Trees on McGill University Grounds. 41*7 



occurred on the line of the Burnside brook. The best was 

 destroyed in 1890. One remains on the lower part of the 

 grounds, and another still survives between the Thomas 

 Workman building and the Medical School. This is a more 

 lofty but less spreading tree than the butternut ; and in 

 autumn its bright yellow foliage forms a beautiful variety. 

 Though less rapid in growth than the butternut, it grows 

 quickly in good soil and should be cultivated, both on 

 account of its beauty and the utility of its remarkably 

 strong and tough wood. In appearance it resembles the 

 ash, but is a more beautiful tree. 



20. The Maples. Acer sac char inum, A rubrum, A dasy- 

 carpum. 



Curiously enough no maples existed on the grounds in 

 1855. Now they are the prevalent trees, and many of the 

 best trees are from seed collected in 1856, and sowed in our 

 little nursery on the flat near Sherbrooke street. All the 

 three species above named are on the grounds. The first 

 is the most stately and enduring, but of less rapid growth 

 than the others. In autumn its foliage is variegated with 

 red and orange. The red maple, a more rapid grower but 

 less grand and enduring, has the most brilliant red leaves 

 in autumn. Those of the white maple, A. dasycarpum, are 

 yellow in autumn. The belt of red and white maples along 

 the east side of the grounds, all from seed sown by ourselves, 

 was one of the finest bits of woodland foliage about Mont- 

 real, but was destroyed to make room for the Thomas 

 Workman building. The thinner belt on the west side of 

 the campus is also a good feature, but much inferior to the 

 other, owing to poorer soil and the injury done to the trees 

 by boys and spectators on occasion of games and athletic 

 sports. 



21. The Mountain Maple. Acer spicatum. 



This tree, better suited to the colder and more bleak 

 portions of the country, has been naturalized on the college 



15 



