THE ORNITHOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



FOREST TREES IN WINTER. 



BY JOHN B. LEWIS, EUBANKS, KY. 



We oftan hear winter spoken of as a 

 season of giooni and discomfort ; but to 

 the careful observer of God's handiwork 

 there is no lack of beauty and interest 

 in winter scenery. 



In order fully to understand the for- 

 est trees one must be familiar with them 

 in winter as well as in summer ; for it is 

 in winter that the symmetry and form of 

 trunk and branches, and the beautiful 

 coloring of bark, moss and lichens, are 

 best observed. The woods are never 

 moi'e lovely than when their branches 

 ^e covered with snow ; and the moon- 

 light has an added charm when it shines 

 on a snowy forest. 



One of the handsomest of our forest 

 trees, here in south-eastern Kentucky is 

 the scarlet oak ( Quercus coccines). In 

 some ways it closely resembles the black 

 oak, (Q. tinctoria), but it is distinguish- 

 ed by its lighter aiid less angular habit 

 of growth, and by its bark, which is 

 much smoother and of a mottled green- 

 ish-gray instead of black. Fine speci- 

 mens of this tree are common along the 

 borders of woods, and along neglected 

 fence rows. In such situations they 

 form beautifully rounded or cone-shaped 

 heads, the lower branches often droop- 

 ing like those of the beech. In young 

 trees of this species the lower branches 

 retain their leaves through the entire 

 winter, and their warm, reddish-brown 

 color shows beautifullj^ against a back- 

 ground of leafless woods. 



The red maple ( Acer ruhrum ) is a 

 common tree in our swampy woods, 

 where it is usually associated with the 

 white elm. and white ash. Well de- 

 veloped specimens of this tree, covered 

 as they usually are in winter, with patch- 

 es of lai'ge, greenish-bronze lichens, are 

 among the most handsome of trees. 



The tulip tree, ( Liriodendron tulipi- 

 fers ) is also often found in swampy 



woods in company with the red maple 

 and in such situations is known to the 

 woodsman as " white poplar" from the 

 fact that here its growth is more rapid 

 than on uplands, and consequently the 

 white, or sap wood, predominates, and 

 the bark is smoother. These lowland 

 tulip trees are usually tall, slender, and 

 straight as an arrow, with smooth, light 

 ash-colored bark and symmetrical tops. 

 The smaller limbs are usually festooned 

 with tufts of gray moss, while at this 

 season the tips of the twigs bear the 

 long slender axis of the flowers, sur- 

 rounded with dry, winged seeds ready 

 to be scattered far and wide by the wind. 



In the deep, narrow, hollows through 

 which many of our small streams run, • 

 the buckeye, beech, sycamore and sugar 

 maple are found, and a pretty winter 

 scene they make, too. 



The buckeye when growing in these 

 deep ravines is usually very tall and 

 straight, with a clean cut, smooth trunk, 

 with but little taper from the ground to 

 the first branches. The bark, which is 

 smooth in young and middle aged trees, 

 and scaly in old ones, is a rich, niottled, 

 gray-brown, often covered near the 

 ground with dark green moss. The 

 li3rge buds of the buckeyes are of a rich 

 purple color in winter, and produce a 

 preety effect when seen near the ground 

 on small trees. 



The s3"camore {Plantaims occidental is) 

 is never prettier than when seen in win- 

 ter, when on account of the scaling off 

 of the old bark late in summer, the 

 branches are almost as smooth and 

 white as marble. The whiteness which 

 otherwise would be almost painful is 

 relieved by patches and blotches of 

 light brownish-green. Young trees of 

 this species are usually straight and 

 symmetrical ; but old specimens often 

 present weirdly contorted forms, with 

 wide-spreading, crooked branches. One 

 of these patriarchial plane trees is an 

 object to delight the soul of any lover of 

 Nature. 



