238 AUTUMN AND WINTER 



situations, or towards the northern limit of its English range, 

 it is much less distinguished ; but it is still easily recognis- 

 able by its height in proportion to its breadth, the dense and 

 rounded lines of its smaller branches, and the sheaf or frill 

 of short twigs which usually surround its trunk. Its bark is 



HORNBEAMS 



softer than that of the ash or oak, and the grooves are less 

 strictly parallel, running into one another every few inches. 

 Though its great height and spread of Hmb make it one of 

 the noblest of English trees, its roots run close to the surface, 

 and thus give it a poor hold on the soil. It is the weakest 

 of all large trees in withstanding a gale ; and it has an even 

 more dangerous way of occasionally dropping a bough, with 



