TREES AT LEISURE 



In the forest depths in winter, 

 we trust more to the shape and 

 color of the bole and to the tex- 

 ture of the bark than to the 

 branches above for recognition 

 of old acquaintances. The beech 

 wears the crest of its nobility 

 woven into the hues of its 

 firm, smooth bark; its lower 

 branches retain all winter many 

 of their leaves, russet now and 

 sere, whispering lonesomely to 

 the winds; and with its leaves 

 it retains its burrs, empty now 

 of nuts and hanging in constel- 

 lations, quenched and black 

 against the blue of the zenith. 

 Novices often confuse the trunk 

 of the beech with that of the 

 birch, for the very inadequate 

 reason that both may be trans- 

 versely striped with white. The 

 beech's stripes are woven into 



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