Trees, Shrubs and Vines 



of leaf-stem and branch as early as May. In some 

 trees, like the hickory, it becomes quite large by fall ; 

 but not a trace of it will you see in the buttonwood ; 

 but a little scrutiny shows the base of the leaf-stem quite 

 swollen; detach it from the branch, and the end is 

 found to be a hollow cup, and the new bud can now be 

 seen on the branch neatly fitted to the cup, which all 

 summer had completely enveloped it. This is a mys- 

 tery ; the careful protection of the bud through the win- 

 ter we could understand ; but in this case — and the 

 same is true of the rarely seen " yellow- wood " and a 

 few others — ^protection is given when it seems needless, 

 and withdrawn just as it might be of service. Every 

 operation of nature, however, has a motive, and this is 

 what makes her endless variations of conduct so inter- 

 esting. 



Magnolias. — ^We have no group in which the family 

 type is more distinctive and apparent than in magnolias ; 

 manifest in figure, bark, leaf, and flower, the brother- 

 hood of the species is very striking. It is a hard family 

 for the anti-evolutionist to deal with. Its sympathies 

 are in the South-land, the most tropical of our growths; 

 bravely bearing our Northern clime, its affinities are 

 more with palms than pines. One species, the swamp 

 magnolia, to the surprise of scientists, has been found as 

 far north as Cape Ann, in Massachusetts, yet it is as 

 rare as the mocking-bird in all other Northern States, 

 and is practically a sub-tropical species like the others. 

 Though called a tree, it looks more like an overgrown 

 shrub in the incertitude of its trunk. Its dark green, 



