356 OUR WOODLAND TREES. 
and that even the very pollen on their stamens 
could be seen. 
With the gentle warmth of spring the bud 
cement begins to melt and yield. There is an 
unwrapping of the scales. The dark outercoverings 
fall back. The rising sap pressing from below 
exerts its influence to swell the enfolded life. 
Then the inner coats of purest down appear and 
are in turn thrown off, and rapidly the imprisoned 
leaves and flowers come forth to light and air—the 
leaves with tint of golden green, the flowers with 
hues of white, and pink, and gold. The great 
leaves at first hang flacidly upon the twigs, as if 
drooping for want of moisture. But they soon 
expand, stiffen, and spread out their large surfaces 
from the summit of their long green and stout 
stalks. The leaf of the Horse-Chestnut is singularly 
characteristic, and does not even remotely resemble 
the leaf of any of our other woodland Trees. The 
leaf-stalk varies in length with the size and 
development of the leaf. From its apex spring 
six or seven—generally seven—pear-shaped lobes, 
arranged in a circle—with appreciable spaces 
between each lobe—around the apex of the stalk. 
