What may be learned from a tree

Front matter

WHAT MAY BE LEARNED

A TR

HARLAND COULTAS,

Chapter II

The History of the development of Trees may be advantageously studied by a careful examination of the marks left by Nature on their young branches — The growths made by the Tree during the former years of its life, having been there accurately recorded, . 26

Chapter III

The inner organization of Trees ; or a description of the Anatomy and Physiology of the different species of Cells which enter into the composition of their tissues, ........ 37

Chapter IV

The Tree is constructed on the principle of a cone — Its leaves are the sources whence proceed the formative material used in the building-up of its Stem and Branches, which is distributed amongst them after a common law, ......... 57

Chapter V

Those natural Causes which produce the inequality in the Development of the Branches and Buds of a Tree, illustrate clearly the laws of social inequality and subordination in civilized communities, . 67

Chapter VI

The rhythms or oscillations of Growth in the Development of Trees are durably impressed on their Organism, and the Organization of Man is equally as susceptible of receiving and retaining impression? from without, 91

Vlll CONTENTS.

Chapter VII. Paqe

The Leaf, with the entire edge, is alone to be regarded as a simple Leaf — The Leaf takes a higher form of Organization, and becomes compound in proportion to the Development of the fibrous portion of its Lamina — All the irregularities of its margin, such as Lobes, Teeth, Crenatures, Serratures, result from an effort at new leaflet-formation arrested in its first stages, 107

CHAPTER VIIL

A sketch of the History of Creation as recorded in the strata of the Earth, showing that the Trees which now cover its surface were not all created at the same time, but were introduced as the Earth became fitted for their reception — Trees were created in succession — • Those of a low type of Organization are the most ancient inhabitants of the Globe — The more highly organized Trees have been introduced at a, comparatively speaking, modern Geological epoch, . 131

Chapter IX

Change which takes place in the constitution of Trees at the period of puberty — Organic Metamorphosi3 of their Leaves into Flowers and Fruit, and relative physiological rank of the Floral organs, . . 152

Chapter X

Contains a Description of Trees remarkable for their gigantic growth and great age, found in different parts of the World, . . .109

CHAPTER XL

The Woods take the first rank in the communities of the Vegetable Kingdom — Reciprocity of action amongst Plants — A cool Atmosphere produced by Woods — Their removal is followed by a warmer, drier Climate, and is beneficial in some cases — Woods on Mountains must not be cut down — Pernicious results of their removal in Italy — Woods useful along the Sea-shore, where the coast is low and sandy — Concluding remarks, . . . . . . . .176

CHAPTER XIL

The Death of the Tree is founded on an inner law of its organism, and is not the result of accidental causes, . . . . . 1 85

Introduction

Change is the soul of nature. Stars appear and disappear, aud new ones come in their stead. The day gives its pLace to the night, and the night to the day. The moon is ever changing her aspect as she moves round the earth. Spring, summer, autumn, and winter follow each other in succession, and with this gradual change of the seasons, the earth is continually changing its plant-covering. J^ature is ever moving onward, and mutability marks all these forward movements. The vegetable world is ever adapting itself to the ever-varying conditions of moisture, heat, and light, which mark the days and years of the earth's pilgrimage. One flower, for example, is seen to open as soon as the first rays of morning tremble on the horizon, another in the morning sun, a third at mid-day, a fourth in the evening, and a fifth at midnight. The animal world, too, strikes as it were the hours. Scarcely do the dew-drops glitter in the beams of the advancing sun, than the earth-worms come to the surface to enjoy themselves, the birds commence their song, the sun rises higher and the woods reverberate with their ever-varied melodies. "But the sun sinks in the west and night hides from our view the glory and beauty of nature ; and the nightingale warbles, the owl screams, the bat flies abroad, and an innumerable variety of beautiful moths sport themselves in the gloom. So appear and dis-

10 INTKODUCTION.

appear successive generations of plants, animals, and men.

We have felt, for many years, interested in the plantworld, that beautiful and ever-variegated carpet with which IS'ature has overspread the earth, and which is ever changing its character as the seasons roll on. We have also printed several elementary works on Botany, and this time have chosen for our subject, a Tree ; because it is a picture of the whole of J^ature, and of the way in which Nature works.

It is quite evident that each part of a tree, whether it be leaf-scale, or leaf, sepal or petal, has its place assigned and task allotted in the construction of its organism; and that there is a system of mutual dependency and subordination which pervades all the parts of the tree from the cell upwards. Now this variety, and at the same time unity of organic action, so apparent in all the life-phenomena of a tree, and in all the mutations of its form is exceedingly instructive, for it throws light not only on the natural laws which govern society, but on the whole of organized Nature.

Nature is a mechanism whose parts are intimately associated with each other. The forest leaf, for example, has infinite connections not only with the tree which it helps to build, but with the atmosphere which it oxj^genates, and with the raindrop which it absorbs and decomposes. And it is the same with every insect, moss, and mountain floweret. Each has its place assigned in the organism of the universe, and its allotted labors to perform. All take their part in effecting those grand changes now taking place in nature ; and which are undoubtedly conducted on a plan devised by infinite intelligence and wisdom, and therefore perfect in all its parts, harmonious in all its arrangements.

In like manner that part of Nature called civilized society, notwithstanding all the evils with which it is necessarily accompanied, is equally a mechanism, and governed by natural law. It is my design in this work to try to

INTRODUCTION. 11

exhibit this fact in its true light. Men have formed their Utopia. They have closed their eyes on the existence of natural evil ; they have denied that it is an inevitable necessity, and inseparable from the present condition of things ; they have sought to make the world otherwise than God has made it. They have promulgated erroneous schemes of philanthropy, which, having no foundation whatever, either in truth or reason, can never do otherwise than mislead and betray. They would overturn the granite foundations of the present social fabric. Vain and futile attempt !

It is time that we looked these evils fairly in the face. It is time that we admitted their existence as an inevitable necessity, as part of the discipline of life ; that we regarded those grand compensatory forces which are ever at work in the realms of Kature, and by means of which these conflicting elements are made to harmonize, and a just equilibrium brought about in the scale of human happiness. * When will man learn wisdom and truth from the teachings of ISTature ? "When will he open his eyes to those important practical lessons Vhich may be learned from the commonest object? It is my intention, in this book, to show " What may be learned from a Tree."

We are about to write its life^history. We shall trace it from the first manifestations of vitality in the germinating seed until the period of puberty, when it puts forth flowers and fruit. We shall consider its phenomena after it has passed its prime, and show that it has its appointed limits in consequence of the same physiological law which governs the development of its organism, equally with that of the lowly plant which grows beneath its shade. We shall show that the tree may be regarded as a vast community of phytons, or plants, which co-operate in its construction and are mutually dependent on and subservient to each other We shall prove the individuality of these phytons which develope about the axophyte or stem of the tree and its ramifications or branches, by their difiference of form and function,

12 INTRODUCTION.

and also by those separate periods of time at which they arrive at a state of maturity and decay. We shall show that the amount of work done by these phytons, in their individual and collective capacity, constitutes the growth of each year, and has been recorded in the wood of its stem and on the outer surface of its bark. But all the parts of organic nature are so intimately connected with each other, that the careful stud}^ of any one part necessarily leads as a reward to correct ideas respecting the whole. This is particularly the case with the tree, which is a microcosm, or little world, beautifully illustrative of those unchanging laws of individual and social development which lie at the foundation of the present social system.

My own experience has taught me that a work of this nature is likely to be very useful. It is emphatically written for the people — for those who feel life to be one continued struggle for existence. Many of the truths which will be illustrated are stern and incontrovertible realities, confirmed by the daily and hourly experience of life. Of all the author's botanical works, this is perhaps the only one that will survive him. One thing is certain, that it will be more generally understood. The reader of only ordinary education and intellectual power may readily comprehend the principles inculcated in this book, and see their applicability as guiding rules for the judicious and happy management of each day's duties. Eeader, whoever you are, may this book prove to you a friend, may you be induced by its pages to look on the Tree with a new interest ; and obtaining from its noble form a clear and truthful view of your own position and duty in life, become by the perusal of this volume, a wiser man and a better citizen.

Chapter I

THE BUILDING UP OP THE TREE-FORM OUT OF ITS UNIT; OR, THE LIFE OF THE TREE TRACED THROUGHOUT ITS VEGETATIVE PERIOD —FROM INFANCY TO PUBERTY.

'^ TREE is indisputably the most highly-developed form which vegetable life assumes. In the appearance of one that has stood for centuries, there is something noble and majestic. When we look at its now massive stem and farextended branches, and then call to mind its smallness and feebleness at the commencement of its life ; when we remember that this great tree was once so small as to be inclosed within a little seed, and that the tons of solid timber which it contains have been all drawn by that seed from the earth and atmosphere, we cannot but feel that we have before us a most impressive proof of the operations of the attractive forces. What an immense amount of vitally f organized material has been here gathered together ! It is God's own architecture ! This mass of vegetable matter is only earth and air which has undergone transmutation ! The material alike of wandering zephyrs and rushing storms, of gently descending night-dews and angry thunder-showers, has been here, on this spot, metamorphosed !

Yet we pass these great and wonderful works of Providence every day of our lives without a thought. The gradual and silent building-up of a tree excites no curiosity, conveys no moral lesson. What may be learned from a tree ? Clear and conjprehensive views of the organization and laws which govern the civilized world ! Rules of conduct which lie at the foundation of all success in business, all progress in the pathway to pre-eminence. It is the aim

14 THE BUILDING TIP OF THE

of this book to establisli this fact by a direct appeal to nature and experience. And first of all we will give a brief sketch of the life-history of a tree from infancy to puberty, or from the commencement of germination till the period when the tree reaches its maximum height, and puts forth its flowers and fruit. By so doing, we shall be able to show the principles on which trees are constructed, and the reader will form for himself a correct idea or intellectual picture of a tree. As this is all-important to a thorough understanding of the principles inculcated in this book, we earnestly request that the purely botanical portion of it may have a most careful and attentive perusal.

The First Tears Crroivtli. — ^-If we plant a beech-nut in a suitable soil, when spring and warm weather come it will begin to terminate. It first attracts the moisture of the soil itself This produces the softening and swelling of the tough covering of the nut, which is finally ruptured by the growth of the embryo or infant beech-tree in its interior, which sends downward, through the lacerated integument or seed-cover, a young rootlet, and upwards a young stem, to which are attached the first pair of leaves. These leaves, which are thick and fleshy, and constituted the great bulk of the seed, are in reality the nursing-leaves of the young embryo. Lifted above the ground and exposed to the light of the sun, they speedily expand, take a leaflike texture and hue, and become so much enlarged that they present quite a dift'erent appearance to that which they exhibited when they were folded together and enveloped by the seed-skin.

I call them nursing-leaves {folia nutrientia), because these words convey a more correct idea of the services which they render the plant, and are therefore better than the word cotyledons, or seed-leaves, terms employed by other writers. These nursing-leaves are only temporary appendages of the axis or stem, and perform a distinct and separate duty iu connection with the building-up of the tree.

TREE FORM OUT OF ITS UNIT. 15

They contain a store of starch, provisions elaborated by the plant which produced the seed. On this store of starch the young embryo or infant beech, with its little root and stem, bearing toward its summit the first phyton, or true aerial leaf, is wholly parasitic until it is sufficiently grown to draw a sufficient amount of sustenance from the earth and atmosphere, and can do without the nursing-leaves.

The polar opposition between root and stem, which is among the first indications of the commencement of active vitality in the young embryo, is wholly inexplicable, and continues throughout the entire life of the tree. During the first stages of its life, oxygen is absorbed from the air by the nursing-leaves of the growing embryo, and through its influence the starch contained in them is transmuted into a soluble sugary gum called dextrine, which is conveyed, by the water absorbed during the germination, to the young rootlet and to the gemmule, and also to the first true aerial leaf, or phyton. Thus nourished, this leaf speedily expands, takes the form peculiar to the plant, and remains permanently attached to them till the close of the growing season. It is otherwise with the nursing-leaves : for having yielded up their store of nutrient material to the first true aerial leaf, and given it the necessary degree of strength to enable it to support itself, they become gradually atrophied, or waste away and shrivel up, and we see them finally fall from the stem. With the full development of the first true aerial leaf, and the atrophy and ultimate fall of the nursing-leaves, the first stage of vegetative life is closed.

"We have now a simple individual plant, or vegetable unit, consisting of root, stem, and leaf, having subterranean and aerial organs beautifully adapted to its nutrition; it is, therefore, perfect in all its parts. And now, the fully-developed tree, with its massive stem, branches, and roots, its noble canopy of foliage and flowers, stands before us in its simplest form. For the first true aerial leaf is the foundation of the vegetable fabric, the parent of those countless numbers of leaves which are developed through succeeding years, and by whose united labors a goodly tree is at last constructed, capable of withstanding the storms of the atmosphere, as the submarine structures reared by the coral insect resist the surges of the ocean.

It is therefore important to study carefully the organization and life-processes of the first true aerial leaf, or vegetable unit ; for as its simple repetition constitutes the growth of the first year — which again must be regarded as a vegetable unit of a somewhat higher, more complex character, by simple repetition of which the entire tree itself is ultimately produced ; so it is plain that a thorough knowledge of the physiology and organization of this first true aerial leaf must furnish a key not only to the growth of the first year, but of succeeding years, of which the tree is the solid and enduring monument.

Nothing is apparently more insignificant and feeble than our beech-tree at this period of its life. Look at the young, delicate leaf and stem of the phyton, or first plant, which does not even raise above the green blades of grass by which it is surrounded, thrown as it were on the charity of Nature ! It has lost its nursing-leaves and is left to provide for itself, surrounded by innumerable dangers. It is at first a struggle for life against fearful odds. It may be eaten by cattle, or be crushed by a careless footstep ; want of rain or too much moisture in the soil, excessively hot or severely cold weather, may permanently injure its structure and bring its life to an early and premature close.

But if the seed was planted in a good soil, and the conditions continue favorable, an impulsive energy will very soon be called forth which shall carry it over every obstacle. Yea, verily, it shall extract nutriment from the very tempest which would hurl it to destruction, and render its enemy subservient to the advancement of its upward and onward progress.

See how beautifully Providence has adapted the organization of the two extremities of the phyton, or first plant,

TREE-FORM OUT OF ITS UNIT. 17

to the earth and atmosphere, the two sources from whence it must for the future draw its supplies of food. Its little root descends into the soil, and puts forth from its surface a number of fine, white, hairlike fibres, which are the instruments by means of which the plants absorb inwardly the subterranean nutrient material which surrounds them ; its young stem ascends into the air, and the bark and fibre, which are arranged cylindrically in separate beds or layers in the stem, are spread out horizontally towards its summit, in the form of a flat green plate, or absorbent surface, called a leaf.

The bark, or cellular tissue of this leaf is penetrated by the fibrous portion of the stem, in the shape of veins and veinlets, which communicate freely with the roots in the soil, and thus act as conduits of the sap or nutritive material from one extremity of the plant to the other. In this manner the sap, brought from all parts of the plant, becomes, as it were, thoroughly spread out and aerated in the leaf. To facilitate the processes of evaporation and absorption, the leaf is provided with an epidermis, through the pores or openings of which the superfluous water of the sap is evaporated, and such gases absorbed from the atmosphere as are nutritious to the plant.

Hence, when fully developed, this leaf aerates the sap much more perfectly than the nursing-leaves ; and as it is a true aerial leaf, it remains permanently attached to the stem or vegetable axis till the close of the vegetative season. This leaf appears, in fact, to be formed in reference to the atmosphere.

If we examine the gemmule, or young bud, situated just above the phyton, or first leaf, we shall find that the first leaf itself is now, in its turn, a nursing-leaf, and the parent of a numerous progeny of already partially-formed follicles. These, nourished by the sap elaborated in the first leaf, soon individually expand and separate from each other, little intervals of stem being formed between them. They now contribute individually to each other's support : the lower leaves aiding in the development of those that are above them, and contributing also to the growth of that portion of the axis or stem which is beneath them, and to the increase of the number of the rootlets in the soil.

Each of these phytons or leaves developes also, more or less perfectly, its own gemmule or young bud, which, undoubtedly, corresponds to the gemmule or bud formed by the first leaf, the unfolding of which constitutes the growth of the first season. But these new buds never come to anything the first year, but retain their rudimentary condition through the winter months, and appear as projecting points on the outside of the shoot, after the leaves which formed them have dropped from the stem. The gemmule or bud formed by the first leaf, is the only one of the series which developes the first season.

As the heat and light of the sun decrease, the vital activity of the phytons or leaves diminishes, and the intervals between them gradually cease to form, until at length the elongation of the axis is wholly stopped. About this time the current of sap is diverted away from the leaves to the buds forming at the bottom of each leaf-stalk, and especially to the terminal bud which grows at the top of the shoot. This attraction of the sap or formative material away from the leaves by the newly-forming tissues of the buds, is undoubtedly one of the principal causes which produce their decay and separation from the shoot. When the leaves begin to change their color (the sure presage of their approaching fall), it is therefore an infallible indication . that the sap is being diverted away from them to the buds, which have begun to grow, and that the shoot constructed by their united labors is about to be prepared for winter.

This preparation of the shopt for winter is effected by the development of another set of leaves, which other writers call bud-scales, but which I call [folia tegmentia) covering or protecting leaves. It is not nutrition, but protection which is required by the shoot during winter, and these leaves are organized expressly for this very purpose. They contribute nothing whatever to the support of the plant, but they shield it from the inclemency of the weather. It is

TREE-FORM OUT OP ITS UNIT. 19

their duty to preserve from injury the amount of work ah-eacly done. A beautiful vegetable cone has been constructed by the leaf-labor of the first year, and it is left in their charge.

In the beech-tree, the bud-scales or covering leaves acquire a somewhat horny texture. They are without pores, and are, in botanical language, imbricated ; that is to say, they cover one another like the shingles on the roof of a house. Beneath these vegetable roofs, thus admirably constructed, the young branch charged with all the nutritive leaves of the next vegetative season lies imbedded in a warm downy investment.

Thus, even the defoliated shoot or vegetable cone is not without its attractions. There it stands, exposed to the fierce north wind, coated with ice from top to bottom. It matters not that the snow-covered ground, in which its roots lie imbedded, is frozen as hard as granite, for there are the protective leaves, or bud-scales. These are the appointed guardians of its life, and well do they perform their ofiice. As soon as spring and warm weather come, do we not see the young shoots and the bright green leaves, which they have covered and protected, come forth uninjured? Exposure to the air, which is now mild and pleasant, will do the newly-developed shoots and leaves no harm, but is a positive benefit. The services of the covering or protective leaves of winter are therefore no longer required, and we see them fall, one by one from the stem. Why ? Because they have fulfilled the purposes of Providence in their creation. They are, therefore, removed from the post of duty.

The Second Years Grrowth. — ^With the gradual increase of light and heat the snow and ice disappears, the ground becomes soft and friable, the air mild and pleasant, and in the grand laboratory of organic nature all is again ceaseless activity. The same beautiful yet evanescent floral forms adorn the earth ; the bright green grass, the leafy verdure of the woods charm the senses. Our vegetable cone with its lateral and terminal buds feels the effect of the genial influences that are abroad, and soon give signs of a renewed vitality. The [folia tegmentia) covering-leaves separate from each other, and the new generation of nutritive leaves, sheltered by them through the winter months, are put forth uninjured into the atmosphere. The leaves proceeding from the bud at the summit of the vegetable cone, continue the growth of the main axis or stem, whilst those developed from the lateral buds give birth to branches. If now these new growths be carefully examined, it will be found that the new generation of leaves has constructed them on precisely the same plan as the first year's shoot. For these branches, and the addition which has been made to the stem in height, consist of precisely the same parts, viz. : a conical axis and leaves with buds in their axilla, and a terminal bud at the apex. Each new axis or shoot which has been superadded to the first year's shoot, must therefore be regarded as a simple repetition of the first year's shoot.

It is also plain that the branches are to the main axis or stem, the second year, what the leaves were to it the first year, performing precisely the same functions, only in a far more energetic manner ; because in this case it is not one but several leaves which are engaged in elaborating the sap, which, when duly prepared in the leaves, passes from them into the main axis or stem of the tree through the common axis of the shoot, and thus contributes to its nutrition.

The tree has therefore a much greater amount of leaf-surface at work in the air the second year than it had the first, and its chances of life are consequently multiplied a thousand fold. For with ever}' addition to the number of its leaves, the tree obtains a new instrument for extracting nutriment from the atmosphere, and elaborating such food as it attracts to itself from the soil. The amount of wood and bark formed is therefore much greater the second year than the first ; it is, in fact, exactly proportionate to the increase in the extent of leaf-surface and the vital activity of the leaves themselves.

The sap having been exposed to the air and light in these additional leaf-surfaces, is again rendered nutritious, and

TREE-FORM OUT OF ITS UNIT, 21

not only contributes to the elongation of the stem and branches, but at the same time to the formation of a new conical layer, or enveloping mantle of wood and bark between the wood and bark of the previous year. Each shoot, with its system of leaves, contributes its part to the newlyformed layer, and the growth of the stem, in length and thickness, thus takes place at the same time.

Toward the close of the growing season, the sap is again diverted from the leaves to the buds forming in their axilla ; and the protective leaves of winter having been fully matured, the second generation of nutritive leaves wither and fall from the stem and branches as before. Our tree, when defoliated, now shows a number of shoots associated together, and developing from a common axis or stem, all of which have been built up by leaves constructed on precisely the same pattern as the first year's shoot, and prepared for winter in exactly the same manner.

The Third Year the tree presents the same general vegetative appearances. The terminal bud continues the growth of the stem or main axis as before, the buds on the branches develope into branchlets, and contribute to the further extension of the branches and to the growth of the shoots forming at their summit ; and the whole system of shoots thus put forth, with their leaves, co-operate in the formation of the sap into another enveloping mantle of bark and wood, which covers the stem and branches of the previous year.

In precisely the same manner does the tree continue to vegetate, every year increasing in size and strength, adding to the number of its leafy operatives, and the amount of labor done, until it attains its greatest elevation.

A peculiar alteration in its habit now becomes noticeable. For the sap is no longer expended in the extension of its stem and branches, but in the formation of its flowers and fruit. The period of puberty has arrived, the tree is in the full prime and vigor of life, and the growth of its stem and branches is gradually retarded, the vegetative efforts of each season being absorbed by the reproductive. The tree.