2Tl)e Hast J&onfc'M)ooli Spire. 329 



mony is of marked loveliness in winter, a faded 

 elegance clinging to it like a chastened autumnal 

 memory. I can not understand how Wilson 

 Flagg should refer to it as remarkably dull in 

 its autumnal tints. To the Selborne rector 

 the beech was " the most beautiful of all trees," 

 and Jesse rightly " loved it at all seasons of the 

 year." 



Among smaller trees, the aspen is prominent 

 for its golden-yellow hue, its effect being height- 

 ened by the play of the sunlight upon its quiver- 

 ing leaves. The common sumac is invariably 

 one of the most brilliant colorists, especially 

 when growing on stony places. The cut-leaved 

 variety (Rkus glabra laciniata), a striking 

 shrub, with deeply-cut, fern-like foliage, is 

 equally beautiful in its October dress. Several 

 of the shrubby spiraeas are worth planting sole- 

 ly for their autumnal foliage, particularly the 

 plum-leaved variety (S. prunifolid). But, of 

 all small ornamental shrubs, the finest is Ber- 

 beris Fortuneii, the small leaves of which vary 

 through different shades of green, yellow, and 

 salmon to vivid Venetian red. Of fruit-trees 

 that contribute to the autumnal pageant, the 

 most striking are the peach, pear, apple, and 

 cherry. In the two former, greens are often 

 most exquisitely graduated, passing into yellow, 

 23 



