CHARACTER OF BROADLEAF FORESTS 
scene, moist and green with moss; an- 
other is noticed farther away among 
slender palmettos, whose spear-edged 
leaves catch the sunlight. Vines and 
climbers hang about the stems or 
droop lazily from the boughs. In the 
nearby sluggish water, where the soil 
is deep and moldy, stands a sweet 
gum with curiously chiseled bark, as if 
some patient artist had been at work; 
and a little beyond, some cypresses are 
roofed by the delicate web of their own 
foliage. 
We may sit dreaming away a full 
hour thus, with only the hum of a few 
insects and perhaps a stray scarlet 
tanager flitting by to disturb our medi- 
tations. 
It has been indicated in a former 
chapter that the broadleaf woods, 
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