184 SEVENTH REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AM) GAME COMMISSION. 



dense than that of any other tree. In parks and on lawns, where its growth is not 

 restricted, this tree assumes a grand, massive appearance that always arrests the eye. 

 In early spring it is gay with large white and pink flowers whose erect panicles 

 standing on the upturned tips of the branches are suggestive of a leafy candelabra, 

 an effect that is heightened when one remembers the peculiar appearance in this 

 respect of the tree in winter. In most families of plants, the order of opening in 

 the flowers is either from the bottom upwards — or from the top downwards — 

 proceeding to open regularly up or down. Mr. Joseph Meehan observes that in the 

 Horse Chestnut there are open flowers simultaneously on every portion of the 

 thyrse or spike, so that the tree seems to be covered with flowers as if by magic in a 

 growth of but a few days.* Objection has been made to the Horse Chestnut because 

 at times there is too much litter on the sidewalks under it. But if people sweep 

 their sidewalks daily there need be no trouble from this source; and if they do not 

 keep their walks clean they will neglect their trees also, in which case it is imma- 

 terial what species is planted. The question of insects is discussed later on. The 

 Horse Chestnut, like the Ailanthus and Lombardy Poplar, is not indigenous to the 

 United States, having been introduced here in 1746. In April of that year John 

 Bart ram, writing to Peter Collinson.f acknowledges the receipt of the seeds, of 

 which he had hopes, as " some seemed to be pretty sound." Gen. Brisbin notes 

 that the first tree is said to be still standing on the estate of Mr. Lemuel Wells, 

 Yonkers, N. Y.$ John Evelyn, in his famous Silva, written in 1662, says that the 

 Horse Chestnut derived its name from the fact that the fruit was used for "curing 

 broken-winded horses, and other cattle, of coughs." But the peculiar shape of the 

 scar left on the twig by the fallen leaf, which resembles the track of a horse's hoof 

 and imprint of the nails, is very suggestive when taken in connection with the trans- 

 lation of hippocastanum, its Greek or botanical name. 



The Sweet Gum, or Liquidambar, so named from the fragrant balsam which exudes 

 when the trunk is wounded, is an ornamental tree of about eighty feet in height and 

 two feet in diameter, attaining in some localities a much greater size. It is a rapid 

 grower and thrives on almost any soil. Its glossy, star-shaped leaf makes it a 

 favorite with all students of leaf forms. The tree is interesting in winter also on 

 account of the corky ridges or wings attached to the twigs and smaller branches 

 which give it a peculiar appearance. In autumn its foliage changes to a deep 



•Meehan's Monthly. Philadelphia, Pa., May, 1902. 



t Memorials of John Bartram and Humphrey Marshall. William Darlington, M. F>., LL. D. 

 Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakiston. 1849. 



\ Gen. James S. Brisbin, U. S. A. Trees and Tree Planting. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1888. 



