9. ПORNBEAM, HAZEL, BIRCH, BARBERRY, ALDER. PLATE 9. FIGURES 1 TO 21. ARDNESS of texture of its woody fibre has given rise to the common name of the Hornbeam, which, by the beauty of its foliage, adds much to the attractions of the forest. Its long, oval leaf is very symmetrically veined, straight parallel branches running from the mid-vein to the sharplyserrated margin. The margin is cut into short bays-but the entire edge is indented-and the branch veins run to the ridges of the crenatures. A bright, glossy green is the normal summer hue of the Hornbeam leaf: but as the Autumn approaches, a bright orange, or golden brown, tint suffuses the entire leaf edge, sometimes extending in places towards the leaf centre along the parallel spaces between the veins. As the colouring increases it spreads further towards the mid-stem, and a very pretty effect is produced when the green has retired to the centre and is surrounded by glowing orange or golden brown. Sometimes the green colour remains only along the veins whilst all the remainder of the tissue is orange, yellow, or light golden brown. About the time when cosy bunches of nuts begin to peep out from the thick shrubbery of wayside hedges, the Hazel foliage, always of a light, cheerful green, begins to turn to a golden hue. The Hazel leaf will repay close examination for though in the hedgebank it may sometimes seem to wear a rugged edge, it will be found when held in the hand that its outline is cut into scollops, and is sharply, and prettily, indented. The form of the leaf is rounded with a slightly indented base, and a sharp, abrupt apex. Brown green and russet, are the tints that contrast in autumn woodlands with the green of the Hazel and it is in the picturesque disposition of these tints that the charm of its colouring lies. A green centre may be immediately surrounded by golden brown, and that in turn edged by an irregular line of dark russet; or dark splashes of russet may interrupt the uniformity of golden green. Nearly the whole of the leaf may be dyed with a stain of bright yellow, with just one central, or nearly central, spot of green: or green and golden yellow may spread in alternate bands upon the greater portion of the tissue, whilst at the tip of the leaf, at the edge, or at the bottom, there may be a large patch of bright green. These are some of the variations which, in a single hedgebank, may be numbered by ten thousand. Very small but very elegant is the leaf of the Birch. It may be said to be nearly four-sided, sharply pointed at the apex and acutely serrated |