THE ALDER 99 



of Scotland, where it grows at an altitude of 1,600 

 feet, as with that of the tranquil alluvial vales of 

 England. Some of the most striking individual trees, 

 indeed, known to the present writer are a few gnarled, 

 crooked, and round-headed standard specimens, of no 

 very exceptional size, in a mountain glen among the 

 ancient Scots Firs of the forest of Ballochbuie, near 

 Balmoral. 



Though it certainly flourishes best where its 

 main roots are some little height above the water, 

 the Alder is more tolerant of stagnant water around 

 it than any other European tree ; and from the dense 

 mass of rootlets which it puts out in such situa- 

 tions, no tree is so well adapted for holding together 

 the banks of rivers. 



The bark of the larger stems is nearly black, 

 and is full of clefts, as was noticed by Virgil in the 

 passage which Dryden renders — 



■' As Alders in the spring the boles extend. 

 And heave so fiercely that their bark they rend." 



Nor is there anything noticeable in the appearance 

 of the ascending branches, so that, when leafless, the 

 tree is not attractive. When, however, we see how 

 our exotic evergreens suffer from the cold, and how 

 the Yew-trees on the North Downs are bent towards 

 the east by the westerly gales of autumn and winter, 

 we can appreciate the provision of Nature by which 

 the trees of the colder temperature regions are, as 

 a rule, deciduous. 



The buds are stalked, bluntly oval, and brown 

 with a violet tinge; and the leaves broadly and 

 bluntly obovate, and pinnately veined, with from 



