EDe Hast |onft's*i)o<rti Spire. 319 



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 (Rhus glabra laciniatd), 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. prunifolia). 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, 



