New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-10-21

eye (Aesculus glabra), which IL connneu 10 Inc
rich bottom lands Of the Mississippi valley ana
is at its best in the basin OF the tennessee hi'er
in Northern Alabama. 1t makes low, round
headed tree but is not nearly as well worth
plantng as the sweet buckeye tAesculus octandral,
which is the handsomest American species ana
one which reaches its full development IN the
mountains of Western North Carolina, where it
is one of the finest of the trees in the wonderful
deciduous forests Of that region. 1t is not SO
massive as the Old World horse-chestnut, and
its flowers are less conspicuous, but 1t is more
graceful and composes more harmoniohsly with
our native trees, and therefore deserves to be
planted much more frequently. At its best 1t
affairs a height of nearly 100 feet, sometimes
sending up a straight shaft three feet in diameter
without limb for sixty or seventy feet. The
branches are sometimes of dropping habit and the
ample leaves are of yellowish green There arc
varieties on which the flowers nearly red. The
Pacific Coast furnishes another and most beautiful
buckeye, Aesculus California;, which sometimes
spreads out to diameter of sixty feet while it Is
little more than thirty feet high, forming broad,
thick head. The flowers of this California buckeye
are more beautiful than those of the other Ameri-
can species, and are produced in long, compact and
dense clusters. It's fruit also is ornamental. 1t
our Eastern Coast but wherever climatic conditions
similar to those of it's home are found it will
prove one of the handsomest of our native trees.
The Spanish buckeye, which is next figured, is not
an Aesculus but CLOSELY allied 10 the others. 1t
is a small tree, or often shrub, and it Is found
from Texas and the mountains of New-Mex1co to
Chilhauhau 1t is even more beautiful than
any of it's relations especially in spring. when its
branches are fairly hidden in the abundance OF It's
rose-colored flowers 1t has been grown In the
open ground by Mr.. P. j. Berckmans, of Augusta,
and Dr. Charles Mohr, of Mobile, and deserves
conspicuous place in the gardens of our Southern
Atlantic and Gulf States.
Sixty or seventy species of naples are known to
botanists half of them in China and Japan, which
may be considered the headquarters of the genus
They are noted for their brilliant autumn colors
which increases their value as ornamental trees
and in Japan there is an annual holiday excursion
to see them in full glow. The sycamore maple is
the most beautiful of European naples and one OF
the nobest trees in European forests, but II is
short-lived here. The Norway maple is another
European tree which thrives here well in locali-
ties near the ocean. The mountain maple Acer
spicatum) is the first figured in the SILVA" 1t
is at home on rocky hsides, and in the North it is
is low, spreading shrub. Farther South In the
Appalachian highlands OF North Carolina and
Tennessee, it becomes beautiful small tree. The
striped or moose maple comes next. Little more
than shrub in New-England. in the Big Smokes
it becomes a tree forty feet high. Its beautiful
young leaves and bud scales in the spring, It's
large bright foliage in summer, its bright autumna
hues and the conspicuous marking on the bark Of
it's trunk and branches, which is more plain In
winter than at other times, make it strikingy
= - lie 10 IN ha
much more frequently planted than it is. The
broad-leaved maple, Acer macrophylum, is one of
the most beautiful deciduous trees of the Pacific
Coast, where it attains height Of | 90 feet Its
bark is tinged with red and its broad leaves often
twelve inches in diameter, turn TO bright orange
in Oregon before they fall. 1t has pendulOus
racemes of bright yellow fragrant flowers and
wherever it will flourish it is tree of great value
for ornamental planting. There are few speci-
mems of this tree growing in the vicinity of New
York, a notably fine one in the collection of Mr.
C. A. Dana at Dosoris, Long Island. The vine
maple is another Western species which
is sometimes tree thirty feet high. but
often a low shrub whose long, slender, arching
branches curve to the ground and roofing again
form new plants until it covers acres in Wash
ington and oregon with impenetrable thicket
This is one of the few Pacific trees which flourish
well in the East.
Next in botanical sequence comes the sugar
maple one of the best known Of our native trees.
When young it is somewhat formal in outline,
but as it attains maturity it takes on broad
branched habit when in deep soil which gives 1t
a most stately appearance. The silver maple Is
occasionally larger in the trunk, and perhaps
the sycamore maple in the valleys Of the Tyrol
sometimes exceeds it in dignity of carriage and
spread of branches but the brightness of Its
foliage and the beauty Of its autumn tints, added
to its noble proportions, make the sugar maple
one of the most imposing and beautiful of our
broad-leaved trees Some of the most effective
avenues in the country are those which were
planted with this tree in the early part OF the
century 1t is also a very valuable tree for
fuel for it's sugar and for its tough close-gralned
wood The silver maple is one OF our commonesI
street trees and as it is often planted IN dry or
hungry soil it has a weak appearance, ana lte
brittle branches are easily broken. But when
seen at it's best in the Ohio basin, for example, on
river banks or in low valleys, 1t Is maJesuc
tree rising often to height of one hundred and
twenty feet with trunk four feet In diameter
As a rule this trunk divides into three or four
stout upright stems, which are bare of branches
for a considerable distance, and ultimately sepa-
rate into many slender limbs which form broad
head The furrowed bark is reddish-brown. The
leaves are borne on long, slender petioles, and
the silvery whiteness of their lower surfaces
alternately flashes into view and disappears as
they culver in the slightest breeze. 1t is valn-
able tree for ornament, but it should never be
planted except in deep, rich, moist meadow land
or along the banks of streams or lakes. The red
maple is a worthy companion Of the two last
named, and the three species are so abundant IN
the Eastern States that they form a striking
feature of our forest vegetation. The red maple
naturally occurs in swamps, but it will thrive
as well in upands, and it is one of the best Of
ornamental trees for parks and other GROUNDS
wherever it has room to spread. 1t is consplcu-
Gus in early spring for its brilliant red fruit ana
for its bright foliage in early autumn, when it Is
one of the first of our forest trees to kindle into