October 24. 1894.] 



Garden and Forest. 



423 



the water view is somewhat extensive, and it is always 

 animated. The plan seems admirably adapted to make 

 the most of the situation. 



Q^ 



Native Trees and Shrubs about Montreal, 

 Canada. — V. 



'AL1X NIGRA, the Black Willow, is common, usually 

 ^ growing in low, wet ground and the borders of 

 swamps, ponds or streams. Though generally a small tree, 

 or sometimes shrub-like, it is frequently found between 

 thirty and forty feet in height and with a trunk over a foot 

 in diameter. Its narrow, light green foliage makes it one of 

 the most distinct of our native deciduous trees. 



Salixamygdaloides, the Peach-leaved Willow, or Western 

 Black Willow. The eastern and northern ranges recorded 

 for this species are Cayuga and Wayne Counties, in New 

 York state, and it is interesting to find this Willow so far 

 down the St. Lawrence valley. In Macoun's Catalogue 

 of Canadian Plants, its known eastern range on Canadian 

 soil is given as the Red River, in Manitoba. It occurs on 

 Montreal Island, on low ground just north of the city and 

 at other points, and on the south shore of the St. Lawrence, 

 and is frequent along or near the banks of the Chateauguay 

 River for at least two or three miles from its mouth. Here 

 there are trees thirty or forty feet high, and with trunks 

 fully a foot in diameter. They grow with S. nigra, which 

 they resemble in trunk and bark, but the much larger lan- 

 ceolate dark-colored leaves, pale on the under surface, and 

 on longer slender petioles, give them a different aspect. 

 This Willow is probably more common than is generally 

 known, but is passed by as some introduced species or as 

 a form of S. nigra. S. lucida, the Shining Willow, is com- 

 mon in wet places, its large shining leaves making it a 

 handsome shrub. 



Salix longifolia, the Long-leaved Willow, is an interest- 

 ing plant, of which some large groups are to be found 

 along the sandy or gravelly shores of the St. Lawrence, 

 above the mouth of the Chateauguay River. Here it is 

 never more than a shrub, usually six or eight feet high, the 

 stems one or two inches in diameter, and usually grow- 

 ing closely together and giving no hint of the arborescent 

 habit which the same species is said to attain in the far 

 west. S. rostrata, the so-called Beaked Willow, is very 

 common and frequently assumes the habit of a small tree. 

 Salix discolor, the Glaucous Willow, is abundant on low 

 grounds or in swampy places. It is one of the earliest 

 Willows to throw off its bud-scales and expose its silky 

 catkins, and on plants in the vicinity of constantly flowing 

 springs these little undeveloped catkins may often be found, 

 in the month of January, without their scale-covering. It 

 often assumes a small tree-like form. S. humilis, the so- 

 called Prairie Willow, which much resembles the last spe- 

 cies and often hardly distinguishable from it, is usually 

 found on drier ground. S. sericea, the Silky Willow, is abun- 

 dant in moist places, and the closely allied S. petiolaris 

 occurs with it and is often not easily distinguished. The 

 narrow, attractive foliage of both species seems very liable 

 to attack by a species of mildew similar to that which 

 affects the leaves of Lilacs. S. cordata, Muhl. , the Heart- 

 leaved Willow, is very common and extremely variable, 

 and seems to hybridize freely with the Silky and other Wil- 

 lows, thus producing many intermediate and puzzling forms. 

 Probably two or three other species of native Willows 

 are to be found in this locality, especially along the south 

 shore of the St. Lawrence. The foreign Willows are rep- 

 resented by the White Willow, S. alba, of Europe, which is 

 very common and naturalized, and by other species. 



Populus tremuloides, the American Trembling Aspen, is 

 commonly found growing with, or in similar localities, as 

 the small White or Gray Birch, Betula populifolia. It is 

 usually only a small tree. P. grandidentata, the Large- 

 toothed Aspen, is not generally so plentiful as the last 

 species, but it becomes a very much larger and finer-pro- 



portioned tree. P. balsamifera, the Balsam Poplar Taca- 

 mahac, or Balm of Gilead, as it is often called, is occasion- 

 ally found in the woods, sometimes as fine large trees, with 

 tops rising above the Maples and other surrounding trees. 

 The different individuals show considerable variation in 

 foliage, the leaves of some approaching (hose of the so- 

 called variety Candicans in form. Both the type and the 

 variety are planted for shade or ornament. 



Populus monilifera, the Cottonwood or Necklace Poplar, 

 is common, chiefly near the banks of rivers or streams, 

 and grows to a large size, with open, broad, spreading 

 branches. While it is, perhaps, not the largest example in 

 the region, as fine and as symmetrical a specimen as 

 may be seen is growing at Chateauguay Basin, near the 

 "banks of the Chateauguay River, and a couple of miles 

 above its mouth. This tree is said to have been not much 

 more than a sapling within the memory of some of the 

 older inhabitants. Its trunk now measures fully eighteen 

 feet in smallest circumference ; it divides into three large 

 limbs at fifteen or twenty feet from the ground, and the 

 branches cover an area more than a hundred feet in 

 diameter. The tree is staminate, and annually produces 

 enormous quantities of pretty purplish red catkins, which 

 are in striking contrast to the greenish yellow color of the 

 catkins of the pistillate or fruit-bearing trees. The species 

 bears every appearance of being indigenous, though by 

 some thought to have been brought from the west. P. 

 alba, the White Poplar or Abele of Europe, and the Lom- 

 bardy Poplar have been planted, and occasionally have 

 spread somewhat by suckers from the roots. 



Pinus Strobus, the White Pine, is the common, and now, 

 apparently, the only indigenous Pine in the vicinity of 

 Montreal. Few large trees remain in woods where they 

 were once very abundant, but groves of younger trees are 

 frequent. The more local Red Pine, P. resinosa, seems to 

 have been a native of this vicinity, although I do not now 

 know of any living -wild specimens. 



Picea alba, the White Spruce, is the common species of 

 its genus, and, although the original large trees have been 

 mainly cut away, new growths are frequent. Grown 

 singly it forms a handsome, compact, cone-shaped tree, 

 some forms slightly approaching the Colorado Blue-Spruces 

 in the glaucous aspect of their foliage. So far I have not 

 yet detected the Black Spruce, P. nigra, here, although it 

 would naturally be expected. It may yet be found. It is 

 generally said that these two species of Spruce may be 

 best distinguished by the differences in their cones, but the 

 cones of what is called P. nigra show great variation when 

 compared from different regions, some of the cones at first 

 sight hardly being distinguishable from those of P. alba. 

 It seems probable that a third eastern species or distinct 

 variety may yet be established, as is maintained by some 

 authors. 



Abies balsamea, the Balsam Fir, is common in swamps, 

 although sometimes found naturally in drier ground. 



Tsuga Canadensis, the Hemlock, is plentiful still in some 

 localities, but great quantities have been destroyed for the 

 tan-bark, and the tree is now in local demand for rough 

 lumber on account of the scarcity of Pine. 



Larix Americana, the Larch or Tamarack, more rarely 

 called Hackmatack, was once abundant enough to form 

 "Tamarack-swamps," but is now much less common, and 

 generally found growing with many other kinds of decidu- 

 ous trees. 



Thuya occidentalis, the Arbor-vitse, or Cedar or White 

 Cedar, as it is almost universally called in this region, is 

 common on rocky moist soils, in swamps or near water. 

 The wood is so much sought for poles, posts, rails and 

 other purposes that trees now are rarely allowed to grow 

 large, but if allowed to attain maturity the rapidly tapering 

 stems may be two feet or more in diameter near the base 

 and fifty or more feet high. As the trunks get old the 

 heart is very liable to decay. Young plants are often 

 taken directly from the woods and planted for hedges in 

 much drier ground, and thrive well if not at once exposed 



