TREE FORMS IN WINTER 239 



no more than a crack of warning, on a perfectly calm summer 

 day, when the weight of the leaves overcomes a feeble spot 

 in the wood. This density of the leaves is associated with 

 the thick network of the smaller twigs, by which the elm can 

 be distinguished. The leaf-bearing twigs have a variety of 

 pattern which prevents them from appearing monotonously 

 crowded, in spite of their numbers. In this respect a typical 

 elm is more handsome than a typical beech. The outer 

 twigs of the beech are monotonously straight, instead of 

 being crisped like those of the elm ; and this sometimes 

 gives a rather uninteresting appearance in winter to an 

 otherwise stately tree. The smooth, silvery bark of the 

 trunk and larger boughs of a beech makes it the most easily 

 recognised of all our trees, when seen close at hand. At a 

 distance, the best points for identification are the smooth 

 and sinuous outlines of the larger timber, and the straight 

 hairlike pattern of the dense outer twigs. The hornbeam 

 grows very like a beech, though it is a smaller and slenderer 

 tree. It has the same smooth bark, but can be distinguished 

 by the ribs and ridges which run beneath it, lifting the skin 

 like the muscles of a wrestler. Hornbeams are most 

 frequent as pollards, and well-grown trees are rather rare. 



Most people can recognise a beech or an elm, but com- 

 paratively few a wych-elm, which combines some of the 

 characteristics of both. A poor wych-elm is a very dull 

 tree, without even that appearance of straightness and tall- 

 ness which marks a small elm. But a well-grown wych-elm 

 is a very beautiful object. It is a shorter and broader tree 

 than the elm or beech ; its special beauty lies in its beautiful 

 proportions, which are as conspicuous as those of an oak, 

 but of an entirely different kind. The wych-elm is as 

 feminine as the oak is masculine. All its lines are gradual 

 and delicate ; it has no tense crooks or rugged elbows. In 

 * R 



