Beech, and yet it has been known in this country for many hundred
years. It is found growing stiff and tall on bleak chalky pastures as
well as in beautiful parks and plantations. The trunk is covered with
a rough brown bark, and there are great deep roots which spread widely
and keep the tree firmly attached to the soil.
[Illustration: PLATE XXV
THE WHITEBEAM
1. Whitebeam
2. Flower Cluster with Leaves
3. Fruit Cluster with Leaves]
It is easy to see why this tree is called the Whitebeam. Look at the
fat buds which have been on the tree all winter, making you think that
spring was close at hand. In April these buds burst open, and you
see that the young leaves inside are covered with a thick coating of
woolly down. They are the woolliest buds which grow in this country,
and the leaves (2), when they first come out, are as white as if
they had been sprinkled with flour. They are pretty leaves, broad and
oval, with large teeth cut all round the edge and with clearly-marked
veins. At first each leaf is white above as well as below, but as it
gets older the woolly down disappears from the upper side, and the leaf
becomes a dark, glossy green. But watch the tree some day when the
wind is stirring, and at every gust the dark green leaves blow upwards
and sideways, and you will see that the back of each leaf is silvery
white--the woolly lining has remained. You remember that the white
Poplar or Abele tree had leaves which were white-lined too.
The flowers of the Whitebeam (2) resemble those of the Rowan, but they
are larger and are not so closely clustered together on their short
stalks. Each flower has five pointed green sepals standing out like
the rays of a star beneath the circle of five white petals. There is a
ring of delicate stamens with yellow heads within the petal circle, and
the seeds are concealed in the pear-shaped swelling which supports the
flower at the end of the flower stalk. There are often dark spots on
the main flower stem from which all the smaller ones branch.
After the white petals and the stamens have fallen off, the swollen
flower stalk enlarges and becomes an oval berry (3), considerably
larger than that of the Rowan. At first the berries are covered with
white down, but soon that wears off, and you see that the berries are
smooth and are a rich red colour. They are not good to eat, these
attractive-looking berries, though people say they are pleasant when
over-ripe and ready to decay. But the birds love them, and so do
hedgehogs and squirrels.
In France the people plant a great many Whitebeams. This is because
the small birds require the berries for food in the winter, when there
are no longer grubs and insects to be found. These grubs and insects
destroy the vines and corn when they are young and tender in early
spring, and the small birds are needed because they eat these pests,
and so save the young plants.
The wood of the Whitebeam is not much used, though small objects, such
as wooden spoons, knife handles, and combs, are made of it. It is very
hard, and will take a high polish.
PLATE XXVI
THE ROWAN OR MOUNTAIN ASH
“Their spells were vain, the boy returned
To the Queen in sorrowful mood,
Crying that witches have no power
Where there is Roan tree wood.”
--Old Song.
The Rowan tree is closely related to the roses, and is a cousin of the
Hawthorn, the Apple, and the Pear. It is not related in any way to
the Ash, but the leaves have some resemblance, because, like the Ash
tree leaves, they are made up of many pairs of small leaflets growing
opposite each other on each side of a centre stalk, and with an odd
leaflet at the end. But the leaflets of the Ash tree have each a stalk;
those in the Rowan have none, and in the Ash tree each large feathery
leaf is planted exactly opposite its neighbour, while in the Rowan the
leaves grow alternately. The name Mountain Ash is a mistake.
[Illustration: PLATE XXVI
THE ROWAN
1. Rowan Tree in Autumn
2. Flower Cluster
3. Leaves and Fruit]
The Rowan tree (1) is seen at its best among the wild glens and
mountains of the north and west of Scotland. It requires air and light,
and will flourish in almost any kind of soil, and many are the tales
which are woven round the life of this beautiful tree. It is called the
Roan, or whispering tree, because it has secrets to tell to those who
will listen. No witches or evil spirits can cross a door over which a
branch of Rowan is nailed, and no harm will happen to him who has a
sprig of Rowan pinned to his coat. In every churchyard in Wales a Rowan
tree is planted to scare away demons who might disturb the sleep of the
dead; and on lonely farms high up on the mountain sides, the Witchin,
or Wiggin tree, as it used to be called, is placed close beside the
dwelling-house.
The Rowan is not a large tree; it grows easily and requires no pruning,
as its branches rarely die, and the tree never loses its graceful
shape. The branches are wiry and slender, and they all point upward.
The bark is a dark purple colour and is glossy and smooth; across it
there are many curious deep gashes, as if the tree had been scored with
a knife.
The Rowan is often planted in new coppices to shield the young trees,
but as soon as these grow up and throw out many branches, they stifle
their kind nurse, which cannot grow without plenty of light and air.
Early in spring the Rowan buds appear, fat woolly buds covered with
grey cottony down. The young leaves (3) are carefully packed inside
among plenty of cotton wool, and very downy they look when they first
come out. Each leaflet is toothed round the edge, and is dark glossy
green above and much paler green underneath. These leaves remain on the
tree till late in autumn, then when the frost touches them with its icy
fingers they change to wonderful shades of gold and scarlet and pink,
and they fall with the October winds.
The Rowan tree flowers (2) blossom in May, and they grow in dense
dusters, each flower at the end of a small stalk. There are many
small stalks, all about the same height, and they branch again and
again from the main stem, forming a thick cluster. The flowers are
very delightful, though they lack the snowy beauty and have none of
the delicate scent of the Hawthorn. Each Rowan flower has five green
sepals and five creamy white petals. These are placed round the end of
the flower stalk, which is slightly swollen, and inside this swelling
lies hidden the seed-vessel; you can see three sticky threads rising
from it in the centre of the ring of petals. There is a circle of
yellow-headed stamens within the petal ring.
By the end of June the Rowan flowers have faded and the creamy petals
strew the ground. But the tree does not only depend for its beauty on
the creamy flowers or on the changing leaves.
The swollen flower stalks have been growing all summer, and now the end
of each stalk has become a small round berry (3), and a dense cluster
of these berries hangs in a bunch from the main stem. In autumn these
berries turn a rich yellow red, and very brilliant they look among the
dark green leaves. Song birds love these Rowan berries, and so long as
any remain on the tree the blackbird and thrush will be its constant
visitors.
When corn was scarce in the hard winters of long ago these Rowan
berries were dried and made into flour. Many people to-day make them
into jelly, which is a rich golden colour, but has rather a bitter
taste.
The wood of the Rowan tree is very tough, and is principally used for
making poles.
PLATE XXVII
THE HAWTHORN
“Mark the fair blooming of the Hawthorn tree,
Who, finely clothed in a robe of white,
Fills full the wanton eye with May’s delight.”
--Chaucer.
We cannot think of the Hawthorn as one of our noble forest trees, like
the Oak and the Beech; it is dear to us as a village tree, a friendly,
bushy tree which has grown in our garden, or in the fields and meadows
close to our country cottages. We remember the long sunny May days
when we gathered armfuls of its lovely blossoms, and the frosty autumn
mornings when its berries shone like rubies on the bare, wind-stripped
branches. It has always been in close touch with our lives, and it has
left many pictures graven deep in our memory.
The Hawthorn (1), or May, or White-thorn, as it is often called from
the colour of its flowers, has been known to us since very long ago.
When the hero Ulysses came home from his weary wanderings, he found
his old father alone; all the servants had gone to the woods to get
young Hawthorn trees to make a hedge, and the old man was busy digging
trenches in which to plant them.
[Illustration: PLATE XXVII
THE HAWTHORN
1. Hawthorn Tree in Early Summer
2. Leaves and Blossoms
3. Fruit]
Even in that far-off time people had discovered that nothing makes
so good a hedge as young thorn trees. They grow very quickly and
send out many side-shoots and small branches. Each branch bears sharp
thorns, and so closely do these thorny branches grow together that it
is impossible to push your hand through the hedge without being badly
scratched. Young cattle and horses love to feed on the Hawthorn leaves,
and one wonders how they can eat them without getting many scratches.
Long after the time of Ulysses we find that bunches of flowering
Hawthorn were carried in wedding processions as an emblem of hope, and
torches made of its wood were burned. There is a strange old legend
which tells how Joseph of Arimathea landed on the island of Avalon at
Christmas-tide. He was very weary, and lay down to rest, but first he
planted his staff of Hawthorn firmly in the ground beside him. And in
the morning he found that the staff had put out roots and was covered
with Hawthorn blossoms. By this he knew it was meant that he should
stay in Avalon, and he built a monastery for himself and his brethren
and remained there till he died.
Until not so long ago the country people in England used to hold gay
sports in the village in the month of May. A tall mast, or Maypole,
was planted in the ground, and the men and maidens decorated it with
wreaths of Hawthorn blossoms. Then they danced, and sang, and held
merry games around the Maypole in honour of summer’s return.
In early spring the Hawthorn tree, if you find one growing singly in
a field or meadow, is most easily recognised by its bushy appearance.
The tree trunk is dark grey and very rough; often it is twisted like
a rope, but it is rarely a thick trunk, as you seldom find a large
Hawthorn. Even when very old-about two hundred and fifty years some are
said to live--the Hawthorn is always a small tree.
In April the young leaf buds appear; pale green knobs, or little
bundles, bursting from every branch. Each leaf (2) is cut up into blunt
fingers, and soon it loses its paleness and becomes dark green and
glossy. In autumn these leaves change to gold and dark red and brown;
but the frosty nights and cold winds soon strip them from the branches.
May is the month when the flowers (2) begin to bloom--clusters of tiny
snow-white balls, each at the end of a slender green stalk. In England
it was the custom to give a basin of cream for breakfast to the person
who first brought home a branch of Hawthorn in blossom on the first of
May.
When the flower balls or buds unclose, you find that they have five
snow-white petals, which are set in the throat of the calyx cup. Within
this ring of petals, round the mouth of the cup, grow many slender
stamens, each with a bright pink head. And if you look at the back of
the flower, you will see five green points which stand out like the
rays of a star behind the white petals. These are the sepals.
Below this green star the stalk looks slightly swollen: this swelling
contains the seed, and by the time autumn comes it will have grown into
a small green berry. After the white petals and the pink-headed stamens
have fallen, you will find clusters of these berries, which are called
haws, each with the withered remains of the sepals clinging to the top,
as you find them in the Rose and in the Apple. The berries (3) become
crimson when the frost comes, and birds eat them greedily.
We have few trees which flower so beautifully as the Hawthorn. In May
and June the hedgerows are laden with its masses of snowy blossoms.
Sometimes you will find Hawthorns on which the flowers are a vivid
crimson, and these are so transparently beautiful they look as if the
light shone through them. And in autumn no tree is more attractive than
the Hawthorn, with its gleaming berries and many-coloured leaves.
The wood of the Hawthorn is not very serviceable. It is hard and may
be highly polished, but the trees are too small for the timber to be
useful.
The branches, like those of the Ash and the Whin, burn readily, even
when green, and in Scotland the bark was used in olden days to dye wool
black.
PLATE XXVIII
THE BOX
Many of us only know Box as the name given to the small bushy plant
which is placed along the edges of our garden borders to keep the earth
from falling out on the gravel path. And we are surprised to learn that
this plant is only the Dwarf Box, and that the true Box is a tree,
a fair-sized tree, which may be seen any day in Oxford growing to a
height of over twenty feet. We must learn to recognise the Box tree,
for in the South of England there are still many districts where it
grows freely.
It has been known in this country for hundreds of years, but its fame
has come down to us in a curious way. In old books we read that the Box
was chiefly prized as the tree which would stand more clipping than
any other. People in those days had a strange fancy for cutting trees
and bushes into quaint shapes. They had Box trees which looked like
peacocks, and Box trees shaped like beehives. There were arm-chairs,
and tubs, and even statues made of growing Box, cut and trimmed by the
gardener’s clever shears.
[Illustration: PLATE XXVIII
THE BOX
1. Box Tree
2. Leaf Spray with Flowers
3. Single Flower
4. Fruit]
The best gardener then was the one who clipped best, and a very
difficult art it was, to clip the tree into a certain shape and yet not
to kill it. Nowadays these quaint Box tree curiosities are scarcely
ever made, but a Box tree hedge is often planted, and its masses of
closely-crowded evergreen leaves afford good protection to young plants
in a windy garden.
The Box tree (1) has a dark grey-green bark, and the young shoots are
four-sided. It grows very slowly--only a few inches each year--and
because of this the wood is very hard and fine, as fine as ebony.
The leaves (2) are placed opposite each other, and are small and
egg-shaped, with smooth edges. Above they are dark green and very
glossy, but underneath the colour is paler. They are very poisonous
these Box leaves, and fowls are known to have died from eating them.
The poet Wordsworth tells us that at country funerals it was usual to
have a basin filled with sprays of Box standing at the door, and every
friend who came to the funeral took a spray, which he carried to the
churchyard and laid on the new grave. Rosemary or Yew sprays were often
used in the same way.
The flowers are very tiny; you will scarcely be able to see how they
are shaped without a magnifying-glass. They grow in crowded yellow
clusters at the foot of the leaves, where they join the stem. In each
cluster there is usually one seed flower (3) with a tiny green pea in
the centre, from which rise three curved horns. All the other flowers
will be stamen flowers, which shed plenty of pollen dust over this
single green pea. The fruit (4) is a green berry, enclosing a tiny
black seed, which you cannot see.
Box-wood is very valuable and is scarce in this country. Most of what
we use comes from other lands. In France there is a large Box-wood
forest near the village of St. Claude, and all the people in that
village spend their days making the Box-wood into small articles, such
as forks and spoons, and rosaries and snuff-boxes, for which they get
a good deal of money. The wood is pale yellow, and may be cut into the
finest pattern without breaking. For many years Box-wood has been used
by engravers for making the blocks from which pictures and patterns are
printed; the wood is so hard that these blocks can be used many, many
times without the edges becoming worn.
Near London there grew a famous wood called Boxhill, and when the trees
in that wood were cut down they were sold for ten thousand pounds.
PLATE XXIX
THE WALNUT
The Walnut tree (1) comes to us from sunny Italy and France, where it
has grown for many centuries and is greatly prized. Its Latin name,
_Juglans_, means the nut of Jove, and the Romans called it so
because they thought the fruit was worthy to be set before their chief
god Jove. It was brought to this country about five hundred years ago,
and seems to have been grown in many districts until the beginning of
last century, when there came a great demand for its wood. As much as
six hundred pounds was given for a single Walnut tree, and at once
all the people who had Walnut trees cut them down and sold them. This
greatly reduced the number.
[Illustration: PLATE XXIX
THE WALNUT
1. Walnut Tree
2. Leaf Spray
3. Bud
4. Scar
5. Stamen Flower
6. Seed Flowers
7. Fruit]
It is a large, handsome tree, which grows to a considerable height, and
has a very thick trunk covered with grey bark. This trunk is smooth
when the tree is young, but turns rugged as it grows older. The Walnut
branches are large and spreading; they are sometimes twisted, but the
tips of each branch always turn to the sky. For long it was thought to
be dangerous to sleep beneath the shade of a Walnut tree, but for what
reason I have not been able to discover.
The leaves (2) are very handsome; each leaf is made up of several
pairs of leaflets placed opposite each other on a central stalk, with
a single leaflet at the end. When they first come out these leaflets
are dull red, but the colour soon changes to a pale olive green, and
each leaf is smooth and soft and has a delicious scent if crushed ever
so slightly. The twigs which carry these leaves are very stout, even
to the tips, but they break easily, and you will find many lying on
the ground after a windy night. The bark on these young twigs is very
smooth and glossy.
The Walnut tree produces two kinds of flowers, which are both found on
the same tree, and one kind, the stamen flowers (5), requires a whole
year to ripen. If you look at the twigs which support the leaves you
will see several tiny cone-shaped buds (3) dotted here and there on
either side, close to the scars (4) left by last year’s leaf stalk.
These are the beginnings of next year’s stamen flowers, and they remain
like that all summer and all winter until the following spring. Then
the bud lengthens and becomes a slender, drooping catkin (5). This
catkin is covered with small flowers, each made up of five green sepals
enclosing many stamens. These stamen catkins drop from the tree when
the pollen dust is scattered.
The Walnut seed flowers (6) are so small that they require to be looked
for carefully. They grow among the leaves at the end of the twig, and
their small seed-vessels, each with a closely-fitting calyx covering,
are ready before the leaves come out. Very soon the small seeds develop
into smooth green fruits, which continue to grow all summer, and in
July they are the size of a small plum. This fruit is a nut (7), the
famous Walnut, and at first you will not see in it any likeness to the
Walnut which we eat at dessert after cracking the pale brown shell.
But look more closely. The green fruit is a soft juicy envelope which
conceals a large nut. This green envelope turns brown when it is ripe
and splits open, showing the nut inside, a nut with a crinkled skin,
which is soft and green at first, but which becomes a hard, pale brown
shell when the fruit dries. It is the kernel of this nut which we eat
with salt as a dessert fruit.
The Walnuts usually ripen in October, but often they are gathered in
July before the juicy green covering has turned brown, and they are
preserved in vinegar and used as a pickle. Ripe Walnuts contain a great
deal of oil, and the oil is much valued by artists, who mix it with
their paints. It is the most liquid of all the oils, and it dries very
quickly.
If you look at your fingers after gathering Walnuts you will find that
they are stained a dark brown. The Walnut tree contains a juice which
leaves a dark stain. It is said that with this juice the gipsies dye
their skin brown; and it is also used to stain floors.
Walnut wood is very valuable. It is light in weight and dark in colour,
with beautiful veins and streaks throughout. Much fine furniture is
made of Walnut wood, and it can be polished till it shines like satin.
To-day it is largely used in the manufacture of guns and rifles.
You will now understand what an important tree the Walnut is, as it
yields fruit and oil and wood, which are all valuable.
PLATE XXX
THE SWEET CHESTNUT OR SPANISH CHESTNUT
The Sweet Chestnut is a cousin of the Oak, and belongs with it to the
great family of cup-bearing trees, or those that bear their fruit
sitting in a cup. Like the Oak, it is a tree with a great and ancient
history, although nowadays we are apt to take little notice of this
tree, which was once well known and grew abundantly in many parts of
England.
The largest Chestnut in the world grows in Sicily, in the great forest
which covers the slopes of Mount Etna. It is said that a Spanish Queen
was once overtaken in this forest by a tremendous storm, and that she
and a hundred soldiers and horses were all able to find shelter beneath
the wide-spreading branches of this one tree.
In this country we have a famous big Chestnut tree in Gloucestershire
which is believed to be a thousand years old; it is written about in
old books, which tell us that this tree belonged to a certain house in
the time of King Stephen.
[Illustration: PLATE XXX
THE SWEET CHESTNUT
1. Sweet Chestnut Tree
2. Leaf Spray with Flowers
3. Stamen Flowers
4. Seed Flowers
5. Fruit in Case]
The Sweet Chestnut (1) is a large bushy tree with beautiful leaves,
which painters love to put in the background of their pictures. The
branches are heavy and spreading, and they sweep downwards. Each branch
is thickly covered with long green leaves (2), which are so thick and
glossy that you expect them to be evergreen. Each leaf is sharply
oval, and has a stout rib running up the centre, from which straight
veins branch to the very edge of the leaf, where they each end in a
point. These points make the edge of the leaf look as if toothed.
Insects do not destroy these Chestnut leaves, and they hang on the
twigs till late in autumn, when they turn pale yellow; this yellow
deepens to gold and brown, and when winter comes they cover the ground
with a thick carpet of rustling leaves. These leaves are often gathered
to make winter bedding for the poor people, who call them “talking
beds” because they rustle and crackle so when lain on.
Those leaves that are left on the ground greatly enrich the soil.
The trunk of the Chestnut tree is scored up and down with many deep
ridges, and these ridges seem to bend round the tree strangely, as if
they had been twisted, like the strands of a rope, when the tree was
young and tender.
The Chestnut flowers appear on this year’s shoots early in May or June,
and they are of two kinds, both of which grow on the same tree. The
stamen flowers (3) are in long catkin spikes, which rise stiffly among
the leaves. The centre stem of the catkin is very stout, and seated
round it are tufts of yellow-headed stamens, each enclosed in a green
calyx. These stamen heads are filled with yellow dust, which they shed
in the same way as the Pine tree stamens, in such quantities that it
lies like sulphur on any still lake or pond that may be near.
On the same catkin spike, near the foot, grow the seed flowers (4).
These look like short, fat paint brushes with a stout green handle.
There is a cup made up of many slender green leaf-like points, and
inside this cup sit the seeds; you can see a bunch of their points
standing up like the bristles of the paint brush. When plenty of the
stamen dust has fallen on these bristles, the seed sets about getting
ready its fruit, and the stamen part of the catkin spike shrivels and
falls off; its work is done.