into very fine spray. A tree like the Elm, where the trunk becomes lost in
the branches, is called _deliquescent_; when the trunk is continued to the
top of the tree, as in the Spruce, it is _excurrent_.

The small, feathery twigs and branches that are often seen on the trunks
and great limbs of the elm grow from buds which are produced anywhere on
the surface of the wood. Such buds are called _adventitious_ buds. They
often spring from a tree when it is wounded.

"The American elm is, in most parts of the state, the most magnificent
tree to be seen. From a root, which, in old trees, spreads much above
the surface of the ground, the trunk rises to a considerable height in a
single stem. Here it usually divides into two or three principal branches,
which go off by a gradual and easy curve. Theses stretch upwards and
outwards with an airy sweep, become horizontal, the extreme half of the
limb, pendent, forming a light and regular arch. This graceful curvature,
and absence of all abruptness, in the primary limbs and forks, and all the
subsequent divisions, are entirely characteristic of the tree, and enable
an observer to distinguish it in the winter and even by night, when
standing in relief against the sky, as far as it can be distinctly
seen."[1]

[Footnote 1: A Report on the Trees and Shrubs growing naturally in the
Forests of Massachusetts. By Geo. B. Emerson, Boston, Little, Brown and
Co., 1875.

This book will be found very useful, containing careful descriptions of
many trees and shrubs, and interesting facts about them.]