The Beeches 



twig on an older tree. The opening of the long, pointed buds is a 

 sight worth watching. If one has net time to go to the tree every 

 day in spring he may bring in some lusty twigs, put them in a 

 jar of water in a sunny window, and see the whole process exactly 

 as it happens on the tree. 



Each bud loosens and lengthens its many thin bud scales and 

 a leafy shoot is disclosed which elongates rapidly. Daily measure- 

 ments v/ill show a wonderful record for the first few days. 



As the scales drop off a band of scars appears on the base of 

 the shoot, like the thread of a small screw. When the last of the 

 scales has fallen this band may be half an inch wide. Each such 

 band on a twig means the casting off of the bud scales — the begin- 

 ning of a year's growth. Counting down from the tip of any twig, 

 the age may be accurately read. Add one year as each scar band 

 is passed. Often the band is quite as wide as the length of the 

 season's growth. 



It is plain to see that the leaves in the opening buds were all 

 made and put away over winter, and that they have only to grow. 

 As the shoot lengthens the outer scales fall, and each leaf is seen 

 to have its pair of special attendant scales, each edged with an 

 overhanging fringe. The leaf itself is plaited in fine folds like a 

 fan to fit into the narrow space between the scales. Each rib 

 that radiates from the midrib bears a row of silky hairs which 

 overlap its neighbour's, so that each side of each leaf is amply 

 protected by a furry cover. As the leaf spreads itself it gradually 

 becomes accustomed to the air and the sunshine, and the protecting 

 hairs disappear. Occasionally a leaf that is in a shaded and pro- 

 tected situation on the tree may keep its hairs on the ribs until 

 midsummer. 



As the leaves lift themselves into independent life the blossoms 

 of the beech appear. Few people see them. The staminate ones 

 are in little heads swung on slender stems. When they shed their 

 yellow pollen they fall off. In twos the pistillate flowers hide near 

 the ends of twigs. Those which catch pollen on their extruded 

 tongues "set seed" and mature into the triangular nuts, two in 

 each of the burs. Early in the autumn the burs open and the 

 nuts fall, to the great delight of boys and girls as well as the little 

 people of the woods. Though small, the nuts are very rich and 

 fine in flavour. 



The beech is the most elegantly groomed of all the trees of the 

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