460 ON USEFUL AND BOOK I. 



the ash-leaved maple. They may next be divided into those 

 whose branches begin from the ground, as the fir tribe and most 

 shrubs; or those which shoot up into a stem before their 

 branches begin, as the mountain ash and the althaea f rut ex. Of 

 those whose branches begin from the ground, some rise in an 

 elegant cone, as the larch and the holly ; others in a cone whose 

 base is very broad, as the cedar; or whose base is very small* 

 as the upright cypress. Some swell out in the middle of their 

 growth, and diminish at both ends, as the Weymouth pine ; and 

 some are broadest at the top, as the raspberry and the Alpine 

 honey-suckle ; some are irregular and bushy throughout, as the 

 evergreen oak, and the snowball tree. Of those which shoot 

 up into a stem before their branches begin, some are slender 

 cones, as the deciduous cypress ; others are broad cones, as the 

 balsam poplar. Some assume a "globular form, as the moun- 

 tain ash ; and many are irregular throughout, as the Scotch elm 

 and the acacia. 



3. With regard to texture, some trees and shrubs have a soft, 

 smooth appearance, as the lime and the scorpion senna ; others 

 have a rough, firm appearance, as the evergreen oak, and the 

 holly. Some have a smooth, silky appearance, as the tama- 

 risk; others have a downy, woolly appearance, as the hoary 

 poplar. Some appear totally covered with thorns, as the furze 



