124 



TREES GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. 



bark: wliite; slippery. Leaf-biids : large; round and covered with a reddish 

 scurf. Lea-'cs : simple; alternate; with rough petioles about an eighth of an 

 inch long; ovate or obovate, with taper-pointed apex and rounded or slightly 

 cordate base. Coarsely and doubly serrate ; rough and harsii on the upper sur- 

 face, soft and downy underneath in the angles of the straight ribs. Flowers: 

 growing on short pedicels in globular clusters ; fragrant when dried Samaras : 

 (lull yellow; semi-orbicular and containing a round, (lat seed. The margins of 

 the wings unfringed ; glabrous, excepting over tlie seed. 



There is something intensely human in the desire to chew, — 

 to chew the cud of meditation ; and when in the open country 

 one meets a boy with a certain felicitous expression and wag- 

 ging jaws, it is good evidence that somewhere in his rambles 

 he has met with the slippery elm tree. Should his pockets be 

 turned inside out tliere would also be a chance of finding a 

 quantity of its fragrant, inner bark stored away for future dis- 

 posal. To chew this gummy, slippery substance is not, per- 

 haps, the smallest item in his enjoyment as he carelessly breathes 

 the summer air or gazes at a cloudless sky. Unfortunately 

 this innate desire of the boy is often gratified at the tree's ex- 

 pense. In fact, it is almost impossible to protect it from him, 

 when it is cultivated as an ornament in parks, and its identity 

 is known. In a more conventionalized form the inner bark is 

 sold by chemists, and its properties are medicinal and nutritious. 

 The tree has a fine, shapely outline, and grows rapidly. Its 



dark reddish wood is strong and 

 durable and is largely used for the 

 making of posts. When green it 

 splits very readily. 



U. campestris^ English elm, is in 

 this country very frequently seen in 

 cultivation and has distinctive char- 

 acteristics which prevent its being 

 confused with the native wild 

 species. Its branches are compar- 

 %i^t atively short and grow in a hori- 

 "''•'" zontal or ascending line. This gives 

 dhnus campMris, it a compact, robust look ; very dif- 



^S;^?£. 



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