CHAP. cv. C'OUYLA V CI:A:. .FAMOUS. 1951 



Horticultural Society, in the autumn of 18 17. This tree had been 

 grafted on a common beech stock, about Sit. from the ground. 

 The place of grafting is marked by the stock being larger than the 

 graft on every side; so that the stem of the purple beech seems as if 

 it hud been merely set down flat on the stock. " At 1 ft. from the 

 ground, the trunk of the stock, or common beech, measures 10ft. 

 lOin. in circumference; and, immediately at the place of grafting, 

 the trunk of the purple beech measures only 9ft. Gin. in circum- 

 ference" From the ground to the first branch is about 12ft. The 

 total height of the tree is between 50ft. and GO ft., and the diameter 

 of the head is 45 ft. It was planted in 1752, and was, consequently, 

 when seen by Dr. Neill, about G5 years old. It is altogether, says 

 the doctor, " a very handsomely formed well-balanced tree. To a 

 spectator standing directly under it, the leaves appear nearly of the 

 usual green colour; and they are but slightly tinged with purple as 

 far as they are excluded from the sun : as they approach outwards, 

 they get a stronger purplish hue ; and on the very exterior they are 

 of a deep purple ; insomuch that the tree, when seen from a dis- 

 tance, appears clothed in black;" and hence the name which it bears 

 in Belgium, of swartze beeckenboom, the black beech tree. This tree 

 every year ripens seeds, from which numerous young plants have 

 been raised, the greater part of which have purple leaves ; and, in a 

 young hedge in M. Smetz's garden formed of seedling plants from 

 this tree, the deputation " observed every variety of hue in the 

 foliage, from green to purple ; yet no individual was completely green, 

 and none completely purple." (p. 107.) This tree, in all probability, 

 is the same as that alluded to by Bosc. On writing to Dr. Somme, 

 Director of the Botanic Garden at Antwerp, in May, 1837, he 

 informs us that the trunk, at 7f in. above the graft, is 15ft. 10 in. in 

 circumference; but that at G ft. 7 in. above the graft the circumfe- 

 rence is 3 ft. 10 in. less. The diameter of the head is 72 ft., and the 

 total height of the tree is 72 ft. The handsomest purple beech in 

 England is at Enville; and, when we saw it in 1831, it was between 

 60ft. and 70ft. high, clothed with branches to the ground, where 

 it extended over a space above 60 ft. in diameter. It stands on 

 a small lawn in the pleasure-grounds, and is, consequently, pro- 

 tected from cattle. The loftiest purple beech in England is at Syon, 

 where, in 1834, it was 71ft. high; the diameter of the trunk 2ft. 

 10 in., and of the head 61 ft. It flowers, and occasionally ripens seed, 

 from which, however, we believe, no plants have yet been raised. 



F. s. 3 cuprca Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836, the copper-coloured Beech, above 

 alluded to, as a subvariety of F. s. purpurea, has the young shoots 

 and leaves of a paler colour than those of the purple beech. It 

 makes a splendid appearance in the sunshine, and when the leaves 

 are gently ruffled with the wind ; but, in a state of repose, and on a 

 dark cloudy day, it can hardly be distinguished from the common 

 green-leaved beech. 



F. s. 4 foliis varicgdtis Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836, has the leaves variegated 

 with white and yellow, interspersed with some streaks of red and 

 purple. This variety is handsome in spring, when the leaves first 

 make their appearance ; but, in the course of the summer, their 

 variegation is in a great measure lost, and the leaves assume a dirty 

 unhealthy aspect. There are also varieties with the leaves striped or 

 blotched with white only, and others with only golden-striped leaves. 



3t F. s. 5 heterophylla ; F. s. laciniata Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836 ; F. s. aspleni- 

 folia Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836; F. s. incisa Hort.; F. s. salicifolia Hort.; 

 Hetre a Feuilles de Saule, Fr.\ the various, or cut, leaved Beech; has the 

 leaves variously cut, as in Jig. 1875.; sometimes in narrow shreds, fco 

 as to resemble a fern, as in Jig. 1876.; and, at other times, in shreds of 

 6 L 



