342 Trees ; their General Character and Advantages. 



Forming a pleasing contrast with the evergreens, the de- 

 ciduous trees, varying with the seasons of the year, pass 

 through a succession of changes, by which they are con- 

 stantly assuming new attractions. There is no tree that 

 affords a better example of these changes than the common 

 red maple, Avhich, in the course of the year, exhibits five 

 different aspects. In early May, when it is in flower, it is 

 filled throughout with bright crimson blossoms, that render it 

 a magnificent object when beheld at a little distance. As 

 the blossoms fade, the tender leaves are put forth, in plait-ed 

 folds, of a light green, shaded with purple. The third 

 change exhibits the tree in summer arrayed in one uniform 

 canopy of darker green. In September the whole foliage 

 assumes a bright crimson hue, which it retains until the fall 

 of the leaf. We can hardly conceive of any greater beauty 

 of tints than that presented by the different species of maples 

 during September and October. Other trees are clad in com- 

 paratively dull and inconspicuous hues ; and it is the maple 

 that yields the principal charm to American forest scenery in 

 autumn. The last change assumed by the maple reduces it 

 to the nakedness of winter, when, by the gracefulness of its 

 proportions and the neatness and elegance of its branches, it 

 attracts the attention of every beholder. 



Not only in the forms of trees but in their motions, when 

 swayed by the wind, do we notice a great dissimilarity. 

 The branches of certain kinds of trees are so stiff and un- 

 yielding, that they scarcely bend perceptibly to the breeze. 

 This stubborn quality is particularly remarkable in the firs 

 and spruces, in which the leaves are entirely motionless, and 

 the branches immovable except by a strong current of wind. 

 As the beauty of a tree consists in its motions no less than 

 its form and proportions, it is rendered worthless for ornamen- 

 tal purposes in proportion as it is wanting in this graceful 

 quality that assimilates it to a living creature. 



The leaves of almost all trees are more or less tremulous ; 

 but in this respect there is a great difference between them. 

 Some species, when exposed to the passing breezC; exhibit 

 merely a waving of the branches, which yields a singularly 



