FOREST SCENERY. 135 



an eminence that commands an extensive view of the 

 country, you would be persuaded that the prospect is 

 far more magnificent than at midsummer. At this 

 time you look not upon individuals, but groups. Before 

 you lies an ample meadow, nearly destitute of trees 

 except a few noble elms, standing in their blended 

 majesty and beauty, combining in their forms the grace- 

 fulness of the palm with the grandeur of the oak ; here 

 and there a clump of pines, and long rows of birches, 

 willows and alders bordering the streams that glide 

 along the valley, and exhibiting every shade of green- 

 ness in their foliage. In all parts of the prospect, 

 separated by square fields of tillage of lighter or darker 

 verdure, according to the nature of their crops, you 

 behold numerous orchards, some on the hill-side receiv- 

 ing the direct beams of the sun, and others on level 

 ground, exhibiting their shady rows with their flowers 

 just in that state of advancement that serves to show 

 the budding trees, which are red and purple, in beauti- 

 ful opposition to the fully blown trees, which are white. 

 Such spectacles of flowering orchards are seen in all 

 parts of the country, as far as the eye can reach, along 

 the thinly inhabited road sides and farms. 



The effect produced by the flowering of trees is less 

 conspicuous in our forests than in our orchards and 

 gardens; but the dazzling whiteness of the Florida 

 cornel, rising up amidst the variegated masses of forest 

 verdure, attracts the attention of every traveller. The 

 flowering trees of our forests are chiefly of the amen- 

 taceous tribes, whose flowers serve rather to add gayety 

 and variety to their tints, than any positive beauty of 

 colors. Among the shrubbery, however, there are many 

 species that are made attractive by their blossoms, and 

 yield to the pastures and coppices a more beautiful 



