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SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



CHARACTERISTIC ERAXCHIXG OF BRITISH FOREST-TREES. 



3-r the Rev. V.\ H. Pcrchas. 



Z: :: ::.;.: /> : -■: : :. h : 2:_ i 

 Tee 5:-:aee-ee.-.vsz Elm :?. C:::::::~ El". 



HP HE name " small-leaved elm " (Ulmus campestris, 

 Smith) is here used in preference to " common 

 elm " as being less open to misapprehension. This 

 is indeed the " common elm " of the southern n aif 

 of England but not so of the northern portion, nor 

 ve: :: Szzz'.sszi. ".-here it bet-rues rare :r -.vkuliy 

 absent. In many 

 of the southern 

 taunties ::' England 

 it is the prevailing 

 tree in hedgerows 

 and in the open 

 country, but it is in 

 parks and pleasure- 

 grounds, where it is 

 suffered :: grc~.v 

 unmolested and to 

 develop itself at will, 

 that we see it in its 

 full beauty art per- 

 fection. 



The leaves of the 

 small-leaved elm ire 

 arranged in a two- 

 rauued rnaruaer. as 

 in its near relative 

 the wych elm, each 

 third leaf standing 

 immediately over 

 the hrst, and so on. 

 During the early 

 vigorous growth of 

 the :ree the se::rd- 

 ary branches will, 

 as in the wych elm, 

 spread h:riz;ntally 

 rijht and left :: the 

 branch from which 

 they spring ; but, as 

 the limb extends 

 farther and farther 

 frirr. :;.; main trunk, 

 ard its brarthle:- irt- 

 trease and — ultiply, 

 these, and the lead- 

 ing shoots also, manifest an increasing tendency to 

 ::rsa.-:e the straight h:r:z:Etal directitr and :: turn 

 upwards towards the sky. Perhaps, through being 

 less robust and vigorous than the earlier branches, 

 and having less force of development, they may 

 be mtre readily attracted uttv.ard by the Luttuerte 

 of light. The result, however, is very generally 



I - : ?::i S: :.-.z.z.-—z.-.: id Elm. 

 Near Suspension Bridge, Clifton, Bristol. 



the formation of rounded compact masses of foliage 

 instead of the loose, straggling, and often pendulous 

 branches of the wych elm. And not only the 

 primary branches, but branches of the secondary 

 order also, exhibit this feature and follow out the 

 character of the tree, each one standing out in 



some degree from 

 the general mass 

 and receiving broad 

 lights above and 

 giving deep trans- 

 parent shadows be- 

 nsath. 



A reason for the 

 compactness of 

 growth is found in 

 the shortness of the 

 internodes. In con- 

 sequence of this the 

 smaller branches 

 and sprays arise at 

 very short distances 

 from each other ; 

 and as the small- 

 leaved elm rarely 

 flowers until it has 

 attained considerable 

 age there is, in the 

 lower and early parts 

 of its branches, no 

 interruption to the 

 formation of axillary 

 leaf-buds and result- 

 ing branchlets, so 

 that we see none 

 of the bare spaces 

 which are so notice- 

 able along the 

 branches of the 

 wych elm, hence it 

 is that the lower 

 limbs show such a 

 wealth of foliage. 

 It is on the outer 

 and uppermost twigs 

 or sprays that the small-leaved elm is found chiefly 

 to flower, and here we perceive the foliage to be less 

 crowded than below. Still, as each year's spray- 

 wood is but short, and always has one or two axil- 

 lary leaf-buds near the tip, the interruption to leafy 

 growth by the production of flowers is less manifest 

 than it would be in the case of longer shoots. 





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