Annie Oakes Huntington

“ The horizontal peeling of the bark, making dark rings at irregular distances, the brown spots, the dark color of the small twigs, the rough texture near the ground, and the exquisite silky smoothness of the tight white bands above, offer exactly that variety of contrast which makes us feel a rare quality like that smooth whiteness as strongly as we are capable of feeling it. And amongst the common effects to be seen in all northern countries, one of the most brilliant is the opposition of birch trunks in sunshine against the deep blue or purple of a mountain distance in shadow. ”

“ The fruit hangs on the tree all winter,—a large, dry ball made up of hundreds of seeds.
Like everything which has a definite individuality, the buttonwood is a tree which people either like or dislike strongly. It is certainly picturesque, and its subpetiolar buds alone make it unusually interesting, whether one admires it or not from an æsthetic point of view. These buds are entirely concealed through the summer by the hollow bases of the leafstalks which fit over the buds like candle extinguishers, and leave scars in circles after they have fallen. ”

“ Almost every tree has some special and peculiar beauty which is seen to the best advantage in winter. The fine spray of the beech is seen only at this season of the year, and there are few more beautiful objects in nature than the delicate branches of our New England beech trees seen against the clear blue sky of a brilliant winter day. The sturdiness of the oak is best realized in winter, for at other seasons its massive limbs are often hidden under their covering of leaves. The birch is far more graceful and attractive in winter than at any other period ”

“ It is a tree to look for on a canoeing trip, and when one discovers its long, drooping branches hanging over the stream, the feeling of isolation is complete; a silver maple on a river bank accentuates the sense of being in the country, just as the notes of the hermit thrush accentuate the sense of remoteness in the woods. ”

“ Even in the middle of winter the red maple is true to its distinctive characteristic of color, and one marvels to find so much red in its buds and twigs. The gray trunks are in fine contrast, and accentuate the color, and the curving tips of the branches, with their delicate twigs and graceful outlines, give the trees great beauty. ”

“ Few trees are more interesting in winter than the sassafras. The color of their smooth, bare stems is an exquisite shade of green, the terminal buds are large for the size of the slender twigs and tiny leaf-scars, and the delicious, [Pg 148] aromatic taste and fragrance when the twigs are broken are most unusual. The branches often have a curious spirally twisted appearance, a corkscrew effect, which with the rough bark of the trunk give the tree an ancient weather-beaten aspect when it is comparatively young. The sassafras was one of the first American trees which became known in Europe. ”

“ The extraordinary strength in the great, horizontal branches, their breadth and lateral sweep, and the rugged boldness of the trunk have long associated the oak with all that stands for strength, duration, and unswerving vitality. An oak never seems out of place; no matter whether we find it growing in unbroken forests, on a country estate, in a little garden, or by the roadside, it always harmonizes with its surroundings and adds to the composition of the landscape. ”

“ The low, flat-topped, broad-headed shape of the apple tree is so characteristic that it may be easily recognized in winter, even when there is no surrounding orchard to identify it. So strong in one’s mind is the association of blossoms with these trees, that even a bare old apple tree against a winter sky suggests the spring,—an apple tree always seems to be haunted by the ghosts of its pink blossoms. ”

“ The bark of most trees appears more beautiful in winter than at other seasons of the year because the eye, undisturbed by the contemplation of the foliage, can then most easily take in all the details of its varied texture and wonderful colors. ”

“ THE WALNUTS AND HICKORIES Family Juglandaceæ Few trees are more lofty and majestic than certain species of walnuts and hickories. They are stately in summer, but in winter, when the foliage has gone and every branch and twig is thrown in black relief against the sky, their beauty is truly imposing. ”

“ The birch does not lose its pendulous grace in mere limp dejection, like most of the weeping varieties of trees that gardeners love to propagate, but it holds its head high and the slender branches droop down,—a striking contrast to the weeping willow and other lachrymose specimens of horticultural art. ”

“ It is especially adapted for broad treatment in landscape gardening, and should be planted where there is plenty of room for its full development, and where one can admire its lofty proportions and symmetry. It is one among many trees, which is seen at its best in winter unhampered by foliage, and then its naked boughs are so inky black, that it seems as if it were etched against the sky. ”

“ The American elm is tall, graceful, slender-sprayed, and drooping as if from languor. The English elm is compact, robust, holds its branches up, and carries its leaves for weeks longer than our own native tree. ”

“ The hollows are close together in sinuous, shallow furrows, and the bark is so smooth over these fissures that it looks as if the ridges were trying to grow over and close up the hollows,—the effect is that of a thin, silk veil drawn over the trunk. The twigs are large and heavily moulded, with large oval buds, but they produce a pleasing effect of strength, instead of seeming ugly and coarse, like those of the horsechestnut. ”

“ Light brown buds. Alternate leaf-scars. Recent shoots are coarse and channelled with two grooves running down from the base of each leaf-scar, closely set with white or gray dots. Fruit ripe in October.
At all times a giant among trees, the chestnut seems perhaps most remarkable in winter when the massive trunk and lofty branches can be fully appreciated. There is much beauty in the bark of this tree, the fissures sweep boldly up and down the trunk with broad, smooth spaces between the furrows and give a most pleasing impression. ”

“ The black birch is easily distinguished by the dark color of its bark, which is smooth on young trees and cracks into rough square plates on old trees, but which never peels off in strips. Its gray stems have a sweet, spicy taste, which is also a means of identifying the tree.
The wood is heavy, strong, and hard, and its surface after being polished is like satin. It is much sought after for furniture and is excellent for fuel. An oil made from the wood is used medicinally and as a flavoring extract, and a sweet beer is made by fermenting the sugary sap. ”

“ These elm trees, remnants of the forest which covered New England when it was first inhabited by white men, or planted during the first century of their occupation, are now dead or rapidly disappearing; they long remained the noblest and most imposing trees of the Northern States, and no others planted by man in North America have equalled the largest of them in beauty and size. ”

“ The buds are peculiar in structure. Each leaf within the bud is protected by a pair of stipules, and in the spring, when the buds open, a leaf slowly uncurls from its two folded stipule coverings and another bud is seen beneath, wrapped in stipules. This bud unfolds and in its turn discloses another. The process is as fascinating to watch as the opening of Indian boxes one within another. This characteristic of the tulip tree in protecting its young leaves makes one associate a very human, maternal instinct with the tree; it seems of all others the most careful in protecting its young growth. ”

“ The lower branches often bend down towards the ground in a straggling, irregular fashion, while the upper branches are free and sweeping. It should not be inferred from this description that the red birch is lacking in beauty, for it is a most attractive tree. Its general outline is picturesque, and the soft red color of the peeling epidermis of the bark in the upper branches has a very pleasing effect. The red birch is the only semi-aquatic species among the birches, and its drooping branches hanging over the water add much to the beauty of our streams and rivers. ”

“ No other tree has a bark so shiningly white, and even the snow is unable to dim its purity. We usually think of this tree as being fragile and delicate, especially when we recall it as it grows along the edge of woodlands where the shade of other trees has forced it to grow slender and tall in reaching for the light. The canoe birch is really a large tree, however, and often grows to an enormous size among the northern hills where [Pg 61] it seems to thrive best. ”

“ As soon as we see a weeping willow it almost shouts out its contrast to the simpler shapes of the trees which determine the general character of all our landscapes or garden pictures. Yet we see it everywhere, in every kind of situation. ”

“ Each species of tree has its peculiar habit, which is best seen in winter and which it usually retains under normal conditions. The character of the bark rarely changes much on individuals of the same age, although the bark of old trees is usually very different from the bark of young trees of the same species; and the color of the branchlets and the form and size of the winter buds generally afford certain means of determining closely related trees. ”

“ The elms are remarkable for the massive strength of their trunk and limbs and for the light delicacy of their small branches and twigs as we see them against the sky in winter. The American and English elms particularly are really more beautiful in winter than in summer, when the contrast between the little twigs and the little branches is hidden by the leaves. The elms are all long-lived trees and grow rapidly. They bear transplanting and pruning better than any other tree, and grow on almost any kind of soil. ”

“ The tulip tree is one of the largest and tallest trees in our American forests. It has long been admired for its beauty in the summer, and a study of its winter buds and stems discloses the fact that it is equally interesting and beautiful when its foliage has gone. ”

“ It is found in all the Northeastern States growing wild and extensively cultivated. Maple sugar is made from the sap of this tree in the early spring. A clear, bright day and a westerly wind succeeding a frosty night are most favorable to the flow of sap, according to Emerson. [Pg 23] A hole is bored in the trunk of the tree, and the sap flows for about three weeks. It is collected daily in buckets, and then boiled into syrup. A sugar maple should not be tapped before it is twenty-five or thirty years old, but after that age it may be tapped annually as long as it lives. ”

“ During a brief interval in the early spring, when the first young leaves fringe the branches in delicate green, this tree is really lovely, but after that there is little to attract us in its stiff, formal outline and dark foliage, and in winter it is most unprepossessing. ”

“ It is interesting, too, to find thorns which are long enough to have little thorns branching from them. A straight thorn seems formidable enough even on a rose stem, but a thorn some ten inches long with eight thorns branching from it, each varying from half an [Pg 133] inch to two inches long, and this but one of a cluster of thorns, keeps the trunk of the honey locust sacred from climbing boys and from browsing cattle. The honey locust is more effective than a barbed wire for fencing. The fruit is in the form of a flat, crooked reddish brown pod from seven to eighteen inches long. ”

“ The stems of the cork elm and the mossy cup oak have these peculiar corky layers, but neither of them have smooth, polished stems between the broken ridges, nor such radiant color as those of the liquidamber. When this tree [Pg 145] grows in open situations its trunk divides a short distance from the ground, and the branches form a pyramidal head. In moist Southern forests, however, where the liquidamber grows to be very tall, its trunk is straight, a uniform size in diameter, and often undivided into branches to the height of seventy or eighty feet. ”

“ White or Silver Maple Acer saccharinum
This tree is found growing wild in wet places throughout New England, and it is also often cultivated. The trunk is low and divided into spreading branches that form a spacious head. The branches sweep down and turn up with curving tips. Smooth, red buds like those of the red maple. It blossoms before the leaves are out, like the red maple.
It is always a delight to find this tree growing naturally where it has not been planted, for, owing to its habit of growing near flowing [Pg 26] streams with clear, sandy bottoms, one rarely comes across it. ”

“ In Massachusetts the larch does not attain a great height, but in cold Northern swamps it grows to be a large tree. It is not dependent on a wet situation, but grows well after being transplanted into upland soil. Its growth is rapid, and it is often chosen for “quick effects” in landscape gardening,—a choice which is to be regretted for the most part, as few trees have so little beauty as the larch. ”