THE BEECH. 151 



gracefully, but in about a fortnight's time assume an erect, 

 or horizontal direction. But we shall look in vain for a 

 carpet of herbage beneath their shade. Here and there 

 a sickly holly has resisted the malignant influence of its 

 drip, or a tangled bed of Periwinkle l has established 

 itself and grows on luxuriantly, unaffected by the pre- 

 vailing cause of sterility : but, with these exceptions, the 

 Beech has appropriated the whole of the soil. Where it 

 has obtained the sway, it suffers no other verdure to exist. 

 Consequently, the ground, covered with decaying leaves at 

 all seasons of the year, always presents the same appear- 

 ance. As summer advances, a few Orchideous plants 2 

 may be detected here and there, but not sufficiently 

 numerous or striking in appearance to alter the character 

 of the scene. 



By the time that the foliage is fully developed, the 

 flowers also have made their appearance. These are of 

 two kinds : the barren, which are of a brown hue, three 

 or four together in round drooping heads ; 3 the fertile 

 flowers are solitary and on stouter stalks. The first soon 

 wither and drop off; the latter produce seed-vessels, which 

 are covered with blunt prickles, and as they ripen, open 

 in four valves, disclosing two sharply triangular, pointed 

 nuts. It is when seen in the full luxuriance of its summer 

 foliage that the Beech is most admired ; at this season 

 it is, if a solitary tree, a mass of shining deep green 

 from the ground to its summit ; and the lover of Nature 

 who has taken refuge in a grove of Beeches from the 

 sultry heat of a cloudless summer's day will not fail to 

 experience that inexplicable feeling of sadness, mingled 

 with longing, which the contemplation of Nature's greater 

 works always excites. 



1 Vinca minor. 



- Gymnadenia lifolia, Listera nidus-avis, &c. 



3 These, after they have fallen from the tree, are sometimes 

 carefully collected by gardeners, dried, and preserved for packing 

 fruit. They are soft as cotton, and do not communicate any kind 

 of scent to the fruit. 



