THE WHITE BEAM 109 



another that as they issue from the bud only the 

 under surface is exposed ; and, whatever may be the 

 position of the shoot that bears them, they always 

 assume an upright position, standing erect as a series 

 of white pillars. This position of young leaves is ex- 

 plained as exposing a minimum of surface to the 

 cold radiated from the ground beneath them. Both 

 surfaces of the leaves are at first grey with a webbing 

 of fine hairs ; but these soon disappear from the upper 

 surfaces, leaving them a shining dark green, while the 

 un/ier surfaces become covered with the dense snow- 

 white down which gives the tree its characteristic 

 appearance as it sways in the breeze. The leaf-stalks 

 are downy and short, not much exceeding one-fifth 

 the length of the blade ; and the stipules soon dis- 

 appear. The blade of the leaf varies considerably 

 in size, form, and margin, the typical plant of South- 

 east England having it broadly oval or elliptic, from 

 three tp five inches long, with the margin coarsely and 

 irregularly serrate, except at the wedge-shaped base, 

 and with from nine to fourteen prominent secondary 

 veins from each side of the midrib running nearly 

 straight to the periphery. These secondary veins 

 are sometimes opposite to one another, sometimes 

 not, and are connected by a network of very fine 

 tertiary veinlets^ 



The White Beam flowers in May or June, its 

 blossoms being in loose flat clusters with downy stalks, 

 each of them about half an inch across, larger in- 

 dividually, that is, than those of the Rowan, though 

 the clusters are notas large. It is somewhat curious 

 that Parkinson should speak of the flowers as 



