OKNAMBNTAL TREES AND SHRUBS IN KORTH AMERICA. 375 



buds swell — ^the tender leaves unfold, and the admirer of nature is 

 delighted by the freshness and vividness of the young foliage. Sum- 

 mer comes — ^he i^ refreshed by the fragrance of their blossoms — 

 their shade is a welcome luxury in the noontide sun— perchance 

 their friiit may be an acceptable offering to the palate-^and who in 

 this country has not witnessed the autumnal glories of an American 

 fqrest ? 



There is no country of the globe which produces a greater va- 

 riety of fine forest trees, whether considered for the purposes of orna- 

 ment or timber, than North America. Yet it is a fact that for both 

 these purposes, more particularly the first, they are horticulturally 

 better known in many parts of Europe, than they arei now at home. 

 Those governments have imported the seeds of aU our most valua- 

 ble forest trees, annually, for more than a century. Instead of 

 planting our agriculturists have hitherto been engaged in destroy- 

 ing. In the Atlantic States, this period is now past; and we 

 would, therefore, first direct the attention of the arboriculturist to 

 our own trees. 



There is not in the whole catalogue, scarcely a more interesting 

 object than an immense oak tree, when, placed so as to be consid- 

 ered in relation to the large mansion of a wealtlyr proprietor. Its 

 broad ample limbs and aged form, give a very impressive air of 

 dignity to the whole scene. It is a very cornmon inhabitant of our 

 woods, there being forty-four species of indigenous growth between 

 the 20th and 48th degrees of north latitude.* The pendulous 

 branches bf the American elm — the light foliage of the birch — the 

 cheerful vernal appearance of some of the species of maple — the de- 

 licate leaf of the locust, and the heavy masses of verdure produced 

 by the beech, are ' sufiicient to render them all ornamental in patk 

 scenery, and they should ever find a proper situation in an extensive 

 lawn. Our American poplars shpuld be recollected, when a rapid 

 growth and immediate effect is required. Gleditschia triacanthos, 

 or the sweet locust, is interesting from its long masses of thorn,s. 

 The plane or sycamore, (Plgtanus occidentalis) is too much neglect- 

 ed because it is so common ; but in favorable situations, in deep 



* Michaux. 



