164 
LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 
serrated in their margins, and dark green in color. The 
tree rapidly forms an agreeable pyramidal head of foliage, 
when growing in damp situations. As it is a foreign tree 
we shall quote from Gilpin its character in scenery. “ The 
alder / 5 says he, “ loves a low, moist soil, and frequents the 
banks of rivers, and will flourish in the poorest forest 
swamps where nothing else will grow. It is perhaps the 
most picturesque of any of the aquatic tribe, except the 
weeping willow. He who would see the alder in perfection 
must follow the banks of the Mole in Surrey, through the 
sweet vales of Dorking and Mickleham, into the groves of 
Esher. The Mole, indeed, is far from being a beautiful 
river ; it is a silent and sluggish stream, but what beauty 
it has it owes greatly to the alder, which everywhere fringes 
its meadows, and in many places forms very pleasing. scenes. 
It is always associated in our minds with river scenery, 
both of that tranquil description most frequently to be met 
with in the vales of England, and with that wider and more 
stirring cast which is to be found amidst the deep glens and 
ravines of Scotland ; and nowhere is this tree found in 
greater perfection than on the wild banks of the river Find- 
horn and its tributary streams, where scenery of the most 
romantic description everywhere prevails/’* 
Although the beauty of the alder is of a secondary kind, 
it is worth occasional introduction into landscapes where 
there is much water to be planted round, or low running 
streams to cover with foliage. In these damp places, like 
the willow, it grows very well from truncheons or large 
limbs, stuck in the ground, which take root and become 
trees speedily. There are two principal varieties, the 
* Lauder’s Gilpin, i. p. 136. 
