In the * Ramble ”—Fourth Excursion 
vate it; every arboretum should contain a specimen, 
and its discovery adds one to the student’s list of native 
trees. The ‘‘ Ramble’’ contains two, one of them in 
the open grass-plot south of the duck-pond ; but why was 
such a conspicuous position assigned to the persimmon ? 
SwEET Gum.—Near the coast, from Connecticut 
southward, grows a tree with star-shaped, glossy leaves, 
of finer appearance than the majority of forest growths, 
and with something of the oak’s assertive figure. This 
is the sweet gum, so named from its aromatic juices, 
whose fragrant resinous odor is perceived in the leaf 
when bruised. Erect, symmetrical, and medium-sized, 
it lends itself to a variety of situations on the lawn, and 
is considerably cultivated. In winter the contrast of 
the blackish, deeply furrowed trunk, and the smooth and 
hoary branches is quite marked, and the branches are 
more or less corky-winged. The seeds are in curious 
hard, spherical pods which hang thickly through the 
winter, and cover the ground in spring. Whoever has 
a sweet-gum-tree on his grounds will be visited through- 
out the winter by large flocks of goldfinches that eat the 
seeds. As I write this I can count nearly a hundred of 
them in their brown winter dress close by the window 
on the ground, busily feeding. ‘The glossy green of 
summer is followed by an autumn coloring that is the 
most kaleidoscopic of any tree, in a brilliant combina- 
tion of purple, yellow, red, and scarlet. Another name 
for this tree is liquidamber. 
Sour Gum.—In this connection we may speak of the 
sour gum, which, however, stands in no sort of relation 
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