 has triumphed. It is most 

 pathetic to see the tree 

 W when it has at last suc- 

 cumbed and is about to die. 

 Stripped of its foliage and 

 its swinging balls of fruit, 

 it appears a gaunt figure 

 upon the landscape. 

 The wood is reddish brown 

 and has a most beautiful grain. It is used for the interior 

 finish of houses although it is quite prone to crack. The 

 beautiful tree is also largely made into tobacco boxes. 



FicusSycomorus, sycamore, the tree to which the name is prop- 

 erly applied, is a native of Egypt and Syria. It is of medium 

 size, very bushy and is closely allied to the fig tree. Its fruit 

 is much eaten, and at one time its wood was used for the coffins 

 of mummies. 



Platdnus occidentalis. 



RIVER BIRCH. RED BIRCH. {Plate XIV.) 



Bdtula nigra. 



FAMILY 

 Birch. 



SHAPE 

 Slender^ drooping. 



HEIGHT RANGE 



yy-do/eet. Mass. south-ward and 

 westward to Minn. 



TIME OF BLOOM 



Aprils May. 



Bark : reddish brown ; dotted and peeling, not as the white birches but 

 becoming loose and hanging in thin light brown sheets. Leaves: simple; alter- 

 nate ; often two together; with short and pubescent petioles; ovate, fre- 



