2 92 
ARBOR DA Y MANUAL. 
The books relating to the religion of Buddha were nearly all of them written- 
upon the leaves of the Fan Palm, and by missionaries they have been used in 
the place of paper. The noble aspect of this tree, together with its surpassing 
utility, has caused it to be called “the prince of the vegetable kingdom,” and 
it has been immortalized in history, mythology and poetry. 
A Cypress tree in Somma, Lombardy, is said to have been standing since 
the time of Julius Cassar. Napoleon, in making a road over the Simplon, devi¬ 
ated from a straight line, that he might not be obliged to cut it down. Cypress- 
wood is very enduring, and for this reason, no doubt, it was used for mummy 
cases and statues. Pliny tells tjs, a statue of Jupiter carved from Cypress 
wood remained standing for six hundred years. In Turkish cemeteries it is a 
rule to plant a tree of this variety at every interment. 
Cypanissus, a beautiful youth, was transformed into a Cypress by Apollo, 
that he might grieve all the time. The Cypress is an emblem of mourning,, 
and Scott thus writes : 
“ When villagers my shroud bestrew 
With Pansies, Rosemary and Rue, 
Then, lady, weave a wreath for me, 
And weave it of the Cypress tree.” 
There is a familiar legend about the Black Thorn, a species of the Plum. It 
is said that Joseph, of Aramathea, planted his staff, that it grew, put forth its 
blossoms every Christmas day afterward until it was destroyed by a Puritan 
soldier, who was wounded by a splint from the tree and died from its effects. 
Branches of the White Thorn were used for the nuptial chaplets of Athenian, 
brides, and a tree of this variety is still alive that was planted by Maty, Queen 
of Scots. 
There is a tradition among the French peasantry that groans and cries issue 
from the Hawthorn on Good Friday, doubtless arising from the superstition 
that Christ’s crown of thorns was made from this bush. 
The legend that the cross of Jesus was made of Aspen wood, and hence its 
leaves were doomed to tremble, has led an unknown poet to show his ignorance 
of the true cause in the following lines : 
“Ah, tremble, tremble, Aspen tree, 
I need not ask thee why thou shakest,' 
For if, as holy legend saith, 
On thee the Saviour bled to death, 
No wonder, Aspen, that thou quakcst, 
And till in judgment all assemble, 
Thy leaves, accursed, shall wail and tremble.” - N 
The real cause of the mobility depends on the fact that the leaf stalk of the 
Poplar is flattened laterally, and even the slightest wind produces a motion. 
Since this is so, we may be sure that the Aspen will continue to wail and trem¬ 
ble, but not because its leaves are accursed. 
There is an island in Lake Wetter, Scotland, upon which stood twelve majes¬ 
tic Beach trees, called the twelve apostles. A jealous peasant cut one of them 
