Our national parks . oised infullness of strength and beauty, stern and solemnin mien, it glows with eager, enthusiastic life,quivering to the tip of every leaf and branchand far-reaching root, calm as a granite dome,the first to feel the touch of the rosy beams ofthe morning, the last to bid the sun specimens, unhurt by running fires orlightning, are singularly regular and symmetricalin general form, though not at all conventional,showing infinite variety in sure unity and har-mony of plan. The immensely strong, statelyshafts, with rich purplish brown bark, are free ofHmbs
Our national parks . oised infullness of strength and beauty, stern and solemnin mien, it glows with eager, enthusiastic life,quivering to the tip of every leaf and branchand far-reaching root, calm as a granite dome,the first to feel the touch of the rosy beams ofthe morning, the last to bid the sun specimens, unhurt by running fires orlightning, are singularly regular and symmetricalin general form, though not at all conventional,showing infinite variety in sure unity and har-mony of plan. The immensely strong, statelyshafts, with rich purplish brown bark, are free ofHmbs for a hundred and fifty feet or so, thoughdense tufts of sprays occur here and there, pro-ducing an ornamental effect, while long parallelfurrows give a fluted columnar appearance. Itshoots forth its Hmbs with equal boldness in everydirection, showing no weather side. On the oldtrees the main branches are crooked and rugged,and strike rigidly outward mostly at right anglesfrom the trunk, but there is always a certain. A GIANT SEQUOIA THE SEQUOIA 271 measured restraint in their reach which keepsthem within bounds. No other Sierra tree hasfoliage so densely massed or outline so finely,firmly drawn and so obediently subordinate toan ideal type. A particularly knotty, angular,ungovernable-looking branch, five to eight feet indiameter and perhaps a thousand years old, mayoccasionally be seen pushing out from the trunkas if determined to break across the bounds of theregular curve, but like all the others, as soon as thegeneral outline is approached the huge limb dis-solves into massy bosses of branchlets and sprays,as if the tree were growing beneath an invisiblebell glass against the sides of which the brancheswere moulded, while many small, varied depar-tures from the ideal form give the impression offreedom to grow as they like. Except in picturesque old age, after beingstruck by Hghtning and broken by a thousandsnowstorms, this regularity of form is one of theBig Trees most dist
Size: 1074px × 2326px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidournationalparks1909muir
