THE FALL OF THE LEAF. 283 



our indigenous species, is also remarkable in the Italian 

 poplar and the privet, whose leaves seem to be hardly 

 susceptible of injury from the frost. It might be in- 

 ferred that trees and shrubs which were brought from 

 climates warmer than our own would be more suscep- 

 tible of injury from our autumnal frosts. So far is this 

 from the fact, that their foliage is evidently more hardy 

 than that of our indigenous species. It may be ex- 

 plained by supposing that the leaves of a plant from 

 a more southern latitude, or from a country, like Eng- 

 land, with a longer growing season, require a longer 

 time to arrive at maturity, and that their power of resist- 

 ing frost consists in their greater vitality. On the same 

 principle we may explain the fact very commonly 

 observed, that a second growth of leaves, sometimes 

 put forth after the first growth has been completed, has 

 a remarkable power of resisting the action of frost. 

 Whatever may be the explanation, it is true that the 

 early frosts of autumn, that cause the leaves of many 

 of our indigenous trees to drop to the ground, produce 

 no visible effect on some of the exotics ; nor do the 

 intense rays of an American sun color them as they do 

 the leaves of our own trees. 



The beautiful tints of autumnal foliage are not cor- 

 rectly attributed to the action of frost. Neither are 

 they the effect of the maturity, but rather of the old 

 age of the leaf; and they may often be observed as 

 early as August in those trees which are in a declining 

 state of health. While passing by the Salem common 

 during the second week in August, (1854,) I observed a 

 maple in its full autumnal drapery of crimson. On 

 examining it I found that the tree had been nearly 

 girdled. The wound had been healed, and left only a 

 narrow strip of bark, about three inches in width to 



