30 Our Field and Forest Trees 



winter buds dotting these leafless boughs. Those 

 of the red maple are as red as the blossoms will 

 be, while those of the ash tree are as black as 

 soot. Those of the bitternut are orange yellow, 

 and from other trees and shrubs, common every- 

 where east of the great plains, one could gather 

 winter buds in ipany shades of brown and purple 

 — in dull-red and olive and golden-green. 



The winter buds differ not only in color but in 

 shape and size, and in many other points. They 

 may be smooth, downy, sticky, or rough; they 

 may be naked, or covered with many rows of 

 scales. 



The bark is a great help in recognizing leafless 

 trees. 



The trunk and limbs of the waterside hornbeam 

 look as if they were made of iron. The trunk 

 of the shagbark hickory has loose flaps of bark 

 peeling away as shingles do from a weather-worn 

 roof. The branches of the sweet gum and of the 

 cork elm can be known at once by the rough, 

 corky ridges running along them. 



We can make sure of some trees by the taste 

 and odor of their bark — the black cherry by its 

 bitterness, the slippery elm by its gumminess, the 

 mockernut hickory by its peculiar spicy smell. 

 Stems and twigs vary, too, from the lightest 

 sprays to the most clumsy ones. One can soon 

 know all the common trees, even in midwinter. 



When we look at a bare bough, we can tell 



