STUDIES OF TREES IN WINTER 



and brown, and are covered by one scale. The 

 fruit hangs on the tree all winter, a large, 

 dry ball made ^lp of hundreds of seeds. 



Like everything which has a definite in- 

 dividuality, the buttonwood is a tree which 

 people either like or dislike strongly. It is 

 certainly picturesque, and its subpetiolar buds 

 alone make it unusually interesting, whether 

 one admires it or not from an aesthetic point 

 of view. These buds are entirely concealed 

 through the summer by the hollow bases of 

 the leafstalks which fit over the buds like 

 candle extinguishers, and leave scars in circles 

 after they have fallen. 



Its bark has little expansive power, the tissue 

 is rigid and cannot stretch with the growing 

 power from within, and it 'splits and is thrown 

 off easily. In connection with this, Dr. Holmes 

 says in " The Autocrat of the Breakfast- 

 Table " : 



" The buttonwood throws off its bark in 

 large flakes, which one may find lying at its 

 foot, pushed out, and at last pushed off, by 

 that tranquil movement from beneath, which 

 is too slow to be seen, but too powerful to be 

 arrested. One finds them always, but one 

 rarely sees them fall. So it is our youth drops 

 from us scales off, sapless and lifeless, and 

 118 



