THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



Vol*. I. December, 1901. No. 6 



THE WANING YEAR I X THE SOUTH. 

 By Wizard N. Cm ti:. 



The frost is the magic dye-stuff with which Nature colors 

 the garments of Autumn. The brilliant hues that crowd the 

 green out of our Northern forests, late in the year, are rarely 

 seen in regions unconquered by the cold. In our country they 

 extend south, however, much farther than many imagine. The 

 inhabitants of the New England and Middle States are likely bo 

 think of the Gulf States as the land of continued sunshine and 

 'lowers, hut even these States know the sensations that come 

 from freezing temperatures and flurries of snow . Their Autumn 

 is not so unlike a Northern Autumn, except that it is slower in 

 coming and more deliberate in passing. Jt is usually late in 

 November before the brightest tints are assumed. 



Although many districts lack that pride of Northern forests, 

 the red maple, its place in the color scheme is not vacant. The 

 sweet gum rather more than makes up for the loss. Its starry 

 leaves put on many tints of scarlet and maroon that the maple 

 cannot reach. And the sour gum (Nyssa) displays the same 

 vivid coloring that makes it so attractive in the North. I do not 

 know whether the oaks are more brilliantly colored here than 

 further north, or whether they merely appear so against a back- 

 ground of dark green pines. At any rate, they are most con- 

 spicuous in various shades of red, yellow and bronze. There is. 

 however, one remarkable exception to this in the live oak, which 

 in these scenes of change and decay remains clothed in living- 

 green — a truly live oak. 



