TREES GROWING IN DRY SOIL. 



393 



Throughout its entire career there is something very charac- 

 teristic about the horse chestnut tree. The large, silky leaf- 

 buds remind us of those of the magnolia as they unfold in the 

 early spring, and as from them the beautifully formed leaflets 

 begin to grow, we continue to notice how individual is the 

 whole aspect of the tree. Everything that it does appears to 

 be well planned and regular. The exquisite bunches of flowers 

 have a unique way of pointing upward, and the fragrance that 

 emanates from them is as good a guide to the tree's locality, as 

 to see their shimmering light. Again 

 the mahogany-coloured nut with its white 

 scar is as unmistakable as the piebald 

 horse of one's neighbour. It is rather 

 disappointing to attempt to eat its abun- 

 dant meat; for it is intensely bitter, al- 

 though it is not, as has been thought by 

 many, poisonous. In fact, on the con. 

 tinent, cattle, sheep and pigs are fed upon 

 the nuts, and rooks devour them with 

 avidity. They are moreover not without 

 efficacy of another sort, for an ancient superstition assures us 

 that to carry one constantly in the pocket will prevent rheu- 

 matism from attacking the wearer. 



The flowers of this tree appear to have been especially de- 

 signed to suit the convenience of the bumble-bee that visits 

 them so frequently. The protruding stamens and style do 

 not interfere with him as he alights on the petals; he only 

 brushes them a little with his under part and covers himself 

 with pollen. His legs fit well into the spaces between the 

 petals, and he is therefore able to settle himself quite comforta- 

 bly. He then thrusts his proboscis into the honey-holding sac 

 at the base of the flower, quickly draws it out and is away to 

 another one. The rapidity with which he accomplishes this 

 is truly astonishing. It is the work of only a very few seconds. 

 Although well known in this country the tree is not a native. 



/Esculus Hippochstanum. 



