240 



TRKKS (GROWING IN SANDV SOIL. 



changed them into poplar trees and their tears into amber ; for 

 it was the belief of the ancients that amber flowed like tear- 

 drops from the poplars. 



The trees hardly suggest to us to-day such poignant grief. 

 They are very gay and silvery when glistening and moving in 

 the sunshine, and in the autumn they are fairly suffused with 

 a golden glow. 



The long hairs that surround the seeds of Populus tremu- 

 loides waft them to considerable distances from the plants by 

 w^hich they are borne. After they are deposited they germin- 

 ate c[uickly and are well adapted to grow in soil that has been 

 devoured by fire. On slopes of the Rocky mountains where 

 immense tracts of land hGive thus been swept over and the con- 

 iferous trees destroyed, this tree has sprung up and covered 

 the unsightly places with its stirring leaves. It also does good 

 work in holding the soil of steep mountain sides together. 



" lUit here will sigh tliine aider tree, 

 And here thine aspen sliiver ; 

 And here by thee will hum the bee, 

 Forever and forever." 



— Tknnyson. 



In the east the soft, light wood of Populus tremuloides is mostly 

 converted into wood pulp with which to make paper or used as 

 a substitute for rags. It is not strong or durable, but it is tough 

 and when bruised rapidly closes its wounds. For this reason 

 the ancients greatly desired it for bucklers. In early spring 

 the northern Indians eat its sweet inner bark, and they use it 

 for fuel. Even while green it burns freely. 



/ 



LIVE OAK. {Plate CXXX:) 

 Quhcus Virginidna. 



Bark: dark brown; deeply furrowed. Branches: grey. Leaves: simph'; 

 alternate; with petioles aliout a quarter of an incii long; ovate-lanceolate; 

 with rounded apex and rounded or pointed base; entire, the edges inclined to 



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