THE TREES IN SUMMER 253 
every year so long as the tip remains alive. Wherever there 
is an opening in the crown, adjacent twigs tend to crowd 
into it and fill it up. 
In summer, the trees are flowering and fruiting. A few 
of them, like the tulip tree and the magnolias, have very large 
flowers. A few, like the maples and the linden or basswood, 
have smaller nectar-bearing flowers that are thronged by 
bees and other insects. Basswood, indeed, stands next to 
m 
Fic. 97. Leaf outlines; m, sycamore; 1, red oak. 
white clover in the quality of the honey it yields. Most of 
the larger trees have small and inconspicuous flowers, that 
shed their pollen lavishly and depend on the wind for its 
distribution. Some trees, like the soft maples, flower early, 
and ripen and shed their fruit before the summer is well under 
way; and others, like the black oaks, hasten slowly, taking 
two years for maturing a crop of acorns. So, at any time, 
we shall find some trees bare of flower and fruit, and others 
with one or both in various stages of development. There 
is nothing more interesting about the trees than this wonder- 
ful variety of habit. How interesting they are, you may 
