1875.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
265 
The Beech in Flower. 
The writers upon landscape gardening, in 
describing the Beech, speak of the grace of the 
young and the grandeur of the old trees ; they 
discuss its spray, its buds, its leaves, bark, and 
nuts, and even have something to say of its 
An engraving, which can only show form, fails 
to convey the effect where so much depends 
upon color, but we give one to show what the 
flowers are like. The long pointed buds of the 
beech are so much unlike those of other trees, 
as to attract the attention of all who care 
enough for trees to notice them. These buds 
open late in spring, and liberate the young 
must be indifferent to beautiful things in nature 
who does not admire it while it lasts. 
The Large-Flowered Bellwort, 
Among a pretty large collection of native 
plants which we have brought into the garden. 
withered and dead leaves—but nothing of its 
flowers. Indeed, the idea of something bril¬ 
liant and showy is so thoroughly associated 
with flowers, that many very intelligent per¬ 
sons seem surprised when we speak of the 
flowers of our common forest trees. In thick¬ 
ly wooded countries the indifference to trees in 
any other sense than that of timber and wood, 
is quite surprising. Every one, man and boy, 
can name the trees with the greatest accuracy 
by a glance at the bark, whether on the trunk 
or branches, nor are they less ready at recog¬ 
nizing them from the split surface ; but show 
them a leaf, or a detached leafy twig, and they 
are quite at loss, and when it comes to the 
flowers, except in the case of the Tulip-tree, 
Locust, and other showy trees, they do not seem 
to have thought of their existence. There is, 
of course, a good reason for this; trees are 
felled in winter, when it is necessary to dis¬ 
tinguish them by peculiarities that remain at 
that season, and it is really a matter of import¬ 
ance to know the differences shown by the 
bark. As to the beech, it is not our object to 
speak of the exceeding beauty and striking 
characters it presents at all ages, and at ail 
times, but to call attention to it when in flower. 
Other trees are much more showy when in 
bloom, but for a peculiar beauty, a freshness, 
and spring-like air, the beech is unequalled. 
shoot, which bears the leaves and flowers; the 
tendfer and partly expanded leaves are plaited 
in a most exquisite manner, and their green is 
such as is only seen by the painter in his dream, 
for it never come3 from his brush. From the 
axils of the lower leaves of the shoot hang the 
staminate flowers, in roundish silky tassels, 
each hung by a delicate thread-like silky stalk, 
an inch or two long; an examination of these 
tassels shows them to be clusters of small, hairy, 
greenish bells, within which are numerous 
stamens. The pistillate or female flowers are 
much less conspicuous, and might escape the 
notice of a careless observer; these are found 
in the axils of the upper leaves of the shoot, 
usually two together upon the end of a short 
stalk; they do not look much like the prickly 
bur which, in autumn, encloses the beech nut; 
yet four scales will be found, which will de¬ 
velop into the four divisions of the bur. The 
expanding leaves and the silky tassels are not 
all that make the beech so beautiful in flower; 
at the base of each young shoot are the long 
wavy bud scales, of the richest brown, so thin 
and delicate that they look like small streamers 
hung out as decorations, and not at all like the 
useful blankets of bud scales which have kept 
all the preparations for this flowering time 
warmly enwrapped all winter. True, the flow¬ 
ering time of the beech is soon over, but he 
there is none that have seemed to enjoy the 
change more than the Large-flowered Bellwort. 
The botanical name of the plant is Uvularia 
grandiflara; the genus being named by Lin¬ 
naeus, whose lively fancy sometimes saw resem¬ 
blances which would not occur to others, from 
uvula , the appendage which hangs in the 
mouth from the edge of the palate. The speci¬ 
fic name indicates that it is large-flowered, and 
the flowers are much larger than in other 
species, of which there are four in the Atlantic 
States, two of them quite common in the 
woods in spring, the one in question being 
more frequent in the northernmost states than 
elsewhere. The engraving shows the upper 
part of two plants of the natural size; the 
stems, from one to two feet high, are clothed 
with leaves of a very tender green, and the 
gracefully drooping flower is an inch and a 
half long, of a very pale yellow. The plant 
belongs to the Lily Family, and the flower is 
like a small bell-shaped lily. It can hardly be 
regarded as a showy plant, but there is that 
delicacy and grace about it, which seems to be 
peculiar to the early flowers of spring. If 
those fond of flowers, and have not the means 
to gratify their tastes by purchasing the florist’s 
rarities, would turn their attention to the na¬ 
tive plants which are to be found in the woods* 
swamps, and fields, they would be surprised to 
