76 



I'RKES GROWING NEAR WATER. 



fly. They are hidden within a mass of soft, delicate cotton 

 which is surrounded by tufts of long, white or rusty coloured 

 hairs. As if with fleecy, ctherial sails, they are then borne aloft 

 by the slightest breeze. So abundantly are they dispersed that 

 they have to be taken up in quantities from a near-by straw- 

 berry bed, and when the windows on the tree's side of the 

 house are left open the seeds can be gathered in basketi'uls 

 from under the furniture. This cotton-like fibre which sur- 

 rounds the seeds of the poplar has been experimented with 

 for the manufacturing of cloth ; but as yet the enterprise has 

 not proved itself financially successful. Its wood also is of 

 little value commercially and warps badly in drying. This 

 poplar is the most rapid-growing tree of eastern North Amer- 

 ica and under favourable circumstances reaches a height of 

 forty feet in five or six years. 



East of the Rockies the tree has been much planted ; but it 

 is not regarded as being long lived or thriving well in other 

 than a moist soil, its natural habitat is along the banks of 

 rivers and streams and by lakes. Not one of the least remark- 

 able features of the large tree that has been mentioned is the 

 fact that it grows in dry soil. 



SWAMP WHITE OAK. i^Plate XXVIII.) 



Qudrcus pia/anoldes. 



FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Beech. Head, narrow, round- ■^o-'jo/eet. Maine to Iowa, south- May, June. 



topped; lower branches, ward to Delaware Fruit: Sept., Oct. 



somewhat declined. and Georgia. 



Bark : light grey and divided into large, flat, flaky scales. Leaves : simple; 

 alternate; obovate, with wedge-shaped and entire base and pointed or rounded 

 at the apex ; sinuate-toothed, the waves far apart and so large as to resennble 

 small lobes ; sinuses rounded and those of the middle waves extending deeper 

 into the leaves than the others ; dull, dark green above and smooth; silvery 

 and downy underneath. The ribs appear rusty. Acorns : ovoid; growing usu- 

 ally in pairs on a puduncle sometimes three inches long. Cup: round ; covered 

 with pubescent scales, the upper row becoming bristle-like and forming a 

 fringe about the edge. JViii: chestnut-brown ; oval ; about one inch long ; 

 edible; sweet. 



To see this tree in all the glory of its best development we 



