328 



THE BEECH. 



they would appear to liave been deposited, thus 

 confirming tlie well-known fact that such is uni- 

 versally the origin of woody fibre. Whether 

 they originated from the puncture of the bark 

 by an insect, or from what other cause is not 

 known. If planted in the earth, it is said that 

 they will grow : but I am not aware whether they 

 ever shoot forth while attached to the tree. 

 Come again to this spot, 



" When rosv-footed May 

 Steals blnsliing on." 



The delicate leaves with their glossy silk fringe, 

 now so carefully wrapped up in the bud of from 

 twenty to tlfirty membranous scales, will then be 

 showing their vi^dd green on the lower branches, 

 the bud scales as yet loosely clinging to their 

 base. In a few days more the verdure creeps 

 up the whole tree, gradually deepening in hue. 

 and assuming a brighter polish. The silken 

 fringe, which was so conspicuous when the 

 leaf emerged from its vinter's covering, becomes 

 more scattered as the leaf increases in size, the 

 latter being slightly notched, and having the veins 

 beneath downy. The young twigs at first droop 

 gracefully, but in about a fortnight's time, as- 

 sume an erect, or horizontal direction. But we 

 shall look in vain for a carpet of herbage beneath 

 their shade. Here and there a sickly holly has 

 resisted the malignant influence of its drip, or a 

 tangled bed of Periwinkle * has established itself, 

 and grows on luxuriantly, unaftected by the pre- 

 vailing cause of sterility : but, with these excep- 

 tions, the Beech has appropriated the vdiole of 



* Vifioa minor i 



