A year among the trees

by Wilson Flagg

THE ARBOR-VITÆ.

The American Arbor-Vitæ is a small tree growing very much in the spiry form of the juniper, but narrower in the lower part. It is like the juniper also in its numerous and irregularly disposed branches. It is not seen in the woods near Boston; and it is rare even in cultivated grounds, where the Siberian Arbor-Vitæ, on account of its superior foliage, is preferred. The American tree grows abundantly in high northern latitudes. It is remarkable, with its kindred species, for the flattened shape of its leaves; and in its native woods it is hardly ever without a mixture of yellow and faded leaves interspersed with the green and healthy foliage. The terminal branch invested by the leaflets—resembling scales, and not a true leaf—constitutes this fan-like appendage, resembling the frond of a fern. The leaves have the flavor and odor of tansy.

In Maine the Arbor-Vitæ, next to the black spruce and hemlock, is more frequent than any other of the evergreens. It delights in cold, damp soils, and abounds on the rocky shores of streams and lakes. It sometimes constitutes a forest of several acres, with but a slight intermixture of other trees, predominating in proportion to the wetness of the soil. In the driest parts of these bogs we find the black spruce, the hemlock, the red birch, and, rarely, a few white pines.