Around the *“ Pond ”—First Excursion 
leaves are so covered with a white cottony substance as 
to give, at a distance, the effect of full bloom ; but the 
common aspen leaf is not thus blanketed in infancy. 
The Lombardy poplar is the most columnar—fastigi- 
ate, as botanists call it—of all our trees. Several small 
ones are near the ‘‘ Pond,’’ but a fine cluster of full-grown 
ones may be seen at the extreme northern end of the 
Park near the east wall. It is a tree that requires good 
judgment in planting, as its singularly slender form does 
not blend with all surroundings. It is a favorite tree 
for country roads in some parts of Europe, but why I 
could never comprehend, as its capability for shade is 
almost 27. 
Balsam poplar and balm of Gilead are two less familiar 
members of the family ; and it is interesting to note, in 
this as in similar instances, the resemblances that be- 
tray kinship, sometimes plainly, often so subtly as al- 
most to defy description. Indeed, the comparison and 
contrast of allied forms is one of the most important 
sources of pleasure in plant study, and increases our 
wonder at the profound scheme of creation that has 
clothed the earth with such bewildering diversity of 
beauty, yet all its forms, in tones fainter or louder, ever 
proclaiming their relationship and common origin. 
Just as this earth is the theatre of man’s evolution and 
attainment of ideals, is it not equally true that, along 
lower lines, other ideals in vegetable and animal life 
have been constantly aimed at through the long ascent 
from the original protoplasm? In recognizing this 
earth as a vast moral and intellectual theatre, we must 
not forget that it has been, through millions of years, 
73 
