TREE FORMS. 41 



proportion to its bulk.' He adds, that ' its bark 

 bas not the furrowed roughness of the Oak, but 

 it has a species of roughness very picturesque.' 



A sort of deciduous Cedar the Larch (page 240) 

 might be termed, if regard were had, in its relation- 

 ship to other trees, to its leaves. It is, of course, 

 a not distant relative of the Cedar, because, like 

 it, it is a conifer. The ramification of the Larch 

 is very peculiar and picturesque — the branches 

 spreading so regularly around the straight, up- 

 right bole as to present a strongly-marked conical 

 appearance. In comparison with the trunk the 

 branches are thin — there are no limbs properly 

 so called — and they are long and sweeping. On 

 leaving the stem they rise slightly for the space 

 of an inch or two, and then dip, the lowest part 

 of this dip being at a considerable proportional 

 distance from the stem. Rising again, the 

 branches take a long sweep upwards and out- 

 wards. The gradation in thickness of both stem 

 and branches is very gradual. Each branch is 

 divided on very much the same principle, but as 

 the twigs grow horizontally with relation to the 

 branch, a flat appearance is given to the latter. 



