i2 4 TREES GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. 



bark: white; slippery. Leaf-buds: large; round and covered with a reddish 

 scurf. Leaves : simple ; alternate ; with rough petioles about an eighth of an 

 inch long ; ovate or obovate, with taper-pointed apex and rounded or slightly 

 cordate base. Coarsely and doubly serrate ; rough and harsh on the upper sur- 

 face, soft and downy underneath in the angles of the straight ribs. Flowers: 

 growing on short pedicels in globular clusters ; fragrant when dried. Samaras : 

 dull yellow; semi-orbicular and containing a round, flat seed. The margins of 

 the wings unfringed ; glabrous, excepting over the seed. 



There is something intensely human in the desire to chew, 

 to chew the cud of meditation ; and when in the open country 

 one meets a boy with a certain felicitous expression and wag- 

 ging jaws, it is good evidence that somewhere in his rambles 

 he has met with the slippery elm tree. Should his pockets be 

 turned inside out there would also be a chance of finding a 

 quantity of its fragrant, inner bark stored away for future dis- 

 posal. To chew this gummy, slippery substance is not, per- 

 haps, the smallest item in his enjoyment as he carelessly breathes 

 the summer air or gazes at a cloudless sky. Unfortunately 

 this innate desire of the boy is often gratified at the tree's ex- 

 pense. In fact, it is almost impossible to protect it from him, 

 when it is cultivated as an ornament in parks, and its identity 

 is known. In a more conventionalized form the inner bark is 

 sold by chemists, and its properties are medicinal and nutritious. 

 The tree has a fine, shapely outline, and grows rapidly. Its 



dark reddish wood is strong and 

 durable and is largely used for the 

 making of posts. When green it 

 splits very readily. 



U. ca?npkstris, English elm, is in 

 this country very frequently seen in 

 cultivation and has distinctive char- 

 acteristics which prevent its being 

 confused with the native wild 

 ;.% species. Its branches are compar- 

 E* atively short and grow in a hori- 

 zontal or ascending line. This gives 

 it^Zt camftstris, it a compact, robust look ; very dif- 



