44 SEVENTH REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



nature. Still, there is a widespread belief that the autumn foliage is much brighter 

 some years than in others, and it is conceded that this may be true to some extent. 



In European countries the autumn foliage is generally inferior in brilliancy and 

 pleasing effects to that in America. There is a lack of red, and even the yellow 

 which predominates so largely there is dull as compared with that seen in our 

 American forests. The Maples and Oaks are not so common, or of so great a 

 variety. Furthermore, the American species planted there lose the brightness 

 which they display at home, and, on the other hand, European trees grown in 

 America fail to develop the brilliant colors of our native trees. 



The inferiority of color so noticeable abroad has been attributed to a more moist 

 condition of the atmosphere. This might apply with good reason to the British 

 Isles and Netherlands, but hardly to sunny France, or to the South of Europe, 

 famed for its clear Italian skies. A better reason may be found in the " greater 

 transparency of our atmosphere, and the consequent greater intensity of light." 



In his work on Autumnal Leaves,* Mr. Francis George Heath, of London, 

 exhibits a series of twelve colored plates, in which he shows the tints of leaves col- 

 lected by him in autumn from various leading species in England. The drawings 

 are finely executed in both form and color ; but, if the leaf tints have been correctly 

 reproduced, their inferiority to the autumnal foliage in America is apparent at a 

 glance. A comparison of the colored plates in Mr. Heath's book, with the pictures 

 of autumn leaves shown in connection with this article, indicates plainly that, as to 

 England at least, the leaves on American trees have colors far more brilliant, and in 

 a greater variety. 



The English botanist Hunter, in his notes on Evelyn's Silva, describes the Sep- 

 tember foliage in his vicinity as : " Plane Tree, tawny ; Oak, yellowish green ; Hazel, 

 yellow ; Sycamore, dirty brown ; Maple, pale yellow ; Ash, fine lemon ; Elm, orange ; 

 Hawthorn, tawny yellow ; Cherry, red ; Hornbeam, bright yellow." 



Having mentioned the inferior appearance of the autumn foliage in Europe, as 

 compared with that in certain American latitudes, it should be further noted that 

 this difference applies to trees, and that it is not wholly true of the minor flora. In 

 the Alps of Central Europe the shrubs and herbaceous growths above the timber 

 line display ripened colors that, in variety and brilliancy, are unsurpassed in any 

 country. 



The direct influence of sunlight on the development of leaf color is apparent to 

 the most casual observer. The outer leaves on a tree are the first to turn, while a 



♦Autumnal Leaves: By Francis George Heath. London: Sampson, Low & Co. 1881. 



