American Plants for American Gardens

VII. THE BEECH-MAPLE-HEMLOCK WOODS

CHAPTER VII THE BEECH-MAPLE-HEMLOCK WOODS BEECHES, maples and hemlocks are found growing together in old and stately woods. The hemlocks are tall evergreen trees with seal brown trunks, drooping branches and short flat needles. The maples are sturdy round-topped trees. Their trunks are furrowed and gray-brown, their strong branches are noticeably upright, their leaves are deeply lobed. The beeches are broad symmetrical trees. Their smooth trunks are steel gray, their horizontal branches are placed in widespread tiers, their slender buds and pointed leaves are arranged far apart on spray-like stems. These three trees occur in varied proportions according to the quality of the soil, the amount of moisture and the temperature. Sometimes, there are almost all hemlocks, as in the far north and on high mountains. These forests are dark and green. Then again, there are almost all maples, as in the far south, whose open branching allowsthe light to filter through thickly clustered foliage. And sometimes, in places where the climateis moderate and the soil is very rich, there are all beeches. These woodsare marked by the grayness of their trunks and twigs. When all three [57] American Plants for American Gardens trees are about equallyableto adapt themselvesto prevailing conditions they intermingle and form a mixed woods that is known as the Beech-Maple-Hemlock Association. The charm of this association dependsuponthe way the three trees appear together in all stages of their growth. There are century-old specimens of gigantic size and incomparable beauty and saplings that have all the loveliness of bark and trunk, of branch and twig, of leaf and bud that is so delightful in maturer trees. This intermingling of trees of all ages is a characteristic unique to the Beech-Maple-Hemlock Association. The young trees take the place of the undergrowth usual in other woods, but occasionally a few other trees and shrubs are mingled with them. There may be scattered groups of white birches, black birches and yellow birches, masses of mountain laurels, ground covers of evergreen yews. There may be arrow-wood, striped maples and mountain maples appearing here and there and, also, occasionaldogwoods, witch-hazels and alternate-leaved dogwoods. The interlacing branches make the woods quite shady. Herbaceous plants are, therefore, only found where sufficient light can penetrate. Then there are violets and trilliums, dutchman's breeches and spikenards , bellworts and star-flowers, wild ginger, twisted stalks and Indian cucumber-roots, and various other little plants with delightfully delicate flowers, foliage and fruit. Ferns take their place wherever there is deeper shade, and waxy Indian pipes and brownbeech [58] The Bccch-Maplc-Hemlock Woods drops are found in the darkest spots. All these other trees, shrubs, flowers and ferns are only incidental to the three main trees and it is this incidental quality that forms a foil for the dignity of the beeches, maples and hemlocks. These woods exist only in remote places and are on land that has been untouched for a long time. Many of them have been cut for lumber or to make way for farming and grazing lands. Whenever they are destroyed they seem utterly lost, for it takes over a century to replace them. Only a very few of the ageold forests remain and they are veritable landmarks. Even the younger woods are becoming comparatively rare. Their beauty is so precious that every effort to preserve them is worth-while. Their preservation makes a special appeal to every lover of trees. Such a woods makes a priceless estate and an impressive setting for a great house. The first problem in connection with it is always the plotting of the drive. And this is more than a question of engineering , for, in arranging lines and curves, the spirit of the woods has to be retained with the finest parts of the young growth preserved and every great tree effectively singled out. The opening of the drive gives a chance for observing not only the loveliest stretches of beeches, maples and hemlocks but the incidental growth. Groups of birches will grow along the sides. The colorful glossy trunks of the whitebirches, of the black birches and of the yellow birches can be made enlivening notes among the other trees. All of these birches are slender trees with arching branches and [59] American Plants for American Gardens showery clusters of thin twigs from which the finely serrated leaves hang in filmy...