666 THE ASPEN. 



a birch, and when young, bears some resemblance to it. The twigs 

 are conspicuously slender, and the buds minute. 



The other form of the Aspen is a tree of fifty to sixty feet in 

 height, with a trunk blotched with grey and almost destitute of 

 branches except near its apex. The leaves measure two or three 

 inches across : on some trees they have a dark, glossy upper-surface, 

 on others a silky under-side ; sometimes both surfaces are dull. Thev 

 are in constant motion, pattering in the slightest breeze. Numerous 

 suckers, with somewhat heart-shaped leaves, spring up round the tree, 

 but where it stands in pasture-land, these are soon demolished by 

 the cattle. Early in the year the branches are hung with downy 

 catkins. 



The Aspen grows best in moist soil, though it is found at a 

 high altitude in Scotland. It is a native of this country, and lives 

 about seventy years. The tree is rather shallow-rooted, and the 

 timber has no value on account of its softness and its liability to 

 split, which however make it useful for the construction of light 

 packing-cases. Clog-makers also use it, and when pattens were in 

 vogue, aspen-wood was considered the most suitable material for them, 

 probably on account of its light weight. 



THE CATKIN. 



Individual specimens of the Aspen bear either male or female 

 flowers, and fertilisation is effected by the agency of the wind. The 

 Aspen is the first of the Poplars to put forth its catkins, and they 

 are usually to be seen by March and appear before the leaves. The 

 flowers of both sexes are very much alike and take the form of hairy 

 catkins : the male catkin may be recognised by the red colouring of 

 its pollen sacs, and when these have opened, by the yellowish-white 



