GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH THE TREES 



ish yellow of the young leaves begins to combine 

 with them before they fall. The tints of flower 

 and of leaf melt insensibly into each other, so 

 that, as I have remarked before, the casual ob- 

 server says, "The leaves are out on the Norway 

 maples," — -not knowing of the great mass of 

 delightful flowers that have preceded the leaves 

 above his unseeing eyes. I emphasize this, for I 

 hope some of my readers may be on the outlook 

 for a new pleasure in early spring — the bloom- 

 ing of this maple, with flowers so thoroughly 

 distinct and so entirely beautiful. 



The samaras to follow on this Norway maple 

 are smaller than those of the other two maples 

 mentioned, and they hang together at a different 

 angle, somewhat more graceful. I have often 

 wondered how the designers, who work to death 

 the pansies, the roses and the violets, have man- 

 aged to miss a form or "motive" of such value, 

 suggesting at once the near-by street and far- 

 away Egypt. 



A purely American species, and one of as 

 much economic importance as any leaf-dropping 

 tree, is the sugar maple, known also as rock 

 maple — one designation because we can get 



lO 



