280 



THE HORNBEAM. 



and east sides of London : such as Epping, Finchley, &c. 

 By the Greeks it was called Z \ujin, or " yoke tree," from the 

 use to which its timber was applied : the Latins called it 

 Ctn-pinns, the name by which it is still known to botanists. 

 It has a straight and tolerably smooth trunk, which is 

 slender and very frequently flattened, twisted, or other- 

 wise irregular in shape, and is subdivided into a large 



VKK, AND SKK1) OP THE HORNBEAM. 



number of long tapering branches, which diverge in such 

 a way that the main stem is generally lost in the confused 

 mass at some distance below the summit. The branches 

 are remarkably liable to unite when they touch in crossing ; 

 hence very curious appearances are sometimes produced. 

 The outline of the head is round, and possesses little 

 picturesque beauty. The leaves are shaped somewhat like 



