TREES AND SHRUBS. 383 



(2) The general effect of each kind of tree on the land- 

 scape in winter, spring, summer, and autumn. 



(3) The situation and soil in which each kind of tree 

 apparently thrives with the greatest luxuriance. 



(4) The thickness of the trunk as compared with the size 

 of the tree; the characters of the bark; the arrangement, 

 direction, and surface of the main branches and finer twigs. 



(5) The arrangement, orientation, shape, size, and colour 

 of the resting-buds, their structure, the mode of folding-up 

 of the young leaves, the nature of the bud-scales. 



(6) The time of appearance of the leaves ; stages in open- 

 ing of the resting-bud; the leaf - scar s ; erect or drooping 

 position of the opening-buds ; arrangement, composition, 

 shape, margin, and venation of the leaf ; presence or absence 

 of stipules and petiole. 



(7) The time of flowering ; nature of inflorescence ; struc- 

 ture and mode of protection of flower-buds ; structure of the 

 flowers and their mode of pollination ; floral formula ; floral 

 diagram. 



(8) Structure of fruit and seed ; mode of dispersal. 



(9) Germination of seed, form of seedling, nature of 

 reserve food, behaviour of cotyledons, etc. Look for seedlings 

 under or near the tree; gather ripe seeds and study their 

 germination. 



(10) Kinds of insects, if any, that feed on the foliage or 

 which produce galls ; insects, if any, that visit the flowers ; 

 fungus parasites. 



(11) Name of tree (scientific and common names), and the 

 Natural Order it belongs to. Comparison with allied plants. 



These are merely a few suggestions, to help you in making 

 an orderly and thorough study of each tree. 



Note whether the main trunk persists and runs up through to the 

 top of the tree (" ex current" or " spire-forming " habit, e.g. Larch) or 

 whether it soon becomes lost in a complex of strong branches ("de- 

 liquescent" or "diffuse" habit, e.g. Beech); the form of the tree's 

 crown, whether pointed, rounded, or umbrella-like ; the arrangement 

 of the branches, the angles at which they come off, their direction of 

 growth ; why branches at the top of a tree are usually more straight 

 than the lower branches ; why branches turn up at the ends in many 

 trees ; why branches rise upwards, or bend in towards the centre of 

 the tree in winter (in deciduous trees). All these points, which, 

 together with others, unite to give trees their general form, should be 



