212 
WINTER BUDS 
The Beech is among the finest trees in winter* Its 
smooth, grey, clean-looking trunk stands out almost 
as distinct as the Silver-birch, and its sturdy aspect 
is sustained through a ruggedly symmetrical ex- 
pansion of grey branches, the entire outline touched 
with the delicate reddish brown of the finely-encased 
foliage* The buds are long, smooth, and so finely 
pointed as to seem like formidable thorns, and 
throughout the winter there is an earnest of life in 
their rich, warm tints* Most of the buds are terminal 
on the small twigs, but occasionally a lateral bud 
standing out at an abrupt angle gives variety to a 
graceful spray* These buds contain, carefully folded, 
the diminutive, downy leaves, ready for the coming 
season* The lighter markings of their overlapping 
scales give promise of the familiar elongation of 
spring, when the life within breaks through the inert 
covering, and clothes the tree once more in rich waves 
of green* On the higher branches are some shorter 
buds, which will open at the same time to shed their 
fertilising pollen, and still other buds, scarcely 
distinguishable, till they expand as fertile flowers 
and yield tor the squirrels an ever-abundant feast 
of Beech nuts* 
The Soft Maple buds are round, and so closely 
clustered as to be quite conspicuous and suggestive 
of premature development* But the Maple is one 
of the trees that can wait. The flower buds will open 
first and strew the ground with scales, and the male 
