Around the *“ Pond ”—First Excursion 
longitudinal ridges and furrows. Its ally, the hop- 
hornbeam, identical in leaf, is as unlike as possible in 
the bark, which much resembles that of the white oak. 
In the short fruiting season a full-laden hop-hornbeam 
is extremely pretty with its abundant white or pinkish 
clusters of hop-like fruit, but as a cultivated tree it is by 
no means as popular as the hornbeam, and there are but 
very few in the Park. 
AILANTHUS.—Among our zmpressive trees must cer- 
tainly be named the ailanthus, of such proportions when 
full-grown that it may well be the sole occupant of an 
entire acre of greensward, and far too massive for lim- 
ited lawns. Its two defects are its late vernation in 
spring and its large-limbed, scrawny appearance in 
winter, when it presents a mass of coarse, ungainly 
branches, necessarily incident to its type of long and 
heavy compound leaves. But amid the lifeless, ragged 
appearance of foliage in general that betokens the ap- 
proach of fall, this tree is remarkable for its special live- 
liness and freshness of color, one of the most notable 
effects in the Park at that season. On the other hand, 
it is the last of our common trees to show signs of life 
in spring. Far into May one might think it quite 
dead amid its full-foliaged surroundings. But finally 
its large buds swell, developing into a yellowish-green 
pinnate leaf that soon attains a length of from two to 
three feet, with thirty to forty leaflets, each quite 
as large as a beech leaf. Soon the color deepens, 
and in September, with its luxuriant and immense 
dark-green foliage spreading majestically on every side, 
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