GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH THE TREES 



shellbark, which is, according to botany, Hicoria 

 ovata^ while the Southern tree is Hicoria pecan. 

 A superb tree it is, too, reaching up amid its 

 vigorous associates of the forests of Georgia, 

 Alabama and Texas to a height exceeding one 

 hundred and fifty feet. Its upright and ele- 

 gant form, of a grace that conceals its great 

 height, its remarkable usefulness, and its rather 

 rapid growth, commend it highly. The nut- 

 clusters are striking, having not only an inter- 

 esting outline, but much richness of color, in 

 greens and russets. 



It may seem odd to include the beech 

 under the nut -bearing trees, to those of us 

 who know only the nursery- grown forms of 

 the European beech, "weeping" and twisted, 

 with leaves of copper and blood, as seen in 

 parks and pleasure-grounds. But the squirrels 

 would agree ; they know well the sweet little 

 triangular nuts that ripen early in fall. 



The pure American beech, uncontaminated 

 and untwisted with the abnormal forms just 

 mentioned, is a tree that keeps itself well in 

 the eye of the woods rambler; and that eye is 

 always pleasured by it, also. Late in winter, the 



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