TREES GROWING IN RICH SOIL. 171 



SOUR-WOOD. SORREL-TREE. (Plate LXXXVII.) 



Oxydendrum arbbreum. 



FAMILY 8HAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Heath. Oblong; branches^ \$-6o/eet. Penn. to Fla. and westward June, July, 



spreading. to Louisiana. 



Bark : grey tinted with red ; deeply furrowed. Leaves : five to seven inches 

 long; simple; alternate; slender-petioled ; ovate, with pointed apex and 

 pointed or rounded base; finely serrate ; lustrous ; becoming glabrous at matur- 

 ity; sour to the taste. Flowers: white; scented like honey; growing in long, 

 terminal, one-sided clusters at the end of leafy shoots. Calyx : five-toothed. 

 Corolla : urn-shaped ; five-toothed ; pubescent. Stamens : ten. Pistil: one. 

 Capsules : growing in long, drooping clusters ; pyramid-shaped ; five-valved. 



In the same way that Browning has said that all that books 

 can teach us is to do without them ; so it matters not so much 

 what we learn about the trees as it does what we see and find 

 out for ourselves. And there is always an individual impression 

 to be received from them by those that have any keenness of 

 sensibility. But unfortunately many take their enjoyment 

 very dolefully and would think it the height of levity to indulge 

 any fanciful ideas the trees might suggest. Again many are 

 not in the habit of watching the trees as they come into bloom, 

 and for them to find the sour-wood hung with its delicate 

 sprays of flowers so suggestive of the lily-of-the-valley must in- 

 deed be a revelation. To be able then to inhale to the fullest 

 its beauty and its honey-like scent is a good gift of Providence. 



The wood of the tree is hard and closely grained and is of 

 service in many ways. One extensive use to which it is put is 

 the making of handles for tools. 



WITCH-HAZEL. {Plate LXXX VIII.) 

 Hatnamelis Virginiana. 



FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Witch-hazel. Head, open, broad; 8-30 feet. Nova Scotia southward A ug.-Dec. 



branches, spreading. to Florida and Texas. Fruit: spring. 



Bark: brown; smooth; falling in thin scales. Inner bark: purplish red. 

 Stipules: lanceolate. Leaves: simple; alternate; with short, stout petioles; 

 obovate ; pointed or rounded at the apex, unequal at the base ; coarsely and 

 irregularly serrate; frequently entire below the middle. Dull green above, 

 lighter coloured and pubescent underneath; slightly astringent. Flowers: 

 bright yellow ; growing in axillary clusters on short peduncles. Calyx : four- 



