i 9 4 



FLORA AND SYLVA. 



With the Hickory, some of the Maples, the Chestnut, Birch, and Aspen, the 

 Elm contributes its yellow tints to the marvellous pageant of a North American 

 October, its great size accentuating the blaze of its fine colour. Its mellow tones 

 form a contrast to the intense scarlets of the Red Maple and the varied reds, 

 salmons, and orange tints of the Sugar Maples, as well as emphasize the garnets 

 of the Shad-blow, the ochres of the Sassafras, the crimsons of the Pepperidge 

 Tree, and the splendours of the dog- wood Sumach andLiquidambar; the russets, 

 maroons, and scarlets of the various native Oaks, and the rare buffs, ambers, 

 and satiny greys of the Beech coming later to crown the glories of the waning 

 year. 



Although the Sycamore and the Tulip Tree attain a larger size than the 

 White Elm, and the Oak surpasses it in rugged solidity, a fine tree of the White 

 Elm can scarcely be equalled by any other tree for its combined grace and 

 dignity. One of the finest living examples is the famous specimen at Derby 

 Line, Vermont, close to the main street of the village. It is 102 feet high, its 

 circumference (3 feet from the ground) 20 feet, and (5 feet from the ground) 

 1 8 feet 2 inches. This, with its relatively small head and giant trunk, straight 

 and branchless for over half its height, is more like the picturesque Rock Elm, 

 due from the fact of its having been a denizen of the original forest. 



At Dauphin, Pennsylvania, in the lower Susquehanna Valley, stands a 

 gigantic tree of a different type, known as the "Seven Brothers," referring to 

 the main branches and not to the trunk. This forks symmetrically upwards and 

 outwards from near the ground, forming a huge round head, while the tips of 

 the branches droop like a Weeping Willow. The tree has a circumference of 

 24 feet, and a spread of bough of nearly 100 feet, and comes under the type 

 termed the "Willow" type. 



At Worcester, Massachusetts, stands a mammoth Elm with a peculiar growth 

 upon the side, resembling perfectly the trunk of an elephant. It rears its colos- 

 sal bole in the heart of the city, beside the common, and at the rear of the city 

 hall. Its age is beyond the recollection of the oldest inhabitant, it having been 

 an object of curiosity for a hundred years or more. The peculiar growth was 

 undoubtedly caused by some accident to the tree when a sapling, but this has 

 in no way affected the health or beauty of the Elm, which is one of the finest 

 of this ancient town. 



A splendid specimen of the umbrella type of the White Elm is the historic 

 tree between Avon and Lima, Livingston County, New York, which graces the 

 highway, or old state road, between Albany and Buffalo, originally the main 

 trail of the Seneca, or Iroquois tribe, when they were the keepers of the western 

 door of the "Long House." It is familiarly known as "the Umbrella Tree," 

 and is very old ; it was formerly a frequent try sting-place of the Indians. Its 

 height is 100 feet, and its girth, 4 feet from the ground, 15 feet, and, while 



