66 TREES IN NATURE, MYTH & ART 



is further increased by its wider reach in pro- 

 portion to its height. The oak, it may be 

 admitted, "loses points" with regard to leaf 

 and flower. But how daintily shaped is the 

 acorn ! The chestnut is the more handsome 

 tree ; the oak the stronger, both in fact and 

 in appearance. Is not this the conclusion of 

 the whole matter? 



In the course of the foregoing comparison we 

 have said all that is needful about the Spanish 

 or sweet chestnut. Botanists distinguish 

 sharply between this tree and the horse- 

 chestnut, which, as a splendidly limbed tree, 

 with large handsome leaves, and fruit almost 

 identical in appearance, has obvious resem- 

 blance to its namesake. It is a quick-growing 

 tree, and its wood is not durable. If, in the 

 garden, its spreading branches have to be cut 

 short, they soon put out fresh, vigorous shoots. 

 The large leaf, divided into seven differently 

 sized leaflets, is singularly handsome — it was 

 a great favourite, one may note in passing, 

 of G. F. Watts, and appears in many of his 

 paintings. No other of our larger trees bears 

 such handsome flowers. In general form the 

 tree is pyramidal, and often somewhat stiflly 



