230

September - Sunlight on Thistles.

XLII.

Sunset-light on Thistles - Fruits not generally Conspicuous - The Rowan - The common Cornel - Elder-berry — Blackberry — Small Polygonum-Ferns Persicaria - Wild Hop.

I

SPOKE just now of vermilion berries bathed in the flame of sunset, and will add another observation about sunset-light. One of the finest sights in Nature is a field of thistles in September, with the level rays of a golden sunset striking across and catching the down of the heads. The light is detained by them, and in them as it were, so that each thistle-head becomes a distinct source of light; not with glittering reflection like the ripples on water, but with a charming softness, as if the rays were entangled in meshes of floss silk.

The reader may think, that after saying so much about flowers I dismiss fruits very summarily; but it so happens that fruits (I use the word, of course, in the large botanical sense) are, as a general rule, less visible than flowers, and in these chapters we have talked almost exclusively of what is visible. Some fruits are conspicuous, like those of the rowan-tree lately mentioned; and the black, bitter fruit of the common cornel, or dogwood, is visible enough at the beginning of autumn in the hedges, the smooth leaves turning pale as the fruit ripens. The elder-berries are

out at the same time, berries from which a wine is made greatly inferior to that from the flowers of the same. tree. It may be mentioned as a little detail worth remembering for foreground color, that the fruit of the blackberry is red before it turns black. The leaves of the bramble are, however, more important than the fruit, as they have quite a peculiar way of changing color in autumn. Many of them turn bright red quite suddenly, whilst quantities of others will be spotted with dark purple. The isolation of the red leaves may be of use to an artist who wants an intense color in small quantities. A very valuable cause of color in some situations is the small polygonum, which, with its red stalk and leaves just turning yellow, produces the most beautiful dark gold in mass. The ferns begin to take autumnal color rather capriciously; it seems to seize upon some leaves to the neglect of others, and these leaves will be entirely affected by it, passing from dark brown near the root to yellow at the end. One of the latest flowering plants is the fine polygonum called Persicaria, often nearly two feet high, with a red stalk and spikes of rosy flowers; but the stalk strikes the eye more than the flowers do. A very familiar plant, the wild hop, has an appearance at this season which bears some resemblance to flowers. The scales of the spike become enlarged so as to entirely conceal the fruit; and these dry scales are visible in September as a pleasant light brown, the leaves being still green.

232

October-Ferns.

XLIII.

- Robinia - Oak, Birch, Ash - Poplar

A

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- Chestnut Cherry and Pear Pear - Hornbeam — Beech - Willow.

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S we get deeper into autumn the changes of vegetation accelerate. The ferns turn red and yellow to begin with, to end in a uniform dry light red; generally the change is completed about the middle of October. Some trees turn yellow in places, a leaf or two at a time, like the walnut; the robinia does the same: indeed, in the robinia it is not by leaves but by leaflets that the process begins. Oak, birch, and ash, begin by showing yellow leaves here and there, like a sudden attack of disease; but, considered as a whole, an ashtree passes from green through pale yellowish-green to yellow. The poplar yellows all over gradually. Chestnuts at this time are much denuded of leaves; those which remain are green, or brown, or yellow, about onethird of each, and the yellow ones are often brown about their edges. Cherry and pear-trees give most of the red in the woods, the latter often reaching a bright scarlet, which tells with great effect in the distance. Some pear-trees turn darker than others, and there are often both vivid red and fresh green together on the same tree. So in hornbeam; you have pale yellow leaves and leaves of reddish gold, whilst the rest are

fresh green. In beech there are three colors, - light red, yellowish red, and green. A few days later the pale yellow tinge of hornbeam is entirely gone, and has given place to a rusty brown. Meanwhile the willows remain. still perfectly green.

XLIV.

Angelica - Leaves of Angelica - Bramble

Blackberry - Scabious

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Honeysuckle - Tufted Hair-grass.

are

F foreground plants, the angelica may be mentioned for its important size. The leaves are but little seen, being for the most part low down upon the stem, but they become a very pale green, and turn whitish or yellowish, often also inclining to purple. At the same time the angelica becomes brown in the umbels, because the fruit is ripening fast; in doing which it turns from green to brown. A little later, the leaves turn pure Naples yellow. Once more, for the last time, we must mention the bramble, now most rich in color with deep crimson or bright vermilion, passing to russet and green, and the abundant black fruit for a rich dark at the bottom of the scale. When the morning mists of October clear away and the bright sunshine succeeds, as it does regularly about eleven o'clock, all the blackberry leaves glitter in the bright light, and many of

234

October- Tufted Hair-grass.

them show a colored transparence like jewels. At the same time they are often covered with threads of gossamer, on which are hung millions of minute drops, each of them clearer than a diamond, and with a sparkle of light inside it. Even so late as this you may occasionally find a flower in all its perfection - the scabious, for instance which preserves for us the memory of summer. A few honeysuckle flowers may be found in October, although the plant is generally in berry. The tall grasses become very beautiful at this season; the tufted hair-grass may be mentioned specially for the remarkable way in which it catches the light. Under the sun it seems full of warm yellow light, almost as if it were luminous by a light of its own; indeed the sunshine seems to get entangled amongst it as in the down of a thistle, and this often gives great splendor to a foreground, but the effect is to be seen only when you are looking towards the sun.