Excerpt from The Phenomena of Plant Life What the crocus during winter is in the earth, the flower-buds Of many trees are upon the boughs. These very trees, which. To the eye are least provided with flowery charms, and which never aspire, even in the height of their life, to be more than what neutral tints are to the artist, - these very trees are in winter, so rich in wonder, as to take rank with the most alluring forms of nature. The common hazel-nut in mid-win ter is hung with innumerable gray-green clusters the alder and willow-buds swell with leafy effort; the lat ter Often burst before Christmas, and disclose their silky contents. Everywhere there is the note of prep aration, and though the cold days and colder nights may chill their sap, the movement is still upwards spring is the desire, spring is the promised land and though the fireside may prove more inviting than the woodland, and incuriousness may leave them all unob served, no matter; every tree moves its steady way, seeking outlets at a thousand points; and by-and-by. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.