STUDIES OF TREES IN WINTER 



collected and used as an ointment in medicine. 

 The flow of resinous balsam increases accord- 

 ing to the warmth of the climate in which 

 the liquidamber is found. The specific name, 

 Styracifiiia, from the Latin word i-^r«;tr (storax), 

 also alludes to this juice, storax being a res- 

 inous gum. 



The liquidamber is found growing in Fair- 

 field County, Connecticut, and from there south- 

 ward to Florida and westward. It grows well 

 in gardens in the neighborhood of Boston ; but 

 it is liable to suffer after severe winters through- 

 out Eastern New England. 



The witch-hazel {Hamainelis virginiand) is 

 a small tree or shrub, lo to 30 feet high, with a 

 smooth brown bark and flat branches, covered 

 through the winter with woody fruit capsules. 

 It is found on the borders of moist woods 

 throughout New England and its profusion 

 of yellow thread-like flowers in the bare Novem- 

 ber woods make it a striking object in autumn. 

 The combination on a single tree, at the same 

 time, of blossoms and ripe fruit is unusual in 

 any climate, and the witch-hazel is the only 

 example of it in the Northeastern States. 

 Linnaeus gave it the Greek name hamamelis, 

 which means bearing flowers together with 

 the fruit. 



146 



