very stately trees, thus grouped and
with every twig sharply outlined, I shall always remember.

The liriodendron is more fortunate than some other trees, for it has
several points of attractiveness. Its stature and its structure are
alike notable, its foliage entirely unique, and its flowers and
seed-pods even more interesting. The leaf is very easily recognized when
once known. It is large, but not in any way coarse, and is thrust forth
as the tree grows, in a peculiarly pleasing way. Sheathed in the manner
characteristic of the magnolia family, of which the liriodendron is a
notable member, the leaves come to the light practically folded back on
themselves, between the two protecting envelopes, which remain until
the leaf has stretched out smoothly. Yellowish green at first, they
rapidly take on the bright, strong green of maturity. The texture is
singularly refined, and it is a pleasure to handle these smooth leaves,
of a shape which stamps them at once on the memory, and of a coloring,
both above and below, that is most attractive. They are maintained on
long, slender stems, or "petioles," and these stems give a great range
of flexibility, so that the leaves of the liriodendron are, as Henry
Ward Beecher puts it, "intensely individual, each one moving to suit
himself."

[Illustration: A great liriodendron in bloom]

Of course all this moving, and this out-breaking of the leaves from
their envelopes, take place far above one's head, on mature trees. It
will be found well worth while, however, for the tree-lover to look in
the woods for the rather numerous young trees of the tulip, and to
observe the very interesting way in which the growth proceeds. The
beautiful form and color of the leaves may also be thus conveniently
noted, as also in the autumn the soft, clear yellow early assumed.

It is the height and spread of the liriodendron that keep its truly
wonderful flowers out of the public eye. If they were produced on a
small tree like the familiar dogwood, for instance, so that they might
be nearer to the ground, they would receive more of the admiration so
fully their due. In Washington, where, as I have said, trees are planted
by design and not at random, there are whole avenues of liriodendrons,
and it was my good fortune one May to drive between these lines of
strong and shapely young trees just when they were in full bloom. The
appearance of these beautiful cups, each one held upright, not drooping,
was m