FOREST TXEKS. 419 



A remarkable variety, the Copper Beech (/'". sylvatica pnrpurea, 

 fig. 944), reputed to have been found in a wood in Germany, is a 

 very striking object amongst other trees. One or two may with 

 great advantage be planted. Immediately adjoining my garden, there 

 are two beautiful trees, which I greatly admire. A single purple 

 beech is very handsome, but it does not grow freely in all situations. 

 A very fine single specimen grew so rapidly in the grounds of 

 Mr. Beadnell, at Tottenham, that it kept the air and light from the 

 house, so that he was ultimately compelled to cut it down. Care 

 must be taken to procure a tree with leaves of good colour, and 

 specimens from good originals are procured by inarching the copper 

 on the common beech. 



FIG. 944. Copper Beech. 



FIG. 945. Birth. 



I also have a very singular variety called the Pendulous Beech. It 

 is of a drooping habit ; and if a shoot be artificially stretched out at 

 right angles, the branches grow downwards. One such tree in a suitable 

 spot is an object agreeable to the eye. I have observed that various 

 specimens of beech exhibit a variation in their drooping properties. 

 Some trees grow with their branches erect, whilst in others they are 

 more or less pendulous. There is a beech-tree of very elegant habit 

 at Monnymusk Manse, which has a charming drooping head. 



One of our more hardy trees which grows well on the driest 

 soils, and yet by no means objects to a wet situation is the Birch 

 (fig. 945), " the Lady of the Woods." We have them to the south 



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