The linden is found growing wild in rich woods from New Brunswick to Georgia and as far west as Kansas. The European lindens, or as they are called in England “lime trees,” may be distinguished from our linden by their twigs, which are more numerous and more slender than those of our species. The linden has long been a favorite tree for formal effects, both in Europe and in this country. “The French,” Du Hamel says, “growing tired of the horsechestnut for avenues, adopted the lime for that purpose, in the time of Louis XIV., and accordingly the approaches to the residences of the French, as well as the English gentry of that date are bordered with lime trees.” Since the day of the modern school of landscape gardening the linden is not nearly so much planted as it used to be. A successful experiment has been tried in Germany of making table oil from the seeds of this tree. A paste like chocolate has also been made from the fruit, but it does not keep. The family name of Linnæus, the famous botanist, was originally derived from _linn_, the Swedish name for the linden, a large tree having always stood by the old family homestead. The European lindens are not so well suited to our climate as our native basswood, but it seems to be more generally planted in our city streets, in spite of this fact. * * * * * The _Hamamelis_ family is a small order of trees and shrubs with two genera in the United States,—the _Hamamelis_ and _Liquidambar_; each genus has but one species. [Sidenote: Liquidamber; Sweet Gum _Liquidambar styraciflua_] _A large tree, 30 to 150 feet high, with deeply furrowed bark. The twigs are covered with corky ridges. The leaf-scars are alternate. The buds are reddish in color and smooth. The pith is in the form of a pentagon when the twig is cut across. The fruit is a round, dry, open, rough catkin hanging on the tree through the winter._ [Illustration: LIQUIDAMBER _Liquidambar styraciflua_ Page 144 ]