. Familiar trees and their leaves . Trees. THE POPLARS. 129 Balm of Gilead. Populus balsamifera., var. candicans. figure, and is found in the woods and beside the streams in the Northern States. Its leaf is thick, firm, and home erect on the twigs; and the large, brown- yellow leaf buds are covered in spring with a fragrant resiaous coating. I have drawn for comparison the leaves of the three varieties which are—var. intermedia, var. vitninalis {P. laurifolia, Sarg.), and var. latifolia. Balm of Gilead may at once be recog- nized by its fra- grant resinous leaf buds ; these are especially odor
. Familiar trees and their leaves . Trees. THE POPLARS. 129 Balm of Gilead. Populus balsamifera., var. candicans. figure, and is found in the woods and beside the streams in the Northern States. Its leaf is thick, firm, and home erect on the twigs; and the large, brown- yellow leaf buds are covered in spring with a fragrant resiaous coating. I have drawn for comparison the leaves of the three varieties which are—var. intermedia, var. vitninalis {P. laurifolia, Sarg.), and var. latifolia. Balm of Gilead may at once be recog- nized by its fra- grant resinous leaf buds ; these are especially odorous in spring- time. It is purely a matter of ' Populus balsamifera. taste if one considers the buds fragrant; but de gusti''bn est disputandum. In my own opinion, the smell is unpleasantly suggestive of the "great unclean," or rather the mildly unclean, who use per- fumery, resulting iu a mixture which can not de- ceive ! Guessing at an analysis of the perfume in a leaf biid, I should define it thus: equal parts of sandal- wood, patchouli, and barber shop to one part of es- sence of boiled onions. The bit of balm of Gilead I had in my hands last September smelled just that Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Mathews, F. Schuyler (Ferdinand Schuyler), 1854-1938. New York : D. Appleton
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