ACCORDING TO SEASON 



almost naked. Thoreau claims that the young 

 trees only retain their leaves, while he quotes 

 Michaux as saying that this habit is peculiar to 

 the white oak. 



The pitch-pine, its rugged, spreading branches 

 Pitch-pine, holding great burdens of snow, is never so effec- 

 and spruce tive as at this season. The hemlocks and spruces 

 also are strangely beautiful with their coating of 

 snow, while the shrubs are hung with white gar- 

 lands like a prophecy of spring. 



An important part in the winter landscape is 

 played by the dead grasses and other herbaceous 

 plants, especially by various members of the 

 Herbaceous composite family, such as the asters, golden-rods, 

 ^ an s and sunflowers. Wreathed in snow or incased in 

 ice, they present a singularly graceful and fantas- 

 tic appearance. Or, perhaps, the slender stalks 

 and branches armed with naked seed-pods trace 

 intricate and delicate shadows on the smooth 

 snow. 



The deciduous trees make an interesting winter 

 study. At this season a tree lays bare its individ- 

 An inter- uality. We note the angle at which its branches 

 winter spring from the main trunk, the degree and direc- 

 study tion in which these branches curve, the appear- 



ance of the bark, the arrangement of the buds, 

 as we can at no other period of the year. It 

 is something of an accomplishment as well as a 



16 



