64 SYLVA FLORIFERA. 



the same tree. The catkins, or male blos- 

 soms, are formed about the middle of 

 September, where they hang uninjured by 

 tempestuous rains, and unseduced by flat- 

 tering sun-beams, till their betrothed female 

 flowers appear in March, when 



" The happy trees 



Commit their mutual wishes to the breeze. 

 The palm invites the palm to Hymen's vows ; 

 Swung in the wind the poplars nod in love ; 

 Alders to alders bend their longing boughs ; 

 And, through the leaves^ love whispers in the grove." 



The flowers of the alder have no gay tint 

 to recommend them, but the botanist and 

 the curious observer of Nature find pleasure 

 and instruction in every bud that opens. 



The ancients were well acquainted with 

 the imperishable property of this timber, 

 when used for piles or other works that were 

 covered with swampy earth or water. Vi- 

 truvius, the celebrated Roman architect, tells 

 us in the work which he dedicated to Au- 

 gustus, that the morasses about Ravenna 

 were piled with these trees, in order to lay 

 the foundations for buildings. Evelyn in- 

 forms us, that the alder was used under that 

 famous bridge the Rial to, which passes over 

 the grand canal at Venice. 



In Flanders and Holland, the alder tree is 



