FOREST TREES AND FOREST SCENERY 



taken as a whole, are decidedly richer 

 in shrubs and small plants than the 

 evergreen or coniferous forests. This 

 adventitious source of beauty has much 

 to do with their general character, be- 

 cause the gay show of blossom and 

 fruit, bright stem, and diverse habits 

 of growth of these lesser plants, con- 

 tributes appreciably to the liveliness of 

 sylvan scenery. But the effect derived 

 from the blossoms and fruits of many 

 of the trees themselves should not be 

 overlooked. In this respect the broad- 

 leaf trees are superior to the evergreens. 

 The poplars and willows ripen their 

 woolly and silvery tassels when the 

 snow has scarcely disappeared. The 

 bright tufts of the red maple, the little 

 yellow flowers of the sassafras, the 

 snowy white ones of the sei'viceberry 

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