THE HORNBEAM. 65 



nate; the one has a coarse, the other a finely divided 

 spray : so that there are no two trees of the forest so en- 

 tirely unlike. It is remarkable that an isolated situation, 

 which is favorable to symmetry and good proportions in 

 other trees, increases the specific peculiarities of the Tu- 

 pelo. If it has stood alone and sent forth its branches 

 without restraint, it then displays the most grotesque 

 irregularity, showing that its normal habit of growth is 

 eccentric. 



The foliage of the Tupelo is remarkable for its fine 

 glossy verdure. The leaves are oval, narrowing toward 

 the stem and rounded at the extremity. The flowers are 

 greenish and inconspicuous, borne in minute umbels on 

 the end of a long peduncle. They produce small berries 

 of a deep blue color, containing a hard stone. This tree 

 is one of the brightest ornaments of our forest in autumn ; 

 the fine green color of its foliage attracts our attention in 

 summer, and in winter its grotesque forms, rising out of 

 the shallow meres, yield a romantic interest to these soli- 

 tary places. It is not well- adapted to dressed grounds, 

 but harmonizes only with rude, desolate, and wild scenery. 



THE HOENBEAM. 



The Hornbeams, of which in 'New England there are 

 two species belonging to a different genus, are small trees, 

 rather elegant in their shape, and remarkable for the 

 toughness and hardness of their wood. The American 

 Hornbeam, or Blue Beech, is distinguished by its fluted 

 trunk, which, as Emerson describes it, " is a short irregular 

 pillar, not unlike the massive reeded columns of Egyptian 

 architecture, with projecting ridges, which run down from 

 each bide of the lower branches. The branches are irreg- 



