CHAP. I. AS COMPONENT PARTS OF GENERAL SCENERY. J 97 



a botanical point of view, the variety which trees and shrubs present, with re- 

 spect to their trunks and branches, is almost endless : but we have, at present, 

 only to consider them with a view to pictorial effect. 



The mode of growth in trees and shrubs varies according to the kinds ; and is 

 modified only in a slight degree by situation, soil, and climate. The main stems 

 of almost all trees have a tendency to grow upright ; but the branches proceed 

 from these stems in different directions in different trees. The growths, that 

 is, the branchlets and spray produced by the branches, extend themselves 

 horizontally in some cases, as in the oak ; upwards in others, as in the beech ; 

 and in some downwards, as in the weeping willow and the weeping birch. In 

 some they are rigidly upright and compact, as in the Lombardy poplar ; and in 

 others they are upright and sparse (that is, thin), as in the gymnocladus. In 

 young trees and shrubs the mode of growth is more decidedly exhibited than 

 in old trees, because the growth is more rapid ; and in detached trees it is 

 more conspicuous than in such as are crowded, because the nature of the tree, 

 in such situations, is more perfectly developed. 



In shrubs, the mode of growth is often the principal circumstance by which, 

 in a pictorial point of view, they can be characterised ; because they have not 

 sufficient magnitude to admit of great variety of form, or of outline : they are 

 without trunks to admit of variety of attitude; and they are without large 

 branches to admit of marked character. The artist, therefore, in order to 

 render them interesting, must have recourse to their mode of growth, and to 

 their foliage; and for these reasons, also, they ought almost always to be 

 placed in the foreground, both of pictures and of garden landscapes. 



The mode of tufting, that is, the mode in which the leaves combine into those 

 masses which appear on the surface of the tree, varies with the kind of tree ; 

 and depends principally on the mode of growth, though, to a certain extent, 

 it is influenced by the form of the leaves. The general form of tufts is round- 

 ish, or elliptical; the long axis of the ellipsis, or of the roundish figure, being 

 universally in a horizontal direction. One tuft is separated from another by 

 intervals of shade in the body of the tree, and by the background where the 

 tufts compose the marginal outline. All tufts have their margins more or less 

 indented, which depends on the forms and clusters of the leaves. 



The leaves of trees and shrubs are almost as various as the species ; but, pic- 

 torially, their forms are chiefly noticeable only so far as they combine into 

 masses. A single leaf, in a tree viewed pictorially, is at such a distance from 

 the eye as seldom to be seen in its entire form ; but something of the general 

 form of the leaves is recognisable in the margins of the tufts of foliage, and 

 more especially in those which are nearest to the eye. The margins of these 

 tufts may be said to be almost always more or less indented or serrated ; the 

 serratures differing in magnitude, in depth, in direction, and in being more or 

 less blunt at their extremities. 



The spray of trees, that is, the last made shoots on the extremities of the 

 branchlets, is as various as the species of trees. In some it is horizontal, as 

 in the silver fir ; in others it is pendent, as in the larch, the weeping willow, 

 and in some species of birch ; in others it is rigid, as in the gymnocladus ; 

 and in others crooked, as in some of the oaks and thorns ; in some it is 

 thick, and unmarked by buds, as in the fig and the walnut ; in others it is 

 clothed with leaves throughout the year, as in all the evergreens. 



The buds of trees and shrubs may be considered as scarcely perceptible in 

 pictorial point of view ; nevertheless, the spray of some trees are without 

 visible buds ; and in others, for example, the horsechestnut, the i?etula 

 nigra, and the Quercus sessilifldra, the buds are very conspicuous. The 

 blossom buds, both of trees and shrubs, are always much larger than the 

 common buds ; for which reason, in looking at a tree pictorially, during the 

 spring season, it will be some assistance to the artist to know whether the 

 tree is one which produces large or small flowers ; and whether it is of a 

 sufficient age to produce flowers at all. The knowledge of this, and of 



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