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magnolia directly south of the second fork of the path, 

 with another of hs kin just east of it, close by the path, 

 just a few feet along. But these are on your right as 

 you go easterly. They are small trees, about fifteen feet 

 high, with very handsome, light-gray bark, lighter even 

 than that of the American beech. Their leaves are 

 about six inches long, obovate, that is, reverse egg- 

 shape, and have a short, abrupt point. 



This magnolia is a hybrid between Magnolia con- 

 spicua, the Chinese yulan, and Magnolia purpurea (or 

 obovatd). Its leaves show very plainly the intermedi- 

 ate type of the two parent trees, as do also the blended 

 hues of its flowers. Surely it is a lovely tree and lights 

 the spring paths with a beauty that is all its own. 



Picea pungens. {Colorado Blue Spruce. Silver 

 Spruce. No. 12.) Near the little mushroom-shaped 

 shelter on the southwesterly part of the Ramble, not far 

 from Bow Bridge, you can see some very fair (though 

 small) specimens of this beautiful conifer. As you 

 stand beneath the shelter and face west, within a few 

 feet of you, and directly in front of you, are two of 

 these young evergreens. You can recognize the Colo- 

 rado blue spruce on sight by its color alone, a pale, 

 glaucous green with a decided bluish tinge. When in 

 its perfection of color it is an almost unnatural shade of 

 hue for an evergreen, being then of a pale, glaucus 

 green, overcast with the loveliest and most delicate 

 tinge of pale blue. Its loveliness of tint fairly takes 

 your breath away, so delicate, so soft is its effect. But 

 though this richness of color often burns off, from 

 effects of soil and climate, to a cold, grayish blue-green. 



