WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:05.160
<v Speaker 1>Chapter four of Ten Common Trees. This is a LibriVox recording.

2
00:00:05.519 --> 00:00:09.039
<v Speaker 1>All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more

3
00:00:09.039 --> 00:00:14.759
<v Speaker 1>information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording

4
00:00:14.839 --> 00:00:21.440
<v Speaker 1>by Kimberly Sawsen. Ten Common Trees by Susan Stokes, Chapter four.

5
00:00:21.800 --> 00:00:26.079
<v Speaker 1>The horse chestnut under the greenwood tree, who loves to

6
00:00:26.199 --> 00:00:29.719
<v Speaker 1>lie with me and tuned his merry. Note unto the

7
00:00:29.760 --> 00:00:34.679
<v Speaker 1>sweet bird's throat, The horse chestnut is not an American tree.

8
00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:36.840
<v Speaker 1>Shall I tell you how it comes to be here?

9
00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:41.799
<v Speaker 1>Long ago? You know, America belonged to the Indians. They

10
00:00:41.799 --> 00:00:45.759
<v Speaker 1>built their wigwams, wore war paint and feathers, and wandered

11
00:00:45.799 --> 00:00:50.039
<v Speaker 1>wherever they liked. There were native plants and animals as

12
00:00:50.079 --> 00:00:53.719
<v Speaker 1>well as native Indians, and they too, spread everywhere over

13
00:00:53.840 --> 00:00:57.679
<v Speaker 1>hill and vale. The beaver built in many brooks, and

14
00:00:57.719 --> 00:01:01.320
<v Speaker 1>the wild grass perfumed the air. But when the Englishmen

15
00:01:01.399 --> 00:01:04.560
<v Speaker 1>and the Frenchmen came over, they brought with them grains

16
00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:08.640
<v Speaker 1>and fruits and domestic animals. So the Indian pink and

17
00:01:08.719 --> 00:01:12.040
<v Speaker 1>the wild flower were plowed under that the white man

18
00:01:12.319 --> 00:01:16.040
<v Speaker 1>might have a wheat field. The murmuring pines and the

19
00:01:16.079 --> 00:01:19.599
<v Speaker 1>hemlocks made way for apple and vine, and the tame

20
00:01:19.719 --> 00:01:24.120
<v Speaker 1>duck swam in the wild ducks pools. Now only those

21
00:01:24.200 --> 00:01:27.359
<v Speaker 1>trees are native, which were growing here before the white

22
00:01:27.400 --> 00:01:32.359
<v Speaker 1>men came. All the others are introduced. The horse chestnut

23
00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:35.000
<v Speaker 1>is one of these. It is thought it came to

24
00:01:35.079 --> 00:01:38.359
<v Speaker 1>Europe from Asia. There its nuts had been used as

25
00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:42.280
<v Speaker 1>food for horses, as they still are in Turkey. On

26
00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:45.680
<v Speaker 1>this account, and because they look like the sweet brown chestnuts,

27
00:01:46.120 --> 00:01:49.519
<v Speaker 1>they are called horse chestnuts. In southern Europe they are

28
00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:53.200
<v Speaker 1>fed to sheep, cattle and poultry, while in Ireland they

29
00:01:53.239 --> 00:01:56.359
<v Speaker 1>are used in the bleaching of linen. So you see,

30
00:01:56.359 --> 00:01:59.879
<v Speaker 1>the horse chestnut may be a very useful tree, although

31
00:02:00.040 --> 00:02:03.359
<v Speaker 1>in America it is more often planted simply as an ornament.

32
00:02:04.120 --> 00:02:06.480
<v Speaker 1>The horse chestnut, like all the trees we have so

33
00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:10.000
<v Speaker 1>far studied, drops its leaves in the fall and spends

34
00:02:10.039 --> 00:02:13.520
<v Speaker 1>the winter in its trunk. When the cold wind howls

35
00:02:13.560 --> 00:02:17.639
<v Speaker 1>outside and says, ho, ho, are you there? Let me in,

36
00:02:18.560 --> 00:02:22.199
<v Speaker 1>the tree says no, No, don't you dare You can't

37
00:02:22.240 --> 00:02:25.319
<v Speaker 1>come in, And he can't, for how could he make

38
00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:29.159
<v Speaker 1>his way through the rough, dark bark. The gateways are

39
00:02:29.159 --> 00:02:31.879
<v Speaker 1>through the winter buds. But the tree thought of that.

40
00:02:31.919 --> 00:02:35.439
<v Speaker 1>When he made the buds. He said to himself, I'll

41
00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:37.680
<v Speaker 1>get all my leaves ready to come out at once

42
00:02:37.719 --> 00:02:41.960
<v Speaker 1>in the springtime Figure one. But how shall I keep

43
00:02:41.960 --> 00:02:45.599
<v Speaker 1>them from taking cold during the winter? So he thought

44
00:02:45.639 --> 00:02:47.919
<v Speaker 1>and thought, and then he wrapped them all together in

45
00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:51.039
<v Speaker 1>a thick coat of cotton, and over the outside put

46
00:02:51.280 --> 00:02:55.080
<v Speaker 1>oh so many scales. The inner ones were green, and

47
00:02:55.120 --> 00:02:59.199
<v Speaker 1>the outer ones brown and shiny. Said the tree to himself,

48
00:02:59.639 --> 00:03:02.400
<v Speaker 1>I'll boat them with resins, so neither the snow nor

49
00:03:02.439 --> 00:03:05.400
<v Speaker 1>the rain can get in. And he coated them over

50
00:03:05.479 --> 00:03:08.919
<v Speaker 1>with shiny brown and laughed to think how cozy they'd be.

51
00:03:10.120 --> 00:03:13.400
<v Speaker 1>Then he dropped the leaflets one by one, and last

52
00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:16.000
<v Speaker 1>of all the stem to which they had clung on

53
00:03:16.080 --> 00:03:19.560
<v Speaker 1>the brown branch. Where they fell were deep scars, shaped

54
00:03:19.599 --> 00:03:22.319
<v Speaker 1>like a horseshoe, and with a row of dots around

55
00:03:22.360 --> 00:03:25.719
<v Speaker 1>the edge, like the nails of the shoe. Figure two.

56
00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:29.599
<v Speaker 1>He went to sleep now as snug as a bug

57
00:03:29.680 --> 00:03:32.680
<v Speaker 1>in a rug, and waked only when the wind shook

58
00:03:32.719 --> 00:03:36.319
<v Speaker 1>his head and threatened to tear him to pieces. When

59
00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:40.159
<v Speaker 1>spring drew near, the warm south wind came softly and

60
00:03:40.199 --> 00:03:44.280
<v Speaker 1>whispered in his ear, Wake up, wake up, The robins

61
00:03:44.280 --> 00:03:49.080
<v Speaker 1>are here. So the horse Chestnut loosened his buds Figure three,

62
00:03:49.719 --> 00:03:52.280
<v Speaker 1>and spread them out more and more, till only the

63
00:03:52.360 --> 00:03:56.520
<v Speaker 1>last green cotton cover lid was left. Then he cracked that.

64
00:03:57.159 --> 00:03:59.000
<v Speaker 1>And what do you think He pushed through the crack

65
00:03:59.759 --> 00:04:03.479
<v Speaker 1>a cluster of tiny wooly hands, just as woolly as

66
00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:06.719
<v Speaker 1>they could be, softer and a baby's be it three

67
00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:10.680
<v Speaker 1>days old. Did he call them hands? Oh no, he said,

68
00:04:10.879 --> 00:04:14.120
<v Speaker 1>these are my leaves. I made them last summer, after

69
00:04:14.199 --> 00:04:17.639
<v Speaker 1>my flowers fell. But they had five or seven fingers.

70
00:04:18.399 --> 00:04:21.399
<v Speaker 1>They were flat and were folded over and platted together

71
00:04:21.560 --> 00:04:24.360
<v Speaker 1>like a fan. When they spread out, you found that

72
00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:28.000
<v Speaker 1>they were broader near the tip than at the base Fig. Four,

73
00:04:28.639 --> 00:04:32.720
<v Speaker 1>and were very wooly underneath. They came out very quickly,

74
00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:35.759
<v Speaker 1>all at once, and turned the tree quite green in

75
00:04:35.839 --> 00:04:39.160
<v Speaker 1>a single day. When these grew larger, he didn't make

76
00:04:39.240 --> 00:04:42.240
<v Speaker 1>even another one, but began at once to make ready

77
00:04:42.279 --> 00:04:46.000
<v Speaker 1>for the next winter, making a new winter bud. It

78
00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:48.839
<v Speaker 1>must be that is the reason it's so large, growing

79
00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:52.319
<v Speaker 1>all summer long. There was something else in the bud,

80
00:04:52.720 --> 00:04:56.439
<v Speaker 1>just in the center, a great number of tiny green balls.

81
00:04:57.040 --> 00:04:59.720
<v Speaker 1>They grew and grew, and at last we knew they

82
00:04:59.800 --> 00:05:02.480
<v Speaker 1>must to be flower buds. But they were so long

83
00:05:02.519 --> 00:05:06.199
<v Speaker 1>coming out, they were not ready till June, the month

84
00:05:06.319 --> 00:05:10.240
<v Speaker 1>when every clod feels a stir of might, an instinct

85
00:05:10.279 --> 00:05:14.319
<v Speaker 1>within it that reaches in towers and groping blindly above

86
00:05:14.360 --> 00:05:18.600
<v Speaker 1>it for light, climbs to a soul in grass and flowers.

87
00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:22.879
<v Speaker 1>Out they came. Each separate branch was crowned with a

88
00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:27.560
<v Speaker 1>great spire of buds, a giant nosegay. Some people even

89
00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:30.720
<v Speaker 1>called it a hyacinth tree because its blossoms were so

90
00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:35.600
<v Speaker 1>close and so fragrant page forty one. This great cone

91
00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:40.319
<v Speaker 1>of flowers is called a thyrsus. The in flowers bloom first,

92
00:05:40.519 --> 00:05:43.560
<v Speaker 1>said the tree, and then the side buds push their

93
00:05:43.560 --> 00:05:46.519
<v Speaker 1>way out beyond them and take their turn in the sunlight.

94
00:05:47.600 --> 00:05:50.600
<v Speaker 1>Of course, both my flowers and leaves must get the sunshine.

95
00:05:51.240 --> 00:05:54.040
<v Speaker 1>Have you seen how my leaves peep out between each other,

96
00:05:54.399 --> 00:05:58.319
<v Speaker 1>so that none are in the shade. But oh, the flowers,

97
00:05:58.839 --> 00:06:02.720
<v Speaker 1>they were gorgeous. Each flower had a bright white party

98
00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:06.240
<v Speaker 1>dress of its own. On the outside. There was first

99
00:06:06.279 --> 00:06:09.759
<v Speaker 1>a little green cup, just a little spring jacket, you know,

100
00:06:09.920 --> 00:06:13.319
<v Speaker 1>to be worn in the springtime. Inside of this was

101
00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:17.279
<v Speaker 1>a dainty white dress dotted with yellow and purple. It

102
00:06:17.360 --> 00:06:21.399
<v Speaker 1>had five deep scallops on the edge. Even Solomon, in

103
00:06:21.480 --> 00:06:24.240
<v Speaker 1>all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these.

104
00:06:25.639 --> 00:06:28.519
<v Speaker 1>Of course, everything that went by saw the beautiful white

105
00:06:28.600 --> 00:06:32.279
<v Speaker 1>dresses and wondered what they were for. But the tree knew,

106
00:06:32.560 --> 00:06:35.879
<v Speaker 1>for he had his invitations all ready for a great party.

107
00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:39.480
<v Speaker 1>He sent out a sweet odor on the breeze, and

108
00:06:39.639 --> 00:06:43.160
<v Speaker 1>every bee and bumblebee that passed knew that the tree

109
00:06:43.240 --> 00:06:46.480
<v Speaker 1>was saying, come to see me, Come to see me.

110
00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:50.759
<v Speaker 1>I have something for you. Come to see me here.

111
00:06:50.800 --> 00:06:55.000
<v Speaker 1>I am over here the tree with the white flowers,

112
00:06:55.040 --> 00:06:57.879
<v Speaker 1>And every one of them that received an invitation went

113
00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:01.240
<v Speaker 1>at once. Each flew to a flower and put his

114
00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:05.920
<v Speaker 1>tongue straight into a honeypot. Fig. Five. How did he

115
00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:09.600
<v Speaker 1>find it? On each one of those white petals, tiny

116
00:07:09.680 --> 00:07:12.759
<v Speaker 1>lines and dots pointed to it, and so the bee

117
00:07:12.800 --> 00:07:17.399
<v Speaker 1>found it. They are called insect guides. Do you see

118
00:07:17.399 --> 00:07:21.199
<v Speaker 1>those stamens of mine? Said the tree. They have pockets

119
00:07:21.240 --> 00:07:24.199
<v Speaker 1>full of gold in their heads. When the bees stood

120
00:07:24.279 --> 00:07:27.160
<v Speaker 1>upon them, it jarred them a little, And when they

121
00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:31.199
<v Speaker 1>flew away they were just loaded with pollen dust, but

122
00:07:31.240 --> 00:07:33.920
<v Speaker 1>the bee did not mind. He flew straight to another

123
00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:37.040
<v Speaker 1>flower for more honey. As he lighted, there was a

124
00:07:37.079 --> 00:07:40.120
<v Speaker 1>little green bud standing out from a circle of stamens

125
00:07:40.199 --> 00:07:44.040
<v Speaker 1>which held their heads low. Fig. Six. It was the

126
00:07:44.079 --> 00:07:46.759
<v Speaker 1>head of a pistol, and of course the bee bumped

127
00:07:46.839 --> 00:07:50.480
<v Speaker 1>right into it. On he went after the honey, but

128
00:07:50.560 --> 00:07:53.519
<v Speaker 1>the pistol was left crowned with a gold dust he carried.

129
00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:57.560
<v Speaker 1>Then I looked closer and found that wherever the pistol

130
00:07:57.639 --> 00:08:01.800
<v Speaker 1>held its head high, the stamens drooped theirs. And when

131
00:08:01.800 --> 00:08:04.879
<v Speaker 1>the pistol had been crowned for several days, then the

132
00:08:04.920 --> 00:08:09.279
<v Speaker 1>stamens lifted up their heads, opened their pockets, and scattered

133
00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:12.759
<v Speaker 1>the dust for some other flower. What's this, said I,

134
00:08:13.079 --> 00:08:16.600
<v Speaker 1>Some of your flowers have no pistols. Oh dear, no,

135
00:08:16.879 --> 00:08:19.759
<v Speaker 1>said the tree. If I had as many pistols as

136
00:08:19.759 --> 00:08:23.120
<v Speaker 1>I have flowers, I should be overloaded with burrs in

137
00:08:23.199 --> 00:08:26.560
<v Speaker 1>the fall. I waited to see what this could mean,

138
00:08:27.079 --> 00:08:30.879
<v Speaker 1>and until the petals faded and fell Figure eight. And

139
00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:34.080
<v Speaker 1>the tree was full and green, a very dark green,

140
00:08:34.559 --> 00:08:37.440
<v Speaker 1>with the broad leaf faces spread out to the sun.

141
00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:40.440
<v Speaker 1>When I looked, I found that the wooly pistol had

142
00:08:40.440 --> 00:08:43.720
<v Speaker 1>been growing larger and larger, and was covered over with

143
00:08:43.840 --> 00:08:47.440
<v Speaker 1>short prickles. Later I saw it fall to the ground

144
00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:52.080
<v Speaker 1>a prickly burr it was, be sure. Some cattle sniffed it,

145
00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:54.799
<v Speaker 1>but not one was brave enough to try opening it.

146
00:08:55.519 --> 00:08:58.240
<v Speaker 1>That's what the prickles are for, said the tree, And

147
00:08:58.320 --> 00:09:01.000
<v Speaker 1>he really thought the ugly hooks were a pretty fine

148
00:09:01.039 --> 00:09:03.840
<v Speaker 1>coat to make for his seed. As it lay on

149
00:09:03.879 --> 00:09:06.919
<v Speaker 1>the ground, the hard shell grew dry, and then it

150
00:09:07.000 --> 00:09:10.759
<v Speaker 1>popped open in three places, three doors, to let out

151
00:09:10.759 --> 00:09:14.519
<v Speaker 1>the shiny brown seed with its great eye. It looks

152
00:09:14.519 --> 00:09:17.720
<v Speaker 1>so like the yellow eyed chestnuts that I was tempted

153
00:09:17.720 --> 00:09:20.000
<v Speaker 1>to eat it, but I didn't, for I knew it

154
00:09:20.039 --> 00:09:24.639
<v Speaker 1>was very bitter. Fig. Nine. Although the horse chestnut is

155
00:09:24.679 --> 00:09:28.000
<v Speaker 1>not a native of America, it has some native cousins,

156
00:09:28.200 --> 00:09:32.279
<v Speaker 1>which are called buckeyes. The Ohio buckeye is well known.

157
00:09:32.879 --> 00:09:36.879
<v Speaker 1>It has a very disagreeable odor. The leaves are opposite

158
00:09:36.919 --> 00:09:40.720
<v Speaker 1>and palmate. There are from five to seven leaflets which

159
00:09:40.759 --> 00:09:43.879
<v Speaker 1>are broad as near the middle, and its burr is prickly.

160
00:09:44.600 --> 00:09:47.279
<v Speaker 1>The greenish flowers are not so handsome as those of

161
00:09:47.320 --> 00:09:51.720
<v Speaker 1>the horse chestnut. The yellow buckeye or sweet buckeye is

162
00:09:51.759 --> 00:09:54.720
<v Speaker 1>so called because it does not have the disagreeable odor

163
00:09:54.879 --> 00:09:58.200
<v Speaker 1>common to the others. It grows from thirty to ninety

164
00:09:58.200 --> 00:10:01.559
<v Speaker 1>feet high. The leaf pleets are broadest near the middle,

165
00:10:01.960 --> 00:10:04.759
<v Speaker 1>and the long, narrow flowers are yellow with a deep

166
00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:08.600
<v Speaker 1>green cup at the base. The burr is rough but

167
00:10:08.720 --> 00:10:15.120
<v Speaker 1>not prickly. Figures ten, A, B, C, and D references

168
00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:22.399
<v Speaker 1>something in a pastoral line. Lowell the horse chestnut Harper's Magazine,

169
00:10:22.519 --> 00:10:29.320
<v Speaker 1>Volume seventy four, Fertilization of Flowers, Miller, end of chapter

170
00:10:29.399 --> 00:10:29.639
<v Speaker 1>four