Pines and Their Kindred 205 



leaves, of our northern evergreens shed the snows 

 of northern winters. The flakes fall from the 

 curved and shining surfaces and sift through the 

 feathery branches to the ground. 



Also the fierce winds of the north, which might 

 snap the branches of broad-leaved evergreens like 

 the holly, sigh harmlessly through the 

 plume-like boughs of pines and firs (Fig. 



54). 



And thus the needle-bearing and scale- 

 bearing evergreens have just the sort of 

 foliage which fits them to endure their 

 diiEculties. 



For pines, spruces, firs, hemlocks, and 

 red cedars inhabit coasts, mountain tops, 

 and northerly countries. All along the 

 Atlantic shores, from Labrador to Flor- 

 ida, pines, cedars, and junipers grow on 

 rocks and in sea-sand, and shelter the 

 broad-leaved trees, farther inland, from 

 the first fury of ocean blasts. In many 

 places evergreen woods border the Great 

 Lakes, and brave their gales. 



. 1 , • , . fig. S4- Needle- 



As one ascends nigh mountains, leaf duster of the 



'^ white pine. 



nearly all the broad-leaved trees 



are gradually left behind, till at last all the rough 



slopes are dark with spruces, pines, and firs. 



Spruces and firs are trees of the deep snows. 

 They grow into spire-like forms, the main stem 

 going straight upward to the pointed top. There 



