INTRODUCTION
When Miss Huntington told me last year that she was going to write a book about the trees in their winter aspects, knowing how conscientiously she had studied her subject and how successful she had been in imparting the results of her observation to others, I felt sure that she would do a useful and excellent piece of work, and that her book would be of real assistance to all persons who want to gain some knowledge of the trees which they pass in their daily walks.
The promise of the book is now fulfilled, and nothing is left for the introductor to do but to call attention in a general way to the beauty of trees in winter and to the pleasure and profit of studying them at this season of the year, as well as when their branches are clothed with leaves or covered with flowers or fruits.
To the real lover of trees they are equally beautiful and interesting at all seasons of the year; and no one knows trees well who cannot distinguish the different species as easily and surely in winter as in spring or summer. Almost every tree has some special and peculiar beauty which is seen to the best advantage in winter. The fine spray of the beech is seen only at this season of the year, and there are few more beautiful objects in nature than the delicate branches of our New England beech trees seen against the clear blue sky of a brilliant winter day. The sturdiness of the oak is best realized in winter, for at other seasons its massive limbs are often hidden under their covering of leaves. The birch is far more graceful and attractive in winter than at any other period; and there is nothing more stimulating to the lover of nature than to stand on a bright winter’s day and look up into the marvellous structure of one of the great elm trees which are the pride of New England. The bark of most trees appears more beautiful in winter than at other seasons of the year because the eye, undisturbed by the contemplation of the foliage, can then most easily take in all the details of its varied texture and wonderful colors.
For the student of trees searching for accurate knowledge it is as important to study trees in winter as in summer. The differences in the various families of trees, once these are understood, are marked enough to make family relationships easy to recognize at this season of the year. Nor will it be found difficult, once the characters peculiar to each kind of tree are fixed in the mind of the observer, to determine the various species; and these winter characters are often more constant and stable than characters derived from the flowers, the shape of the leaves, or from the size and shape of the fruits, on which dependence is usually placed for the identification of trees.
Each species of tree has its peculiar habit, which is best seen in winter and which it usually retains under normal conditions. The character of the bark rarely changes much on individuals of the same age, although the bark of old trees is usually very different from the bark of young trees of the same species; and the color of the branchlets and the form and size of the winter buds generally afford certain means of determining closely related trees.
In each kind of tree there is, in addition to its general habit, which with a little practice is frequently sufficient to make the recognition of a particular species easy, some special character which enables the student to confirm his determination and to distinguish a particular species of oak or hickory or poplar from every other.
A knowledge of trees, the ability at least to recognize and identify them, adds vastly to the pleasures of life. One who knows trees well meets them like old friends; each season invests them with fresh charm, and the more we study and know them the greater will be our admiration of the wonderful variety and beauty which they display in winter.
C. S. Sargent.
Arnold Arboretum, November, 1901.