Trees have a character like people. Some of them are lovable; others a trifle crotchety.
Birch Tree
A gray birch, for example, is like a rough, aggressive little fellow born on the other side of the tracks who thrives under tough conditions.
It is the first kind of tree to take possession of burnt-out land, an abandoned field, or to pop up from a pile of slag accumulated at the mouth of a coal mine. But when other trees grow up around it, its years are numbered to about 20 or 30. It simply dislikes shade.
On the other hand, the paper or white birch needs better soil and growing conditions of the richness of woods, a river bank, or a mountain slope. As a result, it grows taller and lives longer.
White Oak Tree
A white oak is a man’s tree, a symbol of majesty. It has the dignity of a church deacon, a patriarch’s towering grandeur, and a pioneer’s robust strength.
Elm Tree
The elm is a beautiful goddess, its beauty simply overwhelming. The sugar maple is feminine, too, but more like a woman who never grows old, never loses her beauty, who is always doing good, and is never too busy to take on another community task.
It is adaptable to many sites, seems impervious to storms, and is useful for shade, lumber, and its delightful sap.
Beech Tree
A beech is like a grouchy old aristocrat who wants to be left alone. It doesn’t welcome company and resents the tramping of the soil over its roots. It can’t take it.
Pink Oak Tree
A pin oak, found deep in a forest, looks like a Scotty dog, its weeping lower branches often hanging dead and tangled like Scotty’s whiskers. Grown as a street tree, however, it can be groomed as sleek as a greyhound.
Sassafras Tree
A sassafras tree is the children’s pal because of the aroma of its crushed leaves and its mitten-like shape.
Sometimes, sassafras may have as many as four kinds of leaves on a single tree, both right- and left-handed mittens, too.
Silver Maple
The silver maple is a little boy who tears his pants and scuffs his shoes while walking around the block. Short-lived, it’s so brittle that storms quickly mar its beauty.
White Ash and Mockernut Hickory
The white ash wears its head proudly, like a fellow with a new job promotion.
The mockernut hickory is like a bride, for when you look at its trunk, its ridges are sandpapered so fine it seems to be wearing a lacy veil.
Weeping Willow Tree
The poplar and weeping willows have mean dispositions, their roots clogging the sewer system. But like all trees, they’re good to know once you get acquainted with them.
44659 by Robert A. Bartlett