THE FORMS OF SINGLE TREES. 



137 



multitude of details. Our remarks may be directed, 

 first, to trees individually in respect to form ; then, to 

 their color; and. lastly, to their expression in combined 

 masses and groups. 



Sect. I. — The Forms of Single Trees. 



The forms assumed by the individuals of any species 

 of tree, such as the oak or Scotch fir, vary much with 

 the soil, situation, and age of the particular tree, yet 

 amid all their diversities they preserve a character at 

 once discernible by the practiced eye. The oaks in 

 the rich and open park, in the crowded forest, and in 

 the mountain ravine differ greatly from each other, 

 but they are plainly oaks, and have each a beauty of 

 their own. How dissimilar, also, the plume-like ash 

 in its youth, rushing up in some sheltered valley, to 

 the round-headed ash of middle age, in an open situa- 

 tion, and still more to the gnarled, large-timbered, 

 wavy-boughecl, and pendulous-branched ash, bending 

 under the weight of years. In the same species, too, 

 there are often constitutional differences, amounting 

 almost to what botanists call varieties. These circum- 

 stances necessarily preclude minute verbal description. 

 Still there are certain general forms affected by trees 

 in their natural growth, and all that is required for the 

 purpose of the planter is to keep these steadily in view. 

 Though every species and variety of tree has its own 

 peculiar expression, if not distinct character, we do 

 not deem it necessary to advert to each separately, 

 believing it to be sufficient for the illustration of our 

 subject, to class them under four leading divisions, and 



