THE ELM AND THE TULIP 



the two protecting envelopes, which remain 

 until the leaf has stretched out smoothly. 

 Yellowish green at first, they rapidly take on 

 the bright, strong green of maturity. The 

 texture is singularly refined, and it is a pleas- 

 ure to handle these smooth leaves, of a shape 

 which stamps them at once on the memory, 

 and of a coloring, both above and below, that 

 is most attractive. They are maintained on 

 long, slender stems, or ^^petioles," and these 

 stems give a great range of flexibility, so that 

 the leaves of the liriodendron are, as Henry 

 Ward Beecher puts it, ^^intensely individual, 

 each one moving to suit himself." 



Of course all this moving, and this out- 

 breaking of the leaves from their envelopes, 

 take place far above one's head, on mature 

 trees. It will be found well worth while, how- 

 ever, for the tree -lover to look in the woods 

 for the rather numerous young trees of the 

 tulip, and to observe the very interesting way 

 in which the growth proceeds. The beautiful 

 form and color of the leaves may also be 

 thus conveniently noted, as also in the autumn 

 the soft, clear yellow early assumed. 



