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Tin:
NORTH AMERICAN
SYLVA:
OR,
A DESCRimON OF THE FOREST TREES
OF THE
Itnitrii Itnte, (Cnmu'ia mh 3)^oua Irctin,
NOT DESCIUBED IN THE WORK
OP
F. ANDREW MICIIAUX,
AND CONTAINING ALL THE
FOREST TREEiS DISCOVERED I.\ THE ROCKY MOUXTAINS, TIIE TERRIToRV
OF OREGON, DOWN' TO TIIE SHORES OF THE PACIFIC, AND INTO
THE CONFINES OF CALIFORNIA, AS WELL AS IN VA-
KlOtIS PARTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
ILLUSTRATED BY 121 FINE PLATES.
BY THOMAS NUTTALL, F. L. S.,
Member of the American Pliilosophical Society, and ofliio Academy of Natural
Sciences of Pliiladelpiiia, &.c. &.c. &c.
IX THREE V0LU3IES.— VOL. 11.
BEIKO THE FIFTH VOLUME OF 5IICHAUX AND NUTTALl/s
NOIITII AMERICAN SYLVA.
PHILADELPHIA:
KOBEltT P. S.MITII, 15 MIXOR STREET, •
R. BALDWIN, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON,- II. BOSSANOE, NO. 11
aUAI VOLTAIRE, PARIS; PERTHES, BESSER & MAUKE,
KO. 22 JUNGFERNSTIEG, HAMBURG.
1853.
-•'^'^Ite
f\9.
244040
//,)
it solids down roots froiii its loltv iManclics rcs(>inl)lin<;
ropes, which, on rearhint^ the soil, at leii«,'tli hecoine so
many independent trunks, in turn pro(hieiiiinl)liii^
uoinc so
crs; mid
Tiiption,
C'XtCMit,
iliHeront
U8t eili-
roy and
[les, but
3 upper
! inches
cy have
irds the
slender
n ovate
with a
ise 1 or
minated
;. The
y wider
herries,
18 they
sh pale
variety,
!nt call
icute at
omes a
cherry,
''^'hvrt Uai'fJ til/ / ive
T'iciis l)i'«'viloli;i
/■It/Ktifr I'l ihiiZ/fs court fs.
I'lXLlL
(^i\
. :i
:i
SHORT LEAVED FIG-TREE.
FICUS BREviFOLiA, folus corddto-ovutis integerrimis obtu-
sis abbreviatis brevi petiolalis glabris, venis immcrsis, re-
ceptaculis globosis deprefi,sis umbilicatis solitariis brevi
pedunculatis, involuccllis bijidis.
This is also a species of arborescent Fig, indigenous
to Key West, in East Florida, but by no means com-
mon, and, according to Dr. Blodgett, its discoverer, it
forms a tree with a slender, almost horizontal stem,
which in its progress throws off funicular roots that
serve as props to prevent the main trunk from becom-
ing entirely prostrate.
The branches are covered with a light grey bark.
The leaves are about 2 inches long by 1^ inches wide,
perfectly smooth on both surfaces, on petioles from \ to
I of an inch long. The veins on the under surface are
so far immersed as to be scarcely visible. The figs,
about the size of small cherries, are of a flattened,
spheroidal form, at first, as well as the bifid involucrum,
slenderly villous; they grow out chiefly at the extremi-
ties of the twigs, on thick pedicels, about 2 or 3 lines
long, and when ripe are of a brightish purple red. We
do not find any species with which the present agrees.
From the description and specific name, we should
suppose the present species allied to the F. padifolia of
Humboldt and Bonpland, but it differs too much to be
referred to that species.
Plate XLII.
A branch of the natural size.
SMAIX FRUITED FIG-TREE.
FICITS AUREA, s;ltibr(i, folii.s iufev^crrhnis cllipticis siibacit-
minatis ucutiuNculis ba.si pl('ri.S(jue ani^uslatis pcnuiner-
viis brcvi-pctiol(itis,frHclibHs if/obo.
SMALL KRUITF.D FIG-TREK.
5
petioles 2 inclios or moro iit li>n«rth; tlio fruit is niso
said to bo scarlet, of tlic size of ii lia/el-nut, aiul sw<'et-
ish and not unpleasant. In our variety (3. the leaves
are wholly oval and not narrowed at the base.
Plati: Xhlll.
A branch of the natural size.
The milky juice of the Fig-trees is more or less acrid
and foetid, however swcc^t and wholesome the fruit may
be, and that of the Finis tojcUaria of Sumatra is ac-
counted poisonous. Tiic sap of several of the South
American and Mexican species, inspissated, aiiords
caoutchouc.
The cultivated Fig, {Finis Carica^) in its wild state,
is a humble and distorted shrub, affecting rocks and
ruins, bearing a fruit of inferior flavour, but with the
parts of fructification very perfect. Such figs as seem
to drop ofl' before maturity, are commonly those in
which the stamens are most numerous or effective.
These are carefully collected in the Levant to fer-
tilize the female blossoms of the cultivated Fig, which
will explain the mystery of caprijication. In these coun-
tries the fruit, fresh, or dried in the sun, forms an
important part of the food of the inhabitants.
The Banyan Tree, (Finis Indira,) nearly allied to
our F. aurca, becomes in India an immense tree, spread-
ing very wide, and throwing down rope like roots into
the soil. Marsden mentions one of these growing near
Memgee, 20 miles west of Patna, in Bengal, w hich gave
the enormous diameter of 370 feet; the circumference
of the shadow, at noon, was 1,1 IG feet, and there were
50 or 60 stems. It is called the priests' tree, and held
in such veneration by the Gcntoos, that if any one cuts
off a branch, he is looked upon as sacrilegious, and held
in the greatest abhorrence.
HAWTHORN.
Natural Order, Rosace^e, (^suh-onhr, PoMEiF-, Jussicu.)
Linnscan Ciassijicudon, Icosandria, Di — 1*entagynia.
CRATAEGUS, (Linn., excluding some species.)
Adnate calyx tube urccolate, with a .5-cleft border. Petal/s 5,
orbicular. Sfu?nens 15 or more. Sly lea 3 to 5, (rarely 1.)
Pome or apple fleshy, ovate or globose, closed and crowned
with the persisting teeth of the calyx, and containing 8 to 5
hard 1 -seeded nuts.
These arc spiny shrubs or small trees, almost exclusively in-
digenous to Europe and the United States of America, with
simple, angularly lobed, incised, or toothed leaves, furnished with
stipules of somewhat diflcrent forms on the fertile or infertile
branches. Flowers white, in terminal corymbs, sometimes soli-
tary. Bractcs subulate, deciduous. The fruit rather small,
sweet, or agreeably acidulous.
RED THORN, or SIBERIAN HAWTHORN.
CRAT^GUS SANGUINE A, spinosa,foliis septangttUs serratis
basi productis pctiolis suhmarginutis. Pallas, Flora Ros-
sica, vol. 1. p. 25. tab. 11. (very good.)
Cratjigus sanguinea, leaves broadly obovate, somewhat cune-
ate at the base, incised and serrate, often slightly 5 to 7 lobed,
a little pubescent when young, on short petioles, at length co-
riaceous and shining; corymbs glabrous or somewhat pubes-
cent; segments of the calyx entire, and, as well as the pedi-
cels, not glandular; styles 3-4; fruit globose. Torrey and
Gray, Flora N. Amer., vol. 1. p. 464.
/8. Doiiglasii, spines short and stout (long in cultivation, Lou-
don)', fruit small, dark purple.
1^
I
i
1
^
3
i
/'cy,
I
IM \i.lV
('r:ila'iiiis s:iiiuiiiiu'iiH
ll<ll whitish
Lt of the
and in
handles
bund on
;ar Fort
r Driim-
3. The
errated,
B small
netimes
t at all
e calyx
Jbulate.
II Haw-
called
1 a lane
ears to
remem-
(>!
l.,liliY I,
LANCE-LEAVED HAWTHORN.
11
bers it otherwise than as it now appears. It blossoms
twice a year, the winter blossoms, which are almost the
size of a sixpence, appear about Christmas, and sooner,
ir the winter be severe. Tbese produce no fruit." The
summer flowers bore berries containin<( only a sinj^le
seed, which, when sown, produced plants nowise diflering
from the common kind.
The Common Hawthorn, though so humble in the
hedge-row, beneaih the cropping of the shears, when
suflercd to grow up and stand alone, attains the ordinary
size of an Apple-tree; and, occupying the village green
for a long series of years, it becomes connected with our
earliest recollections of the joyful arrival of spring — the
old Ifmvthorn, again white with its fragrant blossoms,
and their falling on the ground like a shower of snow,
marks a delightful era in the distant reminiscences of
the writer, when yet the simplest boon of nature gave
delight. With these pleasing recollections of the past,
how touching and graphic arc those beautiful lines of
Goldsmith descriptive of the deserted village.
— "The Hawthorn bush, with scats beneath the shade,
For talking age and youthful converse made!
How often have I bless'd the coming day.
When toil remitting lent its turn to play;
And all the village train from labour free.
Led up their sports beneath the spreading tree."
Plate XLV.
A branch of the natural size. a. The germ and styles.
12
NAKED FLOWERED HAWTHORN, or APPLE
HAW.
CRATiEGUS AESTIVALIS, siibspinosa, Jloribus prmcocibus,
foUis oblongo-cuneiformibus vcl elUpticis brevi-petiolalis
apice subsimiato-dentalis angnlutis vel inciso-crcnatis
rarius trilobatis, jtmioribtis toincntosis, dcmum ghtbris,
sublus ad venis pnbcscentUnts; coryvibis 3 ad 5-JIoris gla-
bris, eglanduiosis; sli/lis 4-5, fructibus maximis globosis
rubris.
Cratjeous xstivalis. Touuey and Gray, Flor. 1. p. 468.
Cratjeous elliptica. Elliott, Sketch. 1. p. 549.
Cratjegus opaca. Hook and Arnott, Compan. Botan. Magaz.,
vol. 1. p. 25.
Mespilus sestivalis. Walter, Flor. Caroliniana, p. 148.
This is another arborescent species of Hawthorn
confined to the southern states of the Union, growing
along the low wet banks of rivers and ponds, from South
Carolina and Georgia to Florida; it grows also in
Louisiana and Arkansas. In Florida it is already in
flower in the early part of the month of March, and
presents a very unusual appearance, as yet nearly desti-
tute of leaves, or presenting only their unfolding silky
buds. The flowers are nearly as large as apple blos-
soms, and pure white. It becomes at length a tree of
20 or 30 feet in height, branching from the base. The
leaves are elliptical or oblong wedge-shaped, on the
infertile branches often obovate, on short petioles,
towards the summit sinuately toothed, angled, or irregu-
larly crenate, rarely 3-lobed or cleft, quite whitely tomen-
tose when young before expansion, at length glabrous,
but clothed along the veins beneath with a brownish
pubescence. The corymbs are 3 to 5 flowered, and
1
NAKED PLOWEHEU HAWTHORN j.
«mootli. Tho divisions of the caly.x arc «h., t, trians, -
tar, smooth and without glan.ls; the styles ar • ^or !1
The frmt wh.ch hecomos red, is very lar«e and round"
"Pcn,ng ,„ Mayor June, and is J an ineh or J o " m
acid taste, and is much esteemed for tarts icilies nn,l
other articles of the dessert. ■* '
Other species ofHawthorn, indigenous to tho United
States, m.ght be adduced as attaining the size of trees
from ,0 to 25 feet in height, but as u^ have little or o
rMhl'''"''"'"''"'''^°"°"'^'-^'-"'''P-nt
C II Ell 11 Y TREE.
Natural Order J{o^\vv.iv.y{suh-ordrr Amyodalf.^e, Jussicu.)
Linuxan Classijicalion, Icusandiua, Monogynia.
CERASUS, (JussiEu.)
Calyx urccolatc-licmisplicrieal; the border 5 cleft, (Icoiduous.
Petals spreading. Stamens 15 to 30. Ovary )j;labrous, with
2 collateral pendulous ovules. Drupe globose, fleshy, desti-
tute of bloom; the nut hard and bony, mostly globose and
even.
Trees or shrubs chiefly of the temperate parts of Europe and
North America, forming several natural sections. Leaves ser-
rated, deciduous or scmpervirent.
§ I. Floivers corymbose or clustered. Leaves deciduous.
True Cherkies.
SOFT-LEAVED CHERRY.
CERASUS mollis, foliis oblongis ovatisve plerisque obtusis
serrulatis subtus tomentoso-pubesccntibus, corymbis racemo-
sis 5 ad 6 Jloris tomentosis, laciniis calycinis obtusis rejlexis
tubo pubescente breviorihus, drupa ovoidea.
Cerasus mollis. Douglas in Hooker. Flor. Bor. Amer., vol.
1. p. 169. ToRREY and Gray, Flor. N. Amer. 1. p. 410.
This species of Cherry, growing 12 to 25 feet high,
is confined to the Oregon Territory, and particularly to
the borders of the Oregon River and its tributaries as
far as its sources. We met with it in thickets on hills.
r
:4!
i
fiflf
<
IM XI.Vl
i'crilKIIK iiinlliK
So/}- Imrrti (fiffy
(i-rifuru fiutUtw nn'Hes.
SOFT-LEAVED CHERRY.
15
near the Wahlamet, flowering about the month of May.
The young branches are dark grey and somewhat
downy. The leaves are softly downy beneath, on short
petioles, oblong, or oblong-ovate, mostly obtuse, some-
times acute, minutely serrulate, 2 to 2^ inches long, by
about an inch in width; stipules small and deeply ciliate
as well as the bractes. Flowers small and white, the
petals rounded and concave. Segments of the calyx
ovate, short and obtuse. Stigma clavate, petioles and
calyx tomentose. Fruit ovate, astringent and un-
pleasant.
m
Plate XLVI.
A branch of the natural size with young fruit, a. The flower.
Red or Northern Cherry. {Ccrasus Pennsylvanica,
Tor. and Gray. C. borealis, Mich, and Mich. Sylva, p.
90.) According to Macmin of West Chester, this tree
in the Beech woods of Tioga county, Pennsylvania,
attains the height of 60 feet, with a diameter of 18
inches.
10
■' '
§ III. Flowers in racemes, axillary. Leaves sempcrvirent
or persistent. — Laurocerasus. Tourn. Decand. Laurel
Cherries.
HOLLY LEAVED CHERRY.
CERASUS iLiciFOLiA, foliis lalo-oiHiUhiifi sxihcordatis brevi-
peliolatis spinosa-siniiato-dcntalis reticnlatis coriaceis ni-
tidis, racemis ercctis foliis subxquantibiis, driipa nigra
ovoidea acuminata.
Cehasvs ilicifolia. Nutt. in Torh. and Gray. Flora N.Amer.,
vol. 1. p. 411. Hook and Arnott. Bot. Beechey, Suppl. p.
340. tab. 83.
This is a small tree of Upper California, round Sta.
Barbara attaining the height of 12 to 20 feet, and
chiefly affecting dry and elevated hill sides within the
mountain range. The bark is grey and somewhat
rough; the wood is reddish, tough, and close-grained.
The leaves, which are rigid, shining and evergreen, look
entirely like tho?e of the Holly, they are broadly oval,
pointed, somewhat heart-shaped at the base, very smooth
and shining above and elegantly reticulated, often
undulated, and with sharp pungent serratures. The
racemes of flowers are erect, somewhat crowded; the
flowers white and small, on short pedicels, the petals
rounded and short; the calyx hemispherical, with short
triangular teeth. The stamens seated near to the sum-
mit of the calyx; the stigma simple and obtuse.
This tree, from its remarkable and elegant appear-
ance, is well worth cultivating as an ornament, and in
its qualities ranks with the true Laurels. The fruit is
rather large, dark purple, bitter and astringent.
Plate XLVII.
A branch of the natural size. a. The cherry, b. The flower.
i
ipervirent
i. Laurel
'is brevi-
aceis ni-
Hi nigra
r. Amer.,
5uppl. p.
ind Sta.
el, and
bin the
riewhat
rained,
n, look
y oval,
imooth
often
The
d; the
petals
short
} sum-
jpear-
md in
ruit is
lower.
I'i
! I
IM XIAII
:.<*f..".
IMIi f/iireil ('/ifrrr
('»'Ta sus Ilri'tloliu
(h'lsn'r a /hn//es (/f //i'k.i-
HOI.LY LEAVKU CHERRY.
17
Tlic Laurrl, (Prnnus lAuiro-Ccrasvs^) now so gene-
rally cultivated in Europe, was brought from Asia
Minor. Lucullus, after conquerin*; the king of Pontus,
with whom the Uomans hud warred for iO years, among
his other tropliies, brought the Cherry from the fields
of Ccrasonte, and, in transplanting it into Italy, secured
a monument of his triumph far more durable than that
which the senate and the people decreed him. The
Laurel, transplanted at first from Trehizond to Con-
stantinople, had not so brilliant a destiny; an envoy
from the Emperor of (Jcrmany, David Ungnad, whose
name is now scarcely known, 2G2 years ago brought a
living plant to Clusius, at Vienna. The name of Ijiuro-
Cemsus was given to it by Belon, mIio had seen it in
its native country, from its leaves being like those of
the Bay, and its fruit similar to cherries.
The leaves afford by distillation a liquor which proves
a violent poison to men and animals. According to
Duhamel, a spoonful of this water given to a dog, killed
him instantaneously. Various experiments and acci-
dents tend to confirm the fact of the powerfully poison-
ous nature of Laurel water. Fontana found that a
single drop of the essential oil of this plant, applied to a
wound on a dog, proved equally as fatal as the venom
of the viper, and was attended with the same symptoms.
The emanations from the Laurel, being, in fact, the
diluted but volatile prussic or hydrocyanic acid, are not
without their inconveniences, for, after reposing beneath
its shade on a warm day, a headache and tendency to
vomit is said sometimes to occur. Considerable use
was formerly made of Laurel-water for the sake of the
Bitter Almond flavour which it communicates to vari-
ous articles of the dessert, but from its dangerous effects
it is now but little used.
The effect of this poison is so extremely rapid and
VOL. II. 3
18
Ai.MONU (;in<:iuiY
violent, attacking the very scat of vitality, the nervous
system, that no remedies have any time to operate. In
the hand of the skilful physician, however, this volatile
poison proves sometimes a powerful remedy,
ALMOND CHERRY, {Ccmsus CaroUnimm, Mich.
Flor., vol. 1. p. 285. Wild Orange Tree, Micii. Sylva,
vol. 2. pi. 89.) This elegant tree, nearly allied to
C. LusUatiica, appears to he common along the hanks of
the Mississippi from New Orleans to Natchez. It is
also indigenous to South Carolina, Florida, and Ar-
kansa. It forms a fine evergreen tree 40 to 50 feet
high, flowering in March and April. The leaves, ac-
cording to Elliott, are very poisonous, frequently destroy-
ing cattle that are tempted to browse on them early in
the spring. It is known to the French inhabitants of
Louisiana by the same name as the Laurel of Europe,
Lnitrier-Amand.
The fruit of this species is a small black bitter cherry,
with very little pulp and a shell so thin as to crack
between the fingers. A second, (C occidentalism) and
probably a third species of this section from St.
Domingo, in the collections of Poiteau, has the same
thin, fragile shell. These seem to form a separate genus
from the true Cherries, no less than from the Laurels,
and may be called Leptocarya, in consideration of the
thin and fragile, merely cartilaginous shell of the drupe.
In this respect the drupe affords a much more import-
ant distinction than that which exists between Primus
and Cerasiis.
ac-
I'l VIA'III
— 1
riiirms Aan'ricjiii:!
H,/l, the cells cartilaginous and 2-seeded. The seeds
with a chartaceous coat.
Trees or shrubs (in the present section) with entire or pal-
mately lobed, serrated leaves. Flowers in terminal flattish clus-
ters or corymbs. Fruit edible when not too acerb or astringent.
m
v*
RIVER CRAB APPLE.
PYRITS RivuLARis, foliis ovatis acutis indivisis juniorihus
trilobatis incisis argute serratis sublus pubescent ibus,
stylis (3-4) basi coalitis glabrls, frnctibns perparvis sub-
globosis vlx umbilicatis, lobis calichiis dcmum deciduis.
PvRUs rivularis. Douglas in Hook. Flor. Bor. Am., vol. 1. p.
303. tab. 68. Tokrey and Gray, Flora N. Amer., vol. 1. p.
471.
Pyrus diverslfolia, Bongard. Veget. Sitcha. 1. c. p. 133.
This elegant species of Pyrus is common throughout
all the lower or maritime portion of the Oregon terri-
tory, and it uniformly affects the shade of rich alluvial
forests near the lesser streams and ponds. It becomes
i\
I
(4
I
V. .
B 'I
/I'lll/ (}<'/'.
rvnis riviiliU'iK
/(>irii/firi//LE.
Pynts riviilaris ^. Icvlpes^ in these the pedicels are also
glandular.
What this plant may become by cultivation, cannot
yet be determined. The Siberian Crab, (now so orna-
mental and generally cultivated,) which also affects the
alluvial borders of streams and rivers, round Lake
Baikal, and in Daouria, according to Pallas, in its native
soil, it only attains the height of 3 or 4 feet, with a trunk
about as thick as a man's arm, and full of tortuous
branches. The berries, also, in Pallas' figure, (Flora
Rossica, vol. 1. tab. 10.) are not so large as ordinary
peas, and pyriform or attenuate at the base like a pear.
All this tribe of plants, so eminently serviceable both
for ornament and use, deserve cultivation in a pre-
eminent degree, and the present species has also the
advantage of being perfectly hardy in all temperate and
even cold climates, as it stretches along the coast nearly
to the vicinity of eastern Siberia.
All the plants of this section of Pyrus are natives of
temperate Europe and northern Asia.
Plate XLIX.
A branch of the natural size. a. The apple.
Narrow Leaved Crab Apple, {Pyrus angtistifolia^
AiTON.) This appears to be scarcely more than a
variety of the Pyrus coronaria; distinguishable indeed by
its narrower leaves, usually entire, which are often acute
below, but as the styles are neither perfectly distinct
nor constantly glabrous, and that the young leaves are
also pubescent, no sufficient distinction remains. The
fruit is likewise wholly similar.
h arc also
3n, cannot
r so orna-
afllcts the
ind Lake
its native
Ih a trunk
' tortuous
e, (Flora
ordinary
^e a pear,
able both
n a pre-
also the
Brate and
St nearly
latives of
ustifolia,
than a
deed by
jn acute
distinct
yes are
J. The
^T/Ufifati JA>u/t/*ff/i'y/v/t
l*)Tus Aitterirniia
Sorbiff f/', /Mfrii/ue-
VI. Ii
'fri^/ue
*
MOUNTAIN ASH.
§ III. Leaves pinnate or phmatifid; styles 2 to 5, distinct;
pome globose or turbinate; pulpy. Sorcus. Linn.
AMERICAN MOUNTAIN ASH.
PYRUS AMERICANA, foliis pinuatis glabris, foliolis oblongo-
lanceolatis acuminatis inciso-scrratis, serratxiris setaceo-
vmcronatis, cyniis composilis miiUiJloris, fructibus globo-
sis. — Decand. Prod., vol. 2. p. 637. Torrey and Gray.
Flor. N. Amer., vol. 1. p. 472.
SoRBus AMERICANA. ^F///rf. Enum., vol. 1. p. 520. PuRSH. Flor.
vol. 1. p. 341.
SoRBUS AucupARiA, /3. Mtch. Flor. Bor. Am., vol. 1. p. 290.
The Mountain Ash, or Roan Tree of North America,
is met with sparingly in shady moist woods in moun-
tainous situations, from Labrador and even Greenland,
throughout the New England States, New York, Penn-
sylvania, and the variety microcarpa^ with smaller berries,
extends to the high mountains of Virginia and North
Carolina.
It forms a small tree of great beauty, remarkable for
its elegant feathered foliage, in May and June clad with
its white and fragrant blossoms, and to the close of the
year, even into winter, decorated with its large clusters
of bright berries, which afford a favourite repast for
thrushes and other frugivorous birds, on their annual
VOL. II. 4
26
AMERICAN MOUNTAIN ASH,
round to more genial climates, or during their hybernal
residence: —
"Sanguineisque inculta rubent aviaria baccis." Virgil.
The European species, which differs very little from
the present, becomes in the North of England, Scotland,
and Wales a tree of considerable size, so as occasionally
to be sawn into planks and boards. It attains the height
of 25 to 30 feet, with a diameter of 2 feet, and a tree in
Scotland, in Forfarshire, at Old Montrose, 65 years old,
is 50 feet high, with a diameter of 2 feet 10 inches.
The wood is said to be hard and durable, fit for econo-
mical purposes, such as mill-work, screws for presses,
spokes for wheels, drc. In ancient times it was also
esteemed for bows next to the Yew. The berries dried
and reduced to powder have even been made into bread,
and an ardent spirit may be distilled from them of a fine
flavour, but in small quantity. Though acid and some-
what astringent, they are accounted wholesome, and,
in the Highlands of Scotland, are often eaten when per-
fectly ripe; in the cold and sterile climate of Kamts-
chatka, according to Gmelin, they are used for the same
purposes.
The tree was formerly held sacred, and in the North
of England it is called the Witch-Hazel. In Wales it
was formerly planted in the church-yard as commonly
as the Yew, and on a certain day of the year, every
body religiously wore a cross made of the wood as a
charm against fascinations and evil spirits!
The American species, scarcely forms so large a tree
as that of Europe, attaining only the height of 15 to 20
feet, and the leaves are very smooth, except before their
complei ! expansion; the leaflets are about from 13 to
15, oblong-lanceolate, acuminated, with sharp and deep
' hybernal
ittle from
Scotland,
asionally
he height
a tree in
ears old,
) inches,
r econo-
presses,
vas also
ies dried
;o bread,
of a fine
id some-
ne, and,
lien per-
Kamts-
^e same
B North
Vales it
nmonly
, every
•d as a
AMERICAN MOUNTAIN ASH. 07
mucronate serratures. The cymes or flower clusters
are large and compound, and the fruit, like that of the
European species, is of a bright light scarlet The
berries of the variety ../c.oca.^,^ are dso of the same
colo.- out smaller. The seeds, 2 in a cell appear to
have tne same cartilaginous coat as in the apple
A branch of the natural size
flower enlarged.
Plate L.
«. A cluster of flowers, b. A
! a tree
5 to 20
•e their
1 13 to
d deep
CERCOCARPUS.t
(HuMB., BoNPL. and Kunth.)
Natural Order, RosACEiE, ( Juss.) (Sub-iribe Cercocarpese.)
Linnscan Classification, Icosandria, Monogynia.
Tube of the calyx cylindrical, elongated, the lower part persist-
ent, the border hemispherical, 5-lobed, deciduous. Petals
none. Stamens many, seated on the border of the calyx.
Ovary solitary; style terminal, fdiform and villous. *fiche-
nium narrow, coriaceous, caudate with the long persistent and
enlarging plumose style. Seed linear.
Shrubs or small trees, with alternate straight-veined, coriaceous,
serrate or entire leaves on short petioles. Stipules small, adnate
to the base of the petiole. Flowers small, white, axillary or ter-
minating short branchlets, mostly clustered.
FEATHER BUSH.
CERCOCARPUS ledifolius, foliis crebris perennantibus
lanceolatis intcgris demvm glabris subtiis tomentosis
margine revolutis; Jloribtis sessilibus paticis fasciculatis;
Cauda carpelorum longissimum tortuosuin. — Nuttall in
ToRREY and Gray, Flor. Am. 1. p. 427. Hooker ic. pi. tab.
324. (ined.)
We first observed this curious small tree in the Rocky
Mountain range, on the lofty hills of Bear River of
Timpanagos, near the celebrated "Beer Springs" vv^hich
t The name derived from xifMt a tail, and jtaf^oc a fruit, in refer-
ence to the character of the fruit.
I
X
icarpese.)
MA.
't persist-
Petals
le calyx.
Jiche-
stent and
»riaceous,
II, adnate
ry or ter-
lantihus
nentosis
iculatis;
'TALL in
:. pi. tab.
Rocky
iver of
' which
in refer-
n.iii
(Viriu'M I'piiK U'llilblius.
I'i;t//fi'r /j'/is/i Jill I mm ii pi times
KEATHER BUSH.
30
4
abound with carbonic acid. Wc saw it afterwards in
the central chain, on either side Thornbcrg's ravine,
towards the summits of the highest ridges, to which, by
its enduring and dark verdure, it contributed to give a
wild and gloomy robing, contrasted by the glittering
white of the impending cliffs of gneiss near which it
grew. On the summits of the Beer Spring hills it form-
ed extensive thickets, each tree spreading out many
branches at a few feet from the ground with consider-
able regularity, almost in the manner of a Peach tree.
The stem was in some trees about a foot in diameter,
and the greatest height of the plant did not exceed 15
feet. It had much the appearance of a stunted Olive
tree, and was bitterish to the taste.
The wood is hard, tough, whitish, and very close-
grained, somewhat resembling that of the Birch. It
appeared to be of slow growth and sempervirent; the bark
smooth and whitish, the branchlets full of circular cica-
trices, and the leaves clustered at the extremities of the
twigs. The leaves are at length nearly smooth, at first
hairy, with a short pubescence, beneath always softly
villous, with brownish curled hairs; their form is lanceo-
late, about H inches long, and 3 or 4 lines wide, the
border entire and rcvolute; beneath the hairs on the
under side we see the usual straight nerves. The older
leaves and other parts of the plant exude in small quan-
tities an aromatic resin, having the scent of that found
on some species of Birch (or Bctula). The flowers are
small and white, produced at the extremities of the twigs,
and are succeeded by the fruit, which forms one of the
most remarkable and singular characters of the genus;
these have a strong resemblance to the seeds of the
Geranium, each small cylindric carpel sending out a
long plumose, tortuous tail, nearly two inches in length,
covered with yellowish-white silky hairs, which appear-
!
il
30
FEATHER BUSH.
ing simultaneously all over the bush, gives it a most
remarkable and uncommon appearance. It seemed to
prefer poor dry soils, and would boar the climate of
Europe or the northern parts of the United States very
well from the alpine situations in which wo uniformly
saw it. It is somewhat astringent to the taste, and
agreeably, though not powerfully aromatic.
Plate LI.
A branch of the natural size with its fruit, a. The flower.
b. The fruit.
— ^,
it a most
seemed to
climate of
tJitcs very
uniformly
taste, and
'he flower.
o
iWorhnUI
I'isridin rrvthviiiu
Jdttuiir)! /ImiU'HiHt .
/ji'ixirni/i/ (If /ti •/ili/raii/i/f
«
IM.Iill
■ lll'lllln-llfl
1/ ■^ll//Kltl/l/f.
if
WEST INDIA DOGWOOD.
Natural Order, LEGUMiNoSiE. Limiscan Classification,
DiADELPHIA, DeCANDRIA.
PISCIDIA,t (Linn.)
Calyx campanulatc, 5-toothccl. Corolla papilionaceous, with the
keel obtuse. Stamens monatlel'..hous, with the 10th free at
the base. Style filiform, glabrous. Lcs^u?ne pediccllated,
linear, with 4 broad longitudinal wings, the seeds separated
by interruptions in the pod. The seeds oval and compressed,
with a lateral hylum; embryo curved; cotyledones thick and
elliptic; the radicle inflected. — West India trees with decidu-
ous, unequally pinnated leaves, produced after the develope-
ment of the flowers.
Jamaica dogwood.
PISCIDIA Er'^thrina, foliolis ovatis, leguminis stipitc
calyce mxilto longiore, alls interniptis.
PisciDiA Erythrina. Linn. Sp. pi. Jacq. Amer. p. 206. Swartz,
Obs. p. 277. Macfadyen, Flora of Jamaica, vol. 1. p. 258.
Ichthyomethia foliis pinnatis ovatis, racemis terininalibus,
s'diquis quadrialatis. liuowNE, Jamaica, p. 296.
Coral arbor polyphyl' I non spinosa,fraxini folioj sillqua alls
foliaceis exstantibus rotx 7nolendinarix Jlnviatilis ancta.
Sloane, Jam., vol. 2. p. 32. tab. 176. fig. 4, 5. Lamarck,
Illust., tab. 605. fig. A.
Pseudo- acacia, siliquis alath. Plumier . ;on. 229. tab. 233.
f. 2.
The Jamaica Dojjwood is a native of the Antilles as
t The name from piscis, a fish, in allusion to its employment
as a fish poison.
4
i v.
'
■li
32
JAMAICA DOGWOOD.
well as of the neighbouring continent of America,
having been observed by Humboldt and Bonpland in
mountainous places in New Spain, between Acapulco
and Mazatlan, ana we have now to record it as a native
of Key West, in East Florida, where it was collected by
Dr. Blodgett. It becomes a tree of about 20 to 25 feet
in height, not remarkable for the elegance of its form,
the branches being straggling, but yet beautiful in the
season of floM'cring, which is about April, when, with
blossoms similar to our favourite White Locust, (Robinia
pseudo-acacia^ the whole summit of the tree is profusely
loaded; they come out some time before the leaves, in
numerous panicles or spreading clusters, of a whitish
colour, mixed with purple; the uppermost petal or vexil-
lura in the centre tinged with green. The vexillum,
externally, as well as the calyx, is covered with a silky
pubescence. The leaves are unequally pinnate, with
about 5 leaflets, which are either broad ovate or obo-
vate, and slightly acuminate, entire, and beneath, as
well as the footstalk, more or less pubescent, particularly
when young. The pod is large, stipitate and villous,
with four broad undulated longitudinal wings.
In Jamaica this is esteemed one of the best timber
trees in the island; the wood is heavy, hard, and resi-
nous, coarse, cross-grained, and of a light brown colour;
it is very durable either in or out of water. It makes
excellent piles for wharves; and the stakes soon form,
in the tropical countries it inhabits, a good live fence.
The bark of the trunk is very astringent: it cures the
mange in dogs, and would probably answer well for the
tanning of leather: it is best known, liowever, for its
effects as a fish-poison, for which purpose it is pounded
and mixed with the water in some deep part of a rivor
or creek, when the water soon acquires a reddish shade,
and in a few minutes the fish begin to rise to the sur-
JAMAICA DOGWOOD.
33
face, where they float, as if they were dead, the larger
ones, however, recover, but the smaller fry are destroy-
ed. The tincture of the bark, indeed, is found to be an
intense narcotic, and has been employed beneficially to
relieve the pain produced by carious teeth. Jacquin
observes that this quality of intoxicating fish is found in
many other American plants. Tcphrosia toxicaria of
South America and T. piscatoria of India and the South
Sea Islands, both plants of the same family with the
present, likewise possess the faculty of intoxicating fish.
Plate LII.
A branch of the natural size. a. The flowers and young pods.
b. The more perfect pod.
rivor
shade,
le sur-
VOL. II.
I
I.
A C A C I A .t
(Necker, Willd.)
Natural Order, LEGUMiNOSiE. Linncean Classification,
POLYGAMIA, MONCECIA.
Flowers polygamous, perfect and staminiferous. — Calyx 4 to 5-
toothed. Petals 4 to 5, distinct or united into a monopetalous
4 to 5-cleft corolla. Stamens from 8 or 10 to 200. Legume
without interruptions between the seeds, dry, (without pulp,)
and 1-valvcd.
These are trees and shrubs principally of warm or mild cli-
mates, with or without stipular or scattered spines. The leaves
are usually small and variously pinnated, sometimes (particularly
in the New Holland species) the true leaves in the adult are
abortive, and the simple leafy petioles, called phyllodcs, alone
supjjly their place. Flowers often yellow, more rarely white or
red, disposed in spherical heads or in spikes.
BROAD-PODDED ACACIA.
ACACIA LATisiLiQUA, inermis glabra, piiinis 5-jugis,foliolis
10-l5-ji(gis ellipticis obtusis,stipnlis bracteiformibus dimi-
diato-cordatis, cavitulis pedunculatis aggregatis in pani-
culam terminalem subdlspositis, legumine longe stipitata,
plana, xdrinquc acuta. — Decand. Prod., vol. 2. p. 467.
Acacia latisiliqua, inermis, foliis bipinnatis partialibus
quinquejugis, ramis Jlexuosis, gemmis globosis. Linn. Sp.
t An ancient Greek name, from axa^a, to point, or sharpen,
many of the species being thorny.
i
I
Ication,
yx 4 to 5-
lopetalous
Legume
out pulp,)
mild cli-
'he leaves
rticularly
adult are
es, alone
white or
•ifoliolis
us dimi-
in pani-
Hpitata,
67.
'tialibus
INN. Sp.
sharpen,
^
I
!|
.Wnciii l:ili«ilitju:(
:ir,M,f podded . /«f/r/ " ^"fy .>•'/'«/"'•
I ^i
\\l\i
DHOAU-I»OI)DEl) ACACIA.
35
\ -3
PI. Persoon. Synops., vol. 3. p. 2()5. Wii.ld. Sp., vol, 4. p.
1067. Mackadykn, Flor. Jam., vol, 1. p. MIS.
%,^c(tcia tion .sj)iitiisti, ai/if/in's hilin cot/ijjrcsfii.s, Jlure. ulho.
Plumikk, (Ed, Ikinu.) tal). (>.
Tma species, like many others of tlic genus, remurk-
ablc by its liglit waving featlier-like foliage, is, according
to Dr. Blodgett, rare at Key West, wlu^n^ it becomes a
very large and spreading tree, flowering in the month of
May. It is also a native of the West Indies and the
warmer parts of the neighbouring continent, where it
was found by Plumier and Aublet. According to Mac-
fadyen, it is a cultivated ])lant in .Tamaica. It bears a
great resemblance to the Acacia figured by Catesby, tab.
42, which is quoted as A. glaitca^ though by no means
the same plant as plate 30 of Trew, which latter is the
species most commonly cultivated under that name.
The wood of this Acacia is said to be white, hard,
and close-grained. The trunk, as described by Catesby,
attains a diameter of three feet, and is accounted an
excellent wood, next to the mahogany of Jamaica, and
is the best to be found in the Bahama islands. For
curious cabinet work it excels mahogany in its variable
shining tints, which appear like watered satin. Several
species of the genus aft'ord very hard and durable wood.
The small branches in this species are grey, slender,
and somewhat zigzag. The leaves are bipinnate, on
main petioles, a little more than an inch long; between
the first pair of pinnules, is usually seen on the petiole
a projecting though sometimes merely a depressed gland,
the next pairs are without glands to the summit of the
leaf stalk, where there is then another depressed gland.
The pinnules vary in our plant from 2 to 4 pair, (we
have not seen 5.) The leaflets of the pinnule are oblong-
elliptic, nearly smooth, obtuse, somewhat oblique, and
rounded at base, in from 8 to 15 or 16 pairs. From the
36
UROAD-PODDEI) ACACIA.
axills of the 2 or 3 uppermost leaves come out simple
or aggregated peduncles, usually by 3's, above, running
together so as to form a small sparse flowered panicle,
with each of the clusters subtended by rather large
deciduous, amplexicaule, semicordatc and acuminate
smooth bractes, which resemble stipules. The flowers
are disposed in spherical, rather sniul! heads, on pedun-
cles about i of an inch long; they appear white from
the colour of the long tortuous hair-like stamens. The
calyx is canesccnt, with a close pubescence, and 5-cleft
at the summit. The corolla is deeply 5-partcd, and of
a purplish-brown, with oblong-lanceolate divisions. The
stamens are 10 or more, with very long filaments, and
very small whitish rounded anthers. The legume, (ac-
cording to Dr. Blodgett,) is 4 or 5 inches long, flat, thin,
many-seeded, and an inch or more in breadth.
Plate LIII.
A small branch of the natural size,
enlarged.
«. The flower somewhat
simple
•upning
lanicle,
r larffe
minate
[lowers
pedun-
e from
The
5-cIeft
and of
. The
3, and
!, (ac-
, thin,
ewhat
IMAGE EVALUATION
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23 WEST MAIN STREET
WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580
(716)872-4S03
^
•v;;:'A.'y-:,
ni.iv
■ ''!^^^»'''-
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liluilt tfHrfiti //i,/>l
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4. p. 100(j. .lAc;. (i.
Jlcacia arhurea vwjttr spinosa, pinnis (jua/uor, si/if/iils varie
ititorfis. Sloane, Hist. Jam., vol. 2. p. HG.
Mimosa fnilicosay foliis oralis binatn-hinatis, scminibus
utro-nitenlibus. Buowne, Jamaic, p. 252.
This very singular leaved tree, attaining about the
height of from 10 to 20 feet, is indigenous to many of
the West India Islands, as well as to Cumana and
Cayenne on the neiglibouring continent, where it was
observed by Humboldt and Bonpland, and in the latter
place by Aublet. This is also another of the Caribbean
productions which extends to the limits of the United
States, having been recently found in Key West by our
friend Dr. Blodgett.
The wood is said to be yellow, the summit of the tree
irregular, and the branches straggling. The smaller
twigs are round and gray, inclining to brown, and
covered with minute warts. The thorns are stipular,
or come out at the junction of the leaf with the stem;
they vary in size, but arc always short, and in some of
the twigs wholly absent. The leaves are bipinnate,
only 4 in number, the leaflets on each pinule being only
a single pair, sessile, obovate, very obtuse or subemargi-
nate and rounded above, glabrous and of a thin texture,
with widely reticulated nerves; the petiole channelled
above, with a hollow circular gland at the junction of
the secondary petioles. Racemes terminal, thyrsoid,
the pedicels long and fastigiate, almost like a corymb.
Flowers greenish-yellow and smooth, in globose heads.
Calyx small, 5-toothed. Corolla more than twice the
ULUNT LEAVEU INUA.
39
length of the calyx, 5-clcft towards the summit, the seg-
ments Jicutc. Filaments numerous, slender and capillary,
yellow, three times the length of the corolla. Legume
torulose, spirally twisted, of a reddish-purple colour;
seeds 5 or G, black, shining, roundish, compressed, half
covered with a white Heshy arillus-like pellicle.
This plant has the credit of being a sovereign remedy
for nephritic complaints, for the stone and gravel, and
also for obstructions of the liver. The bark is the part
employed, and Barham states (in his account of Jamaica,
where this tree grows) that in his time it was in such
general use, that it was rare to meet with a tree that
had not been barked. The decoction, of a red colour,
is very astringent, and acts as a diuretic. It has also
been employed externally as a lotion and injection, to
remove the relaxation of the parts. Upon the whole, it
would seem to be entitled to the notice of physicians,
and deserves a further examination.
Plate LIV.
A branch of the natural size. a. The flower somewhat en-
larged. •
i
40
GUADALOUPE INGA.
INCiA CiUAnAMTPKNsis, incrmi.s, fdliis rotiJtiff(tfo-ifr?nitin(i.uii,/(i/f>///iir ///i/ii .
llltiil (iiUHlsiluiieliiN.
//tl/ll {/> /il ('lillll/H-.
(JlIADAI.orpK |.\(JA.
i\
nnin tin; Itraiu-linM in coryiiiboso nuM^inrs. Tlu; IiciuIh
<>r llowcrs ar«^ liniiisplK^riciil, mid iippciir to liav(; liccn
ycllo\vish-;,'r(M'ii. Tin; culyx i^t caiiipiiimlutc, wiili
aciito and very distinct tcctli; tin; corolla is mono-
potalons, more widely canipanulatn at the Huniniit,
twice aw lon^T as the calyx, with acnto .s('f;inrntH. The
\)(hU arc dark purplish-l»ro\vn, nunli curved, '.\ to 4
inches lon<>;, about ^ an inch wide, attenuated at thn
base, toruloso and irregularly narrowed Ixjtween the
needs, but not intercepted within. Tin; seeds are (hrep
black, somewhat compressed, and at one extremity imif
covered by a brii^ht rose-red llesliy and lobed arillus.
Platk LV.
A liraiich of tlio natural size. a. Tlic i'ij)c pod. h. Tluj socd.
»
VOL. H.
6
SCHiEFFER A.t
(.lACQIflN.)
Natural Order, CELASTRiNEiT, ? TJnnxan Classification,
Dkecia, Tetrandria.
DiCBCious. — Calyx small, 4-pai'te(l, persistent. Petals \, alter-
nating with the sepals. Stamina X, opposite to the petals.
Ovarium 2-cclled. Stis^mas 2. Berry dry, bipartite, cells
1-secded. jSVc^/ erect, plano-convex; albumen fleshy; embryo
central, straight and flat.
Trees of tropical America with alternate, entire, coriaceous
leaves; stipules none; flowers several, axillary, snail and pedi-
ccUatcd, white or green.
I! f!
JAMAICA BOX-WOOD.
SCHiEFFERA buxifolia, fotiis lanccolato-ovatis basi at-
tenuatis plerisque acutis ramulisque glabris, pctalis viridis
obtusia.
ScH^.FFEniA FUTJTESCENs, /S. buxifoUa, foliis latius ovatis mu-
cronatis. Dec and. Prod., vol. 2. p. 41. Lam. lUust. t. 809.
Buxifutio majnrc acuminata, arlwr baccifcra,fructu ininorc
croceo itipyreno. Sloane, Hist. Jamaica, vol. 2. p. 102. tab.
209. fig. 1.
According to Dr. Blodgctt, this plant, common at
Key West and on the adjoining keys of East Florida,
becomes a tree of 30 feet in hcigiit, and is an article of
t Named in honour of .fames Christian Schxllbr, of Ratisbon,
author of several Botanical works.
IM LVI
Si'liirlTi TiJ iMixitVAla.
.Anmiini flo.r irrin/ . Sfiue/ycrft TT, in Jlolaii. Uccchcy, j). l.J(i. Touhkv and (luKV, 1.
p. 2(i(i.
Tiiouoii sovoral sppcios of tliis Hoirnnt «;rmis in
CnliCorniji, Oiv«roii, and aloiii^ tlio North- Wost Coast
bccoino considprahic shrubs, this is tlio only oin; which
can be classed anion;^fst trcrs. It was somewhat abini-
dant on dry j^ravelly hills in the vicinity of Monterey,
wiierc I arrived in the month of Mareli, about the time
that it was Ijurstinjj: into llowcr. jNIv attention was
called to it in the wood-pile, wliere considerable stems,
at least as tliick as a man's leiiij;is httei^rii/seiifis i^laln'ls, uinttelfis
])e(fu}}cal(itis, JInribus ficriiKip/irmlitis, fructilms ^lolxi.sis.
jMii'HArx, Flora IJoreal. Amer., vol. 1. p. 15;3. Decand.
Prod., vol. 2. p. 2(>.
Rha.mms Cauolimams; erect, unarmed; loaves oval-oblong,
obscurely serrate, nearly glabrous (or rarely pubescent be-
neath); umbels axillary, on peduncles much shorter than the
petioles; flowers perfect, pcntandrous (sometimes tetrandrous),
petals minute, embracing the very short stamens; styles united
to the summit; stigmas 3; fruit globose, rather dry, 3 to 4
seeded. Toiuu:y and (JuAv, Flora N. Amer. 1. p. 2()2.
This fine Buckthorn, tlioiiujli usually a slirub in our
f From the Celtic ram, branching: and hence the Greek g^^wvoc.
'»»
our
IM I.I.V.
("jintliiui Biu'klliitni.
l'/i(iiii llun (hrt'lt/ti ilfum .
A?r///-{/// *■ /a Carch'/i^ .
I '
'• I
CAROLINA nrCKTIlOUN.
f)!
soiitlicrn find soiitli-wf'st(;rii lorostn, on tlio l)or(l»>rs of
J'almotto crock, Luurciis county, in (jlcoriria, tli(> late
Mr. Crooni obsiM'vcd tr»;oH of this specioH MO to 10 feet
liieinj^ no:'
more than 1 to (> inches in diameter.
The leaves arc 3 to 0 inches lonpf, and 1 to 2 inches
wide, oval-ohlonj; and wideniiii; towards the snininit, the
extremity more or less hrielly acuminate, the l)ord(!r
slenderly serrulate, and sometimes irre^^ndarly waved,
the lateral pennate veins are 10 to 12 and rather dis-
tant; the very youni^- leaves before expansion are some-
what ferruginously villous. Undiels on stout pedicels,
from 10 to 15 flowered. The calyx pubescent but not
ferruginous, the segments lanceolate; petals 'J-lobed at
the extremity. The fruit black, as large as a small pea,
is mostly 3-seedcd. Seeds black, plano-convex, without
a groove.
This species begins to appear in North Carolina, and
extends through Georgia to Florida. West of the Mis-
sissippi, it is abundant on the banks of the Arkansa,
and Mr. Say collected it within the range of the Rocky
Mountains.
In Bartram's Botanic Garden, at Kingsessing, where
this species is perfectly hardy, it forms an elegant tree,
and has attained the height of near upon 25 feet in 20
years. Colonel Carr, the worthy proprietor of this inte-
resting garden, tells me that for a considerable time the
berries remain red and arc very ornamental; at length
towards winter they turn black, and remain so for a
long time, until some famished flock of Robins falls upon
and strips them nearly at once.
:i
lilll
I !
Ill
52
I'UUSn H UUCKTUOUN.
Platk LIX.
A branch of the natural hI/.o. a. T!k! flower enlarged, b. The
berries.
PllUSirS IJUCKTIIORN.
UIIAMNUS PiTusHiANUs, (Dccand.) inertni.s, errrtus, fdliis
l(tto-ellij)ticis minute drnticulato-serrtttin suhtits puhcscvn-
lihus nvn'is /a/rra/ihus o/>/i.{
only so on the ucrvos ImmmmIIi, tlic iirrvi's in ohlicjuo
IIiioh; pctiolt'H pulM'scriit. Stipules cpiickly drciduoMS,
p(>(liiiicl(!H solitary^ iiii iiirli or luoro Ion;;, unilxlliitcd;
pedicels pulu'scciit, t'loii^ated in the iVnit. Calyx exter-
nally pubescent, fj-cleft, tin; .s(»^n»ents acute, internally
carinate. Petals minute, cucnilate, hilid at tlu; a|)ex,
shorter than the calyx, very concave and cucnilate.
Stantens opposite the petals and involved in them,
(ienn small, ovate. Style shorter than the ^'erm; the
sti^fma obtuse and iMohed. Herry wiih-r above, l!-celled,
3-seeded. 'VUv. s(M!d ohovate, black, very shinier, con-
vex externally, internally uitli u central elevated line at
the base, at the iiyluni yellow,
Tlio CATiiAuru' IJiJCKTiioiiN {Hhamuiis cnthnrlictis) ap-
pears to be a native of the northern states of the Union,
as it occurs in the wildest situations. The berries and
syrup of this species liave loni? been employed in medi-
cine. The juice of the berries, in a dose of 5 or (>
drachms, proves a strong cathartic, but it is generally
made into a syrup. The bark has also an emetic
quality. The juice of the unripe berries with alum
gives a yellow dye; that of the ripe fruit, concentrated
by evaporation, and treated in the same manner with a
solution of alum, gives a green paste, the sap green
employed by painters, and from the manner in which it
is prepared for sjUc, is called in France, vert dc vc.ssh:.
In New England, particularly in the vicinity «)f Bos-
ton, this species is much employed for useful aiul orna-
mental liedges, and bearing well to be cut, growing
thick, and remaining green till winter, it is strongly
recommended for this useful purpose.
[■M
MANCHINEEL.
Natural Order, Euphorriacr.t: ? Linnwan Class IJi cat ion,
MoNffiCIA, MONADELPIIIA.
IIIPPOMANE,! (Linn.)
MoNCECioTTs. — Ufale flowers with a sul)caiTipanulatc, cmarginate
calyx and no corolla. A single columnar filamtMit terminating
in 4 anthers. — In the fcrlih flower tlierc is a 3-leaved calyx
and no corolla. Style very short. Stigma 0 or 7 cleft. Fruit,
a drupe containing a G to 7 or more celled nut; each cell with
one seed; the cells indehiscent.
A large poisonous tree of tropical America, with alternate en-
tire leaves; the male flowers clustered in interrupted terminal
spikes. The fruit solitary and sessile, resemhling an apple.
MANCHINEEL.
HIPPOMANE MANCiNELLA, folUs ovutis serratis. Linn.
WiLLD. Sp. PI. Lamakck, Illust. tab. 793. Jacq. Amer. edit.
pict. tab. 238. Aublet. Guian., vol. 2. p. SS5.
Malus americana, lauroccrusi folio, venenata. Mancinello
arbor scu Massinilia dicta. Commel. Hort, vol. 1. p. 131.
tab. 68.
Juglandi ajffinis arbor JuUfcra, lactescens, venenata, pyrifolia,
Mancanillo hispanis dicta. Sloane, Jamaic. Hist, vol. 2.
p. 3. tab. 159.
t From i-TTOf, a horse, and juiv/a, madness. The name, however,
was applied by the Greeks to a very dillerent plant which grew
in Arcadia, said to render horses furious.
i
I ■'
^■^h^
\ I
II i
\
l/i//p,
11 i/)/>i)/mjne Af(//K'//ff//< i
Mi«iirliiin'«'l.
Mttncfiit/hfr.
MANCHINEEL.
55
Mancanilla pip'ifacic. Plttmiek. Gen. p. If), tal). 3. MSS.
vol. 6. t. lOf). Catksby's Carol., vol. 2. p. 95. t. 95.
Jlrhor mnericdna MaiicincUo dicta, fnir/tt pnmi vcnenalo,
niicleis scplenis et plnrihus, in ossiculo muricalo, tot idem
loculis di.spcrtitn, incliisis. Pluken. Almag., p. 44. Phylog.
tab. 142. fig. 4.
Hippomanc arborcum lactcscens, ramulis ternatis; petiolis
glanduld notaiis; Jloribus spicatis, mixtia. Buown, Jam.
p. 351.
The Manchineel Tree attains a sreat size on the sea
coast in various parts of the West India Islands and the
neighbouring continent. It has also been found growing
very common at Key West, in low places, where it at-
tains the height of 30 to 40 feet. It has much the
aspect of a pear tree at a distance, while the fruit re-
sembles in appearance and scent a small apple, and is
produced in such abundance that the ground, when they
fall, appears as it were paved with them; they possess,
liowcver, very little pulp, being internally occupied by a
deeply grooved nut as large as a chestnut. No animal,
e.xcept goats and maccaws, chooses to feed on them,
and they become dry, brown find spongy, and as useless
as they are deleterious. The wood, on the contrary, is
in great esteem for tables, cabinets, and other articles of
furniture, being close grained, heavy, durable, finely
variegated with brown, w bite, and shades of yellow, and
susceptible of a high polish. Tables made of it almost
resemble marble, and are equally smooth and shining.
Great caution, however, is necessary in felling the tree;
and before they begin, it is the usual practice of the
workmen, first to kindle a fire round the stem, by which
means the milky sap becomes so much inspissated as
not to follow the blows of the axe. They also take the
further precaution to cover the face with a net of gauze,
to prevent the access both of the juice and the particles
of sap wood, which might be deleterious.
56
MANCHINEEL.
1 I 'I-
!
i|3 !
All parts of the Manchinccl tree abound with a white
milky sap, which is very poisonous, and so caustic, that
a single drop received upon the back of the hand imme-
diately produces the sensation of the touch of a coal of
fire, and soon raises a watery blister. The Indians,
according to Hawkins, used to poison their arrows with
this juice, which retained its venom for a long time.
Another and much more deadly poison was commonly
used for this purpose, however, by the American savages
of the warmer parts of America, namely, the warari,
chiefly obtained from the juice of the SlrijcJmos, and this
was distinguishable by producing the effect of tetanus or
lock-jaw, which, mostly fatal, was sometimes protracted
for several days before producing death. It is reported,
that many of the Europeans who first landed in Surinam
died suddenly from sleeping under this tree; and there
may probably be some foundation in truth for such
reports, when we take into consideration the volatile
nature of the poisonous principle of these plants. As in
the venomous species of Rhus or Sumach, also, while
many individuals are affected by the poison, others, for
no evident reason, can touch or handle these plants with
impunity. Hence, though Jacquin asserts that he re-
posed under the shade of the Manchineel for the space
of 3 hours without experiencing any inconvenience, it
does not follow that it would be equally harmless to all
who should hazard the experiment; and with a laudable
prudence, the inhabitants of Martinique formerly burnt
down whole woods of the Manchineel in order to clear
their country of so dangerous a pest.
Catesby acknowledges that he was not sufficiently
satisfied of its poisonous qualities "till assisting in the
cutting down a tree of this kind on Andros Island, I paid
for my incredulity; some of the milky poisonous juice
spurting in my eyes, I was two days totally deprived of
MANCIIINEEL.
57
sight, and my cyos and face much swelled, and felt a
violent pricking pain the first 24 hours, which from that
time abated <;radual]v with the swellin<;, and went off
without any application or remedy, none in tliat unin-
habited island beiuij to be had. It is no wonder that
the sap of this tree should be so virulent, when rain or
dew, falling from its leaves on the naked body, causes
blisters on the skin; and even the eHluvia of it are so
noxious as to affect the senses of those w Inch stand any
time under its shade."
Oily substances are considered the best remedy for
this poison. Some also recommend a large glass of
sea-water to be drank instantly as a preventive.
The branches of the Manchineel are covered with a
greyish smooth bark. The leaves, which fall annually,
are alternate, petiolate, numerous, oval, pointed, almost
cordate at the base, slightly and distantly serrulate, dark
green, rather thick, shining, veined, and transversely
nerved, 3 to 4 inches long, by about 2 inches wide.
Stipules oval and caducous. The flowers arc small and
of a yellow colour, monoecious, and grow upon straight
terminal spikes, like catkins. The male flowers arc
minute, collected together in clusters of about 30 toge-
ther, each cluster subtended by a concave, caducous
scale. The calycinc scales are accompanied at their
base by 2 large lateral orbicular depressed glands. The
fertile flowers are sessile and solitary. The drupe in
colour and odour is so like a small apple that it might
easily be mistaken for it; it is shining, and of a yellow-
ish-green colour, with a white and milky pulp. It con-
tains a thick, bony nut, full of angular crests which
project almost through the skin; it has ordinarily 6 or
7, sometimes as many as 11 ? l-seeded cells, which have
no spontaneous dehiscence or valves. The male flowers
have a very small one-leaved, roundish, bifid calyx, with
VOL. II. 8
58
MANCHINEEL.
II!
a straight slender filament, as long again as the calyx,
bearing 4 roundish anthers. The female flower, like the
preceding, has no corolla, and consists of a 3-leaved
calyx, with roundish, obtuse, connivent leaflets. The
ovary is oval, superior, as long as the calyx, surmounted
by a straight short style, deeply divided into 6 or 7 long
subulate, pointed and reflected stigmas.
Plate LX.
A branch of the natural size. a. The male flower, b. The
apple-like drupe of the natural magnitude, c. A transverse
section of the drupe having 6 cells and one abortive cell.
d. The seed of its natural magnitude, e. The kernel, with the
inverted embryo of the natural size.
The poisonous Upas {Antiaris toxicaria), bearing soli-
tary female flowers with 2 styles and an unequal drupa-
ceous fruit, though only of 1 cell, still approaches nearer
to the anomalous Manchineel, in this family, than to
any plant of the Artocarpcce, with which it is so unnatu-
rally associated.
Aleiirites by its fruit, a 2-celled, 2-seeded, indehiscent
drupe, appears to be almost intermediate with Antiaris
and Hippomane. We are unacquainted with the struc-
ture of the seed in Antiaris, but the obliquity of the fruit,
and its swelling out more to one side, would seem to
indicate the presence of 2 germs. These poisonous
plants, as well as the Aleurites, seem to form a natural
group which further observation must decide; if so
considered, they might bear the name of HippoMANEiE
from the well known Manchineel, and will be distin-
guished chiefly from the EupHORBiACEiE by their inde-
hiscent drupaceous fruit of 1 or 2 to 7 or more 1 -seeded
li
AF.EUIIITRS.
59
lit,
to
)US
so
tm-
cells, in place of 3, the cliaracteristic number in Euplior-
biacea?.
The large oily kernels of the Alcuritcs triloba^ known
in the Sandwich and Friendly Islands by the name of
Too-tooe, are employed by the natives generally for
hghts; pierced with a skewer, they are lighted like a
candle or a torch, and burn well and for a long time,
giving out a bright flame and smoke. An excellent oil
is obtained from these nuts by expression, which is used
for a variety of purposes, and answers well for paint.
It constitutes likewise one of the most ornamental and
characteristic trees of the foiest, visible at a great
distance by the paleness and whiteness of its verdure,
and hence the name of Aleurites given to it by Forster,
from its mealy appearance. It grows rapidly and affords
a fine shade, producing leaves which resemble those of
the Plane tree.
ed
■ 'i
EXCiECARlA.t
Natural Orfin; I'J'Imiorhiack.k. hituiwan C/asslJicatlnn,
l)ia:ciA, MONADKLI'IIIA.
Dkkcious or MoNCKCiors. — Ma/c flowers in cylindric anionts,
solitary, or by 3's, subtoiuleil by single scales; tbe lilanienl of
thc,sta7)U'n.\ 3-parted at tbe summit. Fcma/e flowers solitary
or in spikes, witb a calyx of scales. Cap.sulc tricoccoiis.
§. GviMNANTiiKs. {G 1/7)111(1 titJics, gcwws. SwAUTZ.) IMonoccious.
Female flowers solitary, pedicellate, tbe pedicel articulated
and terminated by a minute tootbed calyx, its base surrounded
by embracing scales. Male flowers by 3's. — Trees of tropical
America, witb alternate, entire, sem])ervircnt leaves.
SIIINING-LEAVED POISON WOOD.
EXCiECARIA LuciDA, Jlorihns fiemineis snhsolitariis pcdi-
cellatis; inasciilis Iriparlitis spicatis; Jbliis ciineato-elllp-
iicis, hniceolatisve siihseri'atis.
Exc^cARiA LUCIDA, moiioica, floribus pedieellatis, staniini-
bus trichotornis,femincis pedHnci(lalis,foliis elliplicis sub-
serratis. Swahtz, Prod. p. 1122.
Ricini friictu glabra^ arbor julifera, lactesccns, folio myr-
tlno. Sloane, Catal. Hist., vol. 2. p. 131. tab. 158. fig. 2.
According to Dr. Blodgett, this plant, in Key West,
becomes a tree of 30 to 40 feet in heijjlit. It is also indi-
genous to Jamaica and Cuba, and a broad leaved variety
was collected by Poiteau in St. Domingo. The wood
is yellowish-white, hard and close grained, but of its uses,
or the economy of the plant, we are as yet ignorant.
The branches arc covered with a grey and somewhat
rough bark. The leaves are alternate, shortly petiolatc,
j- From excaecare, to blind. The juice of tbe plant being so
acrid as to cause blindness.
r
SHINING-LEAVED POISON WOOD.
61
smooth and shining on the upper surface, and on both
sides rather prominently and elegantly veined and reti-
culated; they are slightly and distantly serrulated, often
lanceolate, and somewhat obtuse. On other branches
the leaves are almost oblong-elliptic, and narrowed or
wedge-formed at the base. In the rainy season, towards
the extremities of the twigs come out close, brown,
cylindric, axillary aments, which at length shoot into
loose spikes or aments covered with numerous male
flowers, growing by 3's together on a common pedicel,
which divides above into the 3 flowers, each subtended
(apparently?) by a still smaller scale, and consisting of
a secondary short stipe, divided into 3 stamens. The
anthers are round, small, and 2-celled. At the base of
the catkin, or below in a separate axill, issues the
pedicellated female flowers, subtended at the base by
appropriate scales, and with the rudiments of a calyx
beneath the germ. The stigmas are 3, rather thick,
and reflected. The fruit is tricoccous, supported upon
an elongated pedicel and rather large. The tree, like
most of the family of the Euphorbiaceae, is filled with a
caustic milky juice.
According to Rumphius, the juice of the Exccecaria
AgallocJia, and even its smoke when burnt, affects the
eyes with great pain, as has been sometimes experienced
by sailors, in cutting the wood for fuel, who, having
accidentally rubbed their eyes with the juice, became
blinded for a time, and some of them finally lost their
sight. The Agallocha wood, formerly so much esteemed,
remarkable for its fragrant odour and inflammability,
belongs to the genus Aquilaria^ and has no relation with
this family of plants.
Plate LXI.
A branch of the natural size,
female do.
a. The male flower, h. The
''1 1
\m !
TALLOW TREE.
Natural Order, Euphorbiace^, (Jussieu.) Linnscan
Classification, Mon(ecia, Monadelphia.
STILLINGIA,t (Linn.)
MoNfficious. — Staminiferous flowers solitary, or many and small,
with an entire hemispherical involucrum. Perianth tubular,
widened and ciliated on the border. Stamens 2 or 3, exserted,
with the filaments slightly united at the base. Fertile flowers
solitary, involucrate; perianth as in the male. Sti/le with 3
stigmas. Capsule 3-lobed, 3-grained, surrounded by the en-
larging involucrum. Seeds 3.
Arborescent, shrubby or herbaceous plants, with a milky sap.
Leaves alternate, entire or serrulated, having stipules. Flowers
in spikes, the spikes solitary, lateral or terminal, the upper part
staminiferous.
TALLOW TREE.
STILLINGIA sEBiPERA, arborea; foliis petiolatis, rhombeis
acuminatis integerrimis, infra basin glandula petiolari,
floribus masculis numerosis. — Willd. Sp. PI. 4. p. 588.
Mich. Flor. 2. p. 213. Pursh, 2. p. 608. Elliott, Sk. 2.
p. 651.
Croton sebiferum. Linn. Sp. PI. 1. c.
Ricinus Chinensis sebifera, populi nigrx folio. Petiver.
Gazoph. 53. tab. 34. fig. 3. Plukenet. Amalth. 76. tab. 390.
fig. 2.
The Tallow tree grows to the height of 20 to 40 feet,
t So named in honour of Dr. Stillingfleet, an English botanist.
lii
an
nail,
ular,
rted,
vers
th 3
en-
sap.
vers
part
leis
iri,
88.
2.
SR.
50.
Bt,
St.
\
l!ii!
11^ I
ll
4
\ ■)'.
i! h
I'X i I
HI ill
! i
i' I
I i I
TALLOW TUEK.
o:j
and so nearly resembles the black poplar in its foliage
that it might be mistaken for it if the leaves were ser-
rated. It is indigenous to China, where it grows on the
borders of streams. It is now naturalized in both Indies,
in the south of Europe, and in the southern part of the
United States, along the sea-coast. It resembles a
cherry-tree in its trunk and branches. The bark is of a
whitish-grey, and soft to the touch. The branches are
long, smooth and flexible, ornamented with leaves from
their middle to their extremities, where they grow in a
kind of tuft. These leaves are oval-rhomboidal, on
longish petioles, wider than long, very entire, acumi-
nated, green and smooth on both sides, furnished at
their base with two very small sessile glands; before
falling, at the approach of winter, they become red.
The stipules are membranous and linear-lanceolate.
The flowers are terminal, disposed in erect spikes,
resembling catkins, which are about two inches long.
The male flowers are numerous, very small and pedi-
cellated, with a very short monophyllous and almost
truncated calyx; with 2, 3, and sometimes more stamens
havinjT exserted filaments. The fertile flowers are in
small numbers at the base of each spike. The capsules
are smooth, brown, and oval, 3-lobed, divided internally
into 3 bivalvuiar cells. Each cell contains a somewhat
hemispherical seed, internally flattened and grooved,
externally convex and rounded, covered with a some-
what firm, white, sebaceous or fatty substance. The
seeds remain firmly attached above by 3 threads, which
traverse the fruit, and thus remain suspended after the
fall of the valves of the capsule, so that the tree seems
to be covered with clusters of white berries, which,
contrasted with the red colour of the fading leaves,
produces a very peculiar and elegant appearance.
The Tallow tree, as its name implies, furnishes the
!mi
![ I
()1
TALLOW TKKR.
Chinese with a material for candles; they extract besides
from its seeds oil for their lamps. The ordinary method
employed in separating the tallow from the fruit, is by
bruising together the capsules and seeds, afterwards
boiling the mass in water, and skimming off the oil
that arises to the surface, which, when cold, becomes
condensed like tallow. To every 6 pounds of this fat
is sometimes put 3 pounds of linseed oil, with a little
wax to give it a more solid consistence. The candles
thus obtained are of an extreme whiteness, but are also
made red by the addition of vermilion. It is said that
the Chinese steep these candles in a sort of wax, also
the produce of a tree, which forms a crust around the
tallow that hinders them from melting.
In the Southern States, though the trees produce an
abmidance of perfect fruit, no use is yet made of it.
Plate LXII.
A branch of the natural size. a. A cluster of male flowers.
h. A single male flower, c. The seeds or nuts coated with wax.
65
PRIVET LEAVED STILLLVCilA.
STILLINGI A i,iGUSTUiN'A,y?>///.v lancenlalis ulriiif/ne a/fcnU'
litis intei^crrhnis peliolatis,JIn,sculis viiificxilis .suhsoUtiiriis,
trill ndr is.
Stillingia ti'qustrina. Micii. Flor. Bor. Aincr., vol. 2. p. 132.
Willi). Sp. PI. 4. p. 5G(). Puusii, vol. 2. p. 608. Nutt.,
vol. 2. p. 226. Elliott, vol. 2. p. 651.
This native species of tlie genus Stillingia, in the
forests of East Florida, according to the observations
of my friend Mr. Ware, becomes a tree, and attains an
elevation of 30 feet. In Georgia, at Columbus, on the
banks of the Chatahoochee, where I have observed it in
considerable abundance, it only forms a shrub of 10 or
12 feet. Although a handsome tree or shrub, nearly
evergreen, and resembling the privet when in flower,
so far from being pleasing, it emits a very disagreeable
odour, almost as foitid as carrion.
The bark is nearly smooth and brownish-gray, the
branches diffuse, and only clad with leaves towards the
summits; these are from 1 to 2 inches in length and
about f of an inch in width, they are either wholly
lanceolate or oval-lanceolate, very smooth, entire, and
acute or acuminated at either extremity; the petioles are
about 2 or 3 lines long. The flowers are small, green-
ish-yellow, in lateral and terminal shortish spikes; in
some specimens, wholly staminiferous, in others with a
few fertile flowers at the base of the spikes. Scale or
bracte of the sterile flowers short, ovate, mostly 1 -flow-
ered. Perianth 3-cleft, stamens generally 3, the filaments
very short. Fertile flower similar. Styles 3, united at
base, reflected; stigmas simple. Capsule 3-seeded.
VOL. II. 9
MM
I'
IH
ijRYPETES
(Vahl.)
Natural Order, EuPHORRiACEiE ? ( Juss.) Limman Classifi-
cation, DlffiCIA, TeTIIANDHIA to OcTANDRIA.
Diffifious. — Malk with the calyx 4 to (J leaved, and unequal.
Corolla none. Stamina -1 to 8, cxsertcd. Disk central,
villous. — Female, with the flower as in the male. Ovary
free, subovatc, villous, 2-celled, or by abortion 1-celled; ovules
2 in each cell, pendulous. Styles 2, or by abortion 1, short;
stigmas capitate, villous. Drupe subovate, villous, dry, 1-
celled, 1-sceded, rarely 2-celIed, 2-seeded, Seed filling up
the cell of the fruit; albumen large and fleshy; embryo large,
inverted, straight; cotyledoncs foliaceous.
Trees of the tropical parts of America with alternate, nearly
exstipulate leaves, and axillary clusters of small herbaceous
flowers.
SMALL FLOWERED DRYPETES.
DRYPETES CROCEA, foliis ohlongo-lanccolatis acuminatis
mtegerrimis nitidis, Jlore ?nasculo 4-6-andro, femineo
distylo.
Drypetes CROCEA, folUs obloHgis, integerrimis, nitidis, Jlore
musculo A-5-andro, femineo distylo. Poiteau, Annales du
Museum Hist. Nat. (3d series,) vol. 1. p. 159. tab. 8.
ScH^FFERA LATERIFLORA, Jloribus lateruUbus apetalis,
SwARTZ, Flor. Ind. Occident., vol. 1. p. 329.
This plant, at Key West, in East Florida, (according
■* i
^
I ili
If
mi
'I II '
Jll
k
!
I il'l
lum
Ui'VjM'U'S «*l'ore.'i
l! :!
1 1 i!
1
I : I
SMALL FLOWERED DRYPETES.
67
to Dr. Blodgett,) becomes a large tree. The wood
appears to be whitish and close-grained, and that of D.
alba is very hard, and much esteemed by carpenters.
At St. Domingo, Poiteau remarked, that it generally
seemed to prefer the protecting shade of other large
trees with which it grew. It appears to be a very
elegant evergreen; the twigs exuding a slightly aromatic
resin, in small quantities, which, spreading over the
petiole and mid rib of the leaves, communicates, at
times, a white or glaucous hue. The leaf, to the taste,
is slightly bitter and astringent, with some aroma aris-
ing from the resin it possesses; and it has so much the
flavour of tea, as almost to promise a succedaneum for
that favourite beverage.
The bark is of a light grey and warty. The leaves are
from 3 to 3 J inches long, and from 1 to 1^ wide, entire
or slightly repand, attenuated into a short petiole, of a
coriaceous consistence. The surface is delicately and
lightly reticulated as in the leaf of the Bay {iMurus).
The flowers are small and numerous, in axillary round-
ish clusters; these in the male consist of a brownish-
green calyx of 4 small ovate divisions, pubescent on the
margin, containing 4 to 6 short stamens. The calyx of
the female contains a germ with 2 short styles and capi-
tate stigmas; there are 2 ovules in each cell; the drupe
is villous, and when ripe is of the colour of saffron,
containing but a single seed. The perisperm has the
hot and acrid taste of strong mustard, but is, notwith-
standing, the particular food of a small beetle.
Plate LXIII.
A branch of the natural size.
female flower, c. The fruit.
a. Tlie male flower,
b. Tlie
08
GLAUCOUS DRYPETES.
DRYPETES OLATTCA, foliis ovato-ohlongif}, al'ds obtushm-
culis, remoth cremdatis, aliis longioribus, intcgerrimis,
acuminatis; Jloribus 6-8-andris. Vaiil. Eclog. Amer.
fascic. 2. p. 49.
This species also becomes a tree, and grows at Key
West with the preceding; it is likewise indigenous to
Montserrat and Porto Rico. The branches are cylindric,
somewhat angular above, with the buds thinly covered
with a brownish down. The leaves are very similar to
those of the preceding species, and often glaucous, with
a thin resinous coating. The male flowers are 4 to 5-
leaved, with 6 to 8 stamens; there is no corolla. The
drupe is oval, villous, becoming the size of a small hazel-
nut, with a suture on one side, and terminated, when
young, with a single, sessile, reniform stigma.
The wood is probably of the same quality as in the
preceding species.
(Ui
ohtushis-
fegerrimis,
og. Amer.
vs at Key
^enous to
cylindric,
y covered
similar to
;ous, with
re 4 to 5-
11a. The
I all hazel-
ted, when
as in the
i! (
■'■Ill !
< I
I
■i<^
HORSE-CHESTNUT.
(Mauuonieu n'lxpE, Fr.)
Natural Order, ITiiM'ocASTANnyt:, (Dccand.) lAmman
Classification, IIkptandhia, Monogynia.
iESCULUS,t (Linn.)
Cdhjx tubiilar-campaniilale, S-tooUicd. Petals 4 or 5, more or
less unequal, unguiculate. Staniois (5 to S, (often 7,) with
separate filaments. Ovary roundish, S-celled, with 2 oolhitc-
ral ovules in each cell. Fruit suhglobose, coriaceous, even or
cchinate, 1 to 3-cclled. Seeds solitary, large, with a broad
hikim, and no albumen. Cotyledones subterraneous.
Trees or shrubs of North America and temperate Asia, with
opposite, digitate, serrated leaves. Flowers conspicuous, in ter-
minal panicles, on articulated pedicels.
§ 3. Fruil iinarmed, leaves stipulate, the tube of the calyx
at length cleft. — Calothyusus.
CALIFORNIAN HORSE-CHESTNUT.
iESCULUS californica; staniinibxis corolUi longioribus,
j)elalis 4, subvequalibus, calycibus tiibuloso-campanulatis
imcquali-dentatis; thyrsus abbreviatis densifloris; petiolis
marginatis, foliolis quinque ovato-laneeolatis subellipticis
ucntis serralatis glabris glaucescentilms, basi rotiindatis
subcordatis. — Nutt. in Torr. and Gray. Flora N. Amer.,
1. p. 251.
Calothyrsus Californica. Spach, in Ann. Sc. Nat. (ser. 2.)
p. 62.
This is the only species liitherto discovered of this
ornamental genus, on the Western side of the American
continent; and it difters from the ordinary type quite
sufficient to constitute a separate section.
-]• The Latin name of a tree which furnished an csrulent nut.
ro
CAr.IFOIlNIAN HORSE-CHESTNUT.
I observed it very sparingly on the border of a small
stream in the immediate vicinity of Monterey, in Upper
Cahforniu, flouerin«^ in the month of March, with the
usual precocious habit of the genus. It appears also to
have been observed in some part of California by Botta,
according to Spach.
It forms a low spreading bushy tree, about 15 to 20
feet high, with clusters of spreading branches issuing
from near the root, so as to form a sort of thicket. The
trunk is smooth and grey, only a few inches in diameter,
and the wood very similar to that of other species of
the genus.
The leaves, usually in 5's, have broad and flat margi-
nated petioles, terminating usually in 2 long, linear,
conspicuous and somewhat membranaceous stipules; the
whole cluster of leaves is also subtended by several
broad stipules, which appear to be the innermost series
of bud scales, but they are quite persistent and fre-
quently terminated by rudiments of leaves; the inner
leaves of the flowering branches arc often in 3's or 4's.
The leaflets, 3 to 4 inches long, are supported upon long
and slender petioles, beneath they are pale and some-
what glaucous, everywhere smooth, finely and obtusely
serrulated and acute at the points, below they are
rounded and sometimes sinuated. The flowers are of a
pale rose-colour without a mixture of any other colour,
and produced in a crowded, compound spike or thyrsus.
The calyx is somewhat whitely villous, indistinctly 5-
toothed, and at length cleft down nearly to the base on
the lower side. The petals appear connivent, with the
claws shorter than the calyx, scarcely at all spreading,
and are generally in 4's. Stamens 5 or 6. I have not
seen the fruit, but the germ is 2 or 3-celled, and villous.
Plate LXIV.
A branch of the natural size. a. The germ.
LO.NG-SIMKED PAVIA.
71
In the Herbarium of the Academy of Natural Sciences
in Philadelpliia, is a specimen collected in Nepal by Dr.
Wallich, named JKscnlus indica, which bears no incon-
siderable resemblance to the present species. It has the
same perfectly smooth leaflets, 7 in number, oblong-
lanceolate, serrulate and acuminate, without stipular
scales. The thyrsus is very large, compound and showy,
with a villous irregularly-toothed calyx, often anteriorly
cleft, as in the preceding species. The petals appear to
have been white, i in number, the 2 imier much nar-
rower, with a fading red sj)ot in the centre of each.
The stamens are 5 to 7, and much exserted; the fruit
without spines, is therefore a Puvia. 1 find no descrip-
tion or allusion to this magnificent species, which well
deserves a place in gardens, and is probably hardy.
In passing, I must remark, that no two species of the
genus are more perfectly distinct from each other than
the jE. Ohioensis of Decandolle and Michaux (Pavia of
the latter), and the jE. glabra. The Ohioensis becomes
a lofty tree, with 5 or more remarkably long leaflets,
(7 to 9 inches long,) acuminated at each end, and be-
neath more or less pubescent, at least along the ribs.
The flowers are also white and showy, not green or
yellowish-green, and inconspicuous as in the constantly
dwarf plant known as JE. glabra.
Long-Spiked Pavia {JEsculus macrostachya, Mich.)
This elegant and very distinct Pavia grows abundantly
in all the lower parts of Alabama and West Florida.
The fruit, like all the rest of the genus, is inedible and
bitter, and in place of food, aflfords a pretty good fish-
poison. The fflBcula of the seeds of all the species can
be manufactured into starch.
SOAP-BERRY TREE.
(Savonnikh, Fr.)
Natimil Ordcfy Saimndacr.*;. (Jussiou.) TJiuuran
ClassiJI cation^ Octandria, Trkiyma.
SAPINDUS, (Linn.)
Sepals (or calyx leaves) 1 to Ct. Pc/a/.s I or 5, glandular or
bearded within, or with a lateral lilanient at the summit of the
claw. Stamens 8 to 10, with the filaments villous. Styles
combined, stigmas 3. Carpels 3, globose, fleshy, connate, 2
of them in general abortive. Seed large and spherical, one in
each carpel (or small capsule).
The plants of this genus arc small trees, with the present ex-
ceptions, and one of doubtful character in .Tapan, all inhabitants
of the tropical climates of America and India. The leaves arc
without stipules, abruptly pinnate, or unequally pinnate by liie
abortion of the last pair of leaflets. The flowers are small and
whitish, very numerous, disposed in racemes or panicles. The
pulp of the berries in all the species is saponaceous, (The name
is a contraction of Sapo-indiciis, or Indian soaj).)
FLORIDA SOAP-BERRY.
SAPINDUS MARGiNATUs, ruchl superiie augiiste marginata,
foliolis glabris inxquilateralis lanceolatis subfaleatis acu-
minatis 5-6 jugis, paniculis compositis terminalibits,
pet alls in appt ndicu la t is.
Sapindus marginatus. VVilld. Enumer. p. 432. Decand.
Prod., vol. 1. p. 607. Torkey and Giiay, vol. 1. p. 255.
Sapindus saponaria. Lamarck's Illust. tab. 307. Mich.
Flora Bor. Am. 1. p. 242. Pursh. Flor., vol. 1. p. 274.
NuTT. Gen. Am. 1. p. 257. Elliott's Sketches, Bot,, vol. 1.
p. 460. »S'. insequalis. Dec and., vol. 1. p. 608.
This elegant tree, exclusively indigenous to the United
5.
Li
iiinmtn
glandular or
nimit of (ho
)us. Styles
, connate, 2
rical, one in
present cx-
inhabitanls
2 leaves ;irc
late by the
1 small and
icics. Tho
(The name
targinata,
Icatis acu-
minalibiiSy
Decand.
I. 255.
^ Mich.
1. p. 274.
5ot., vol. 1.
le United
I !i
i ' ;
!■ i
!iii
4
y\ ••li,
V
IM I.WI
F/urii/ti Si>,i/t Utrrr
S:i|uiidiis Miiiu'tluMiis.
Sin'iJiuiier'!■(/ Map7<'
^Ii|' !: *
FLORIDA SOAP-BERRY.
73
States, Is found along the coast of Georgia and Florida,
and in the interior as far as Arkansaw. It varies in height
from 20 to 30 feet and sometimes even to 40 feet. Branches
erect and smooth; the leaves smooth and shining, com-
posed of 4 to 9 pair of alternate, lanceolate, acuminate,
subfalcate leaflets. Panicles of flowers large, dense, termi-
nal and axillary.
Berries about the size of a cherry, with a saponaceoiw
pulp, usually only one of the three carpels fertile.
The S, saponaria of the West Indies, to which this spe-
cies is allied, has long been in use by the natives for the
purposes of soap. The fleshy covering of the seed, and
also the root in some measure, makes an excellent lather
in water; but if used too frequently and of too great
strength, is apt to burn and injure the texture of the cloth.
The round black seeds were at one time largely imported
into England, for the purpose of making buttons for waist-
coats, being durable and not apt to break.
At present they are used in the West Indies for various
ornamental purposes, being tipped with silver or gold, and
strung for beads, crosses, &c. It is also used as a medi-
cine ; and pounded and thrown into water, has the singular
propert^r of intoxicating and killing the fish which may be
there.
The wo<)d is soft and not very durable.
^■■\
I
I'luVTE LXV.
Represents a braatb of tbe natural size. a. A paniclo of flowers.
Vol. II.— 10
iJil
I 1^^
I ! 5- c6
r '
} i
!;»f:.fi
■!l! !
74
M E L I C 0 C C A,* (Browne, Linn.)
(Knepier, Fii.)
Natural Order, Sapindace^. LinnoHUk Classification , Oc-
TANDRiA, MONOGYNIA.
Flcwors roLvnAMOUS. ('dlyxA to 5-paiicd, persistent. Pctah, the sanio
number with the divisions of the calyx inserted into a hypogynous disc.
,St«meni often 8. Oouri/ .superior, mostly o-celled. >SVy/fj 1, the stigma
capitate or 8-lobed. Dnipc coated, mostly 1-celled, 1 -seeded. tSu'.d
attached to the axis of the cell.
Trees or shrubs, mostly of tropical America, Avith of(ually pinnated,
alternate leaves, usually in 2 to 3 pairs, and entire. The flowers small,
disposed in axillary or terminal spikes or panicles ; the fruit with a succu-
lent pulp.
ROUND FRUITED IIONEY-BERRY, or GENIP
TREE.
MELICOCCA PANicuiiATA, /^ZtVs ^u"«««i!w, 2-8-/nf/is, /oliolis obJongo-
lanceolatis, infeffris, Jloribus panicidatis siihcoii/mbosis laxis, b-pctuUs
driipis fphscricis.
jMelicooca imnicxdata. Juss., Mem. Mus. Hist. Nat., vol. 3, p 187, t.
5. Decand. Prod. vol. 1, p. G15.
Tins species, nearly allied to the common Honey-Berry
of the West Indies, {M, hijaja), was discovered in St.
Domingo by M. Poiteau, and of whicii a very excellent
* From ft£A(, honey y and koxii.«% a />. /v/y, in allusion to the sweetness of
its fruit.
■)
xdlonj Oc-
ahy the same
igynous disc.
I, the stiguiii
icded, >Str;(Z
ly pinnated,
owers small,
vith a succu-
lENIP
oils ahlongo-
ns, L>-2ic talis
3, p 187, t.
ley-Berry
h1 in St.
excellent
4
4
fweotncss of
\
}j 'I
I
n\
!.
i
I i
£<,'ii/u/
PI L-VM
Melicocra Paniciilala
nl'rifir/ei
^imd fruiUd ho/uy6frry
JCtufiur Panwa7e
Ill»Ni;V llERUV.
76
lipjinv is ^ivoii by .Tussioii, in tlio iNIomoirs of tho Miisoiim
of Natural History. Dr. lilodgctt liiis also mot with it on
Key West, wlicru it boeonios a largo tree. Ul' the nature
of the wood we are not iiilbrniod. Tiie fruit of the com-
mon Hpecie.s is said to be about tlie size of a hirgo jihun,
and j-rocn ; containing a swoot, acid, and slightly astrin-
gent, gelatinous pulp, resembling tho yolk of an egg. Tho
berry of the present kind appears to l)e wholly similar, but
it is spherical instead of ovate. The nuts of the (Jenip
Tree are also eaten, after being roasted in the manner of
chosiuits. The llowers appear in April, Avhon the loaves
are shed, and are very fragrant, even at a distance, attract-
ing swarms of bees and hunnuing birds. This species,
according to Browne, was brought to the West Indies from
Surinam.
The wood of the McUcocai trijuout half grown.
h. The femalts do.
{Ailantlma glanduloeaJ) This tree,
is now commonly cultivated for its
my parts of the United States. It
dity, and produces a great deal of
to be of a close grain, and capable
olish. In this State, it somewhat
With its durability I am unac-
i useful, it might be cultivated or
is in the southern and middle St&tes
I
I
!|
J !
n.Lxvi
/^--"
I
■'p
AlfM'.i"^^
-<
I
\» Aci'i' M:u'i-o|)|ivlliiiii.
n.i.xviii
^
^^
— ^■^-
/>^
il
tm/^s /! /n'f/f.K,
\
I
I
I <
MAPLES.
(Hrable, Fr.)
Xatiiral Orders AcERiNE^E. (Dccand.) Linnceau Clamfi'
cation; POLYGAMIA OR OCTANDKIA, MONOGYNIA.
ACER.* (TOURNEFORT.)
Flowers POLYaAMOUs. — The co/y-c 5-lobcd, or 5 parted. Petals 5 or none.
IStamens rarely 5, often 7 to I); ovarium 2-lobe(l, stigmas 2. Samarae
or pericarps in pairs, winged, united at ba.se j eaeh, by abortion, 1 or
rarely 2-secded, the winga of the pericarp lanceolate and diverging,
thicker and blunt on the outer margin. Embryo curved, with wrinkled
lofty cotylcdones, and au inferior radicle : albumen none.
Trees and shrubs of temperate climates, chiefly of Europe and North
America, the leaves opposite as well as the branches, palmately lobed.
Flowers clustered, or pcndulously racemose, arising from buda of the pre-
ceding season, mostly lateral.
LARGE LEAVED MAPLE.
ACER MACROPHYLLUM J folrls dlijxtato-^-Ioltls, tlnubm rotundatlx, lobU
aubtrllobatls repando-denfatlSf sttbtis pubcscentlbuSf raremls erectU, fila-
mcntla 9, hlrsutls, ovnrlU hlrsutUslmls. PuRSir. Flor. Amer. Sept.
vol. 1, p. 267. Decand. Prod. vol. 1, p. 594.
Acer macrophyllum; leaves large, very deeply 5-lobed ; lobes oblong
or slightly cuneiform, entire, or einuately 3-lobed, the margins some-
what repand; racemes nodding; flowers rather large; petals obovate;
fruit hispid, with elongated slightly diverging glabrous wings. Torrey
and Gray, Flora N. Amer. vol. 1, p. 246.
Acer Macrophyllum. Hooker's Flora Boreali Americana, vol. 1, p. 112,
t. 38.
* From the Latin, acer, sharp ; the wood having been used for pikes or
lances.
i
1
78
I.ARCK LKAVrCD MAPLK.
The topourapliiral raiiiic of this f^jjlciidid s|)(^ci('s of M.'i-
j)k', 'vvliolly iiuligriioiis to tlii' iiortli-wi'st coast ol' America
ov till' tcri'itoiy ol" Oregon, is ji soiiicwliat narrow strip
along the coast of tlic I'acilic, not cxtcnilini^ into the inte-
rior beyond the ulhivial tracts of tlie OrcL-on, which com-
mence jit tlie second cataracts of tliat river, (known by tlio
name of the Dalles.) and at the distance of abont luO miles
iVom the sea. To the north, it extends probably in the
hititude of r)()°, or the borders ol' B'raser s river, and althonjih
by Decandolle, it is said to extend to Upper Caliibrnia on
the south, we did not observe it in the vicinity oi' Monte-
rey; and therefore conclude that its utmost l)oundary in
this direction nnist ))e to St. Francisco, in about the .')8th
degree of hititude. This fmo species was discovered by
Menzics, and afterwards collected by Lewis and Clarke. It
nowhere presents a more interesting appearance to the tra-
veller than in the innnediate vicinity of the falls of the
Oregon; its dense shade, due to the great magnitude of its
foliage and lofty elevation, as well as the Avide extent of
its spreading sunnnit, are greatly contrasted with the
naked, woodless plains of that river, which continue unin-
terruptedly to the mountains ; a tract over which the tra-
veller seeks in vain for shade or shelter, and where the
iiiel requisite; to cook his scanty meal, has to be collected
from the accidental drift wood which has been borne down
from the distant mountains of its sources.
The largest trunks of this species that we have seen,
were on the rich alluvial plains of the Wahlamet, and
particularly near to its confluence with the Tlacamas ; here
we saw trees from 50 to 90 feet in height, with a circum-
ference of 8 to IG feet. It appears always to aflect the
drier and more elevated tracts, where the soil is well
drained.
The wood, like that of the Sugar Maple, exhibits the
most beautiful variety in its texture ; some of it being undu-
ios of iMa-
r America
rrow .^trip
I) the iiitc-
liich coiii-
wn by tlio
loO miles
l)ly to the
1 illtilOllli'li
lifornia on
oi' Moiito-
•undiiry in
t the :}8tli
uverc'd hy
Ulurko. It
to the tra-
ills of the
tiulo of its
extent of
■with tlio
inuG iiniii-
;h the tra-
vhere the
collected
•nie down
ave seen,
net, and
nas ; here
a circuni-
iflect the
is well
libits the
ing undii-
fi
LARGK LEAVED MAPLE. 79
lated or curled, — other portions present the numerous con-
centric spots which eon.'titute the liirdVcye Maph", and
so IViMpient is this structure, that nearly every larue trei;
which wiis cut down allorded one or other of these varieties
of wood. As yet, In those remote and unsettled regions, it
has only afibrded a beautifid and curious material for the
gun-stock of the savaire or the hunter. Like the Su^ar
Maple also, it afl(»rds an al)uudance of saccharine sa[),
which to an infant settlement, may one day be turned to
advantage. As an ornamental plant, it stands pre-eminent ;
and from the latitude it occui)ies it must be entirely hardy
in every part of Europe below the latitude of 00°. The
young trees are often tall, slender and graceful, and when
hi blossom, which is about the month of April, present a
very imposing appearance, (dad with nmnerous drooping
racemes of rather conspicuous yelloAvish and somewhat
fragrant ilowers. At an after period, the spreading sum-
mit of deep green leaves, each near a foot in diameter,
ailbrds an impervious and complete shade. The fruit or
carpels are also larger than usual, and have the remark-
able character of being clothed, even when ripe, with strong
hispid hairs. The tlowers, irregular in the nund)er of their
parts, present often as many as 1 0 sepals, in two rows, and
the same number of stamens. The carpels or seed-vessels
also grow sometimes as many as 3 together.
According to Loudon, specimens of the timber, which
were sent home by Douglas, exhibit a grain scarcely infe-
rior in beauty to the finest satin wood. A tree grown in
the London Horticultural Society's Garden, had in 1835,
attained the height of 25 feet, and it makes, when well cuT
tivated, annual shoots of from G to 10 feet in length, antt
plants are to be had in London at half a crown a-piece. It
deserves to l)c cultivated also in the L'^nite;! States, as it is
one of the most useful and ornamental trees of the genus.
80
ROUND LEAVKD MAPLE.
and at the same time perfectly hardy in all temperate cli-
mates.
Plate LXVII.
A leaf of the natural sizo. a. TIio raceme of flowers, b. The fiuit.
ROUND LEAVED MAPLE.
AOER CIRCINATUM ; /oliia orhkulatit ba»i tuh'ordatis T-lohis inwqunlifer
acutc-dentatii ntrinquc (jlubritf ncrvia venisqne ud axillan pUotit.
PuRsii. Flor. Amor. Sept. 1, p. 207. Hooker. Flor. Bor. Am. 1,
p. 112, t. 39.
Acer circinatum; leaves cordate, 7 to D-lobcd, the nerves all radiating
directly from the apex of the petiole ; lobes very acutely serrate, with a
Blender acumination; corymb few flowered; petals ovato or linear,
Bhorter than the calyx ; fruit glabrous, with oblong divaricate wings.
ToRREY and Gray, Flor. Amer. 1, p. 247.
This remarkable species, like the preceding, is confined
to a narrow district along the coast of the Pacific, bounded,
according to the observations of Mr. Douglas, between the
latitudes of 43° and 49°. It is certain that we did not meet
with it in any part of Upper California, and it is therefore
fully as hardy as the preceding. Though much more sin-
gular in mode of growth and general appearance, it has
nothing of its imposing grandeur. The trunk, which is
smooth, only attains the height of 15 to 40 feet. It affects
the lowest alluvial flats, that escape the influence of the
periodical inundations to which the rivers it borders are
subject ; here the stems arise in clusters of 4 or 5 toge-
ther, conjoined at the root, from whence they spread out
in wide curves, sending oflf slender spreading branches,
that often on touching the ground strike out roots, and give
rise to ofisets so numerous and so entangled, as almost
^
I
KOI'NI) I.K.AVI'I) MAl'I.K
81
pcrato cli-
Tho fruit.
's tnaequnlitrr
•.itlaa pt'/osii.
Bor. Am. 1,
all radiating
!rrate, with a
'jo or linear,
ricatc vrings.
s confined
, bounded,
tween the
I not meet
therefore
more sin-
ice, it has
which is
It affects
ice of the
orders are
or 5 toge-
ipread out
branches,
, and give
as almost
i
uliolly to ol)slnirt llir proujn'ss of \\\r \u\\\\vy llintipjli tlir
lorrst, tlio (Iciiso sliadc it ;ils«> |)rn«liu<'s cxcliKlrs iic-nlv
cvrry otlnT vr;^rl!i!»l<', and its curvt d and iiitrrla<'«!d tiindxs,
like tlioso of the Maniirnvo, lorni a kindred lorrst s(»inr-
tinios of several acrrs in cxtt-nt. It is tins sinmdar tn «■,
cliicdy ill connection with tli(> li.rm; l.raved Maple, ulnrli
on descciulini; the Oregon, nt the F.ower I'all-i, lirst pro-
PCMits us with tho jihenoinena of a forest, and that too of
the most inipervions shade, and which in low siinations,
continues to accompany us oven into the heart of the I'nie
forest, to the shores ol'tln^ I'acilic.
According to Douglas, tii(! wood is fine. whif(\ closo-
cjrained, ton;j;h, anrs ol llowers,
which at a little distance appear red from the coloin- (dthe
calyx. The fruit itself, or wiii«red capsules, also a[)pear of
a hriiiht and lively red, and have a peculiarity in the direc-
tion of the winijs, nearly at rijiht anj^les with the peduncle
or llower stalk, which does not exist in any other of our
species.
.Tud hn^r,
Willi a iiiiuutL' Hiiiiis ; iMilMscrrit Ixiicntli ; nilluT dcciily .'MuImiI, the
simiscs hroad niid roiiiulcd ; IoIms iiciiti- with n ffw simioiis indenta-
tions; corynd) m-arly sessile, lew llnvvered ; the pedicels nuddiiii:; iVwit
j;lahri)ns, with Hinall diveriiiiiL; wiiij^s. Ntttam. in Toiikkv and (Iiiav,
Flora, N. Amcr. 1, p. '■ill. A, fxiilnUuin ? Dorta. in Hook. Flora,
Dor. Amor. I. c. (not of Micliaux.)
This species, nearly related to tlic Coininon Sii<;ar
Maple, occurs in the Wu^h vallov.s of the Uocky iMoimtaiiis,
nearly in the same situations with the Currant lioaved
species, forming small groves hy themselves, romarkahlc
for the delicate paleness of their verdure, and filhiig, appa-
rently, situations occupied hy scarcely any other forest
trees hut the tremhling and large toothed Poplars. They
never attain the magnitude of the true Sugar Mnplo, all
that wc saw being mere saplings of 18 to 20 feet high,
and but little thicker than a man's leg, with a smooth pale
bark. The leaves are also smaller, as well as the winged
capsules, and the leaves, when adult, arc still rather softly
hairy beneath, and with both surfaces nearly of the same
colour ; the pedicels and base of the calyx are also hairy.
From the afFinities of this spccie.s, there can be little doubt
but that it might be employed, as far as it goes, for all the
purposes to which the Sugar Maple is applicable, and pro-
bably in some of the richer and lower lands, it may attain
a suflicient growth for economical purposes.
This species is, doubtless, the Arrr harhntvm of Dntiglas,
T
MP I
c male ilo.
.'MiiImmI, tlio
"IIS indcutfi-
"l'liii'4; iViiit
■ mill (iHAV,
looK. l-'loni,
^n Siirrnr
lonntaiiis,
t IiOav(>(l
tmnrkahio
Hi,', nppa-
ler forest
s. They
Tnplo, all
eet IiinJi,
ootli pale
c wiriixod
jcr softly
the snine
so hairy,
lie doubt
3r all the
and pro-
ly attain
DonMas,
I,' 1.
. ,:l|*l
1:3.
i
iH
IM l,\l\
Arei' ('•ruii(liHcntiitiiiii
A.cer Thniniiudiiflii .
/Ji'Uf/ntwndjf uMaple . frnbl^'iii' Jfrufnanf/itf .
PI LS.V
\-
wnatis sJil/tus tovirn-
tosis cancsccntihus lobis acufis fastiL^uUis itucfpHilltcr inciso'tkntatis,
jyilicdlis clu/ii^ntis, ffucli/nis <^UJ>ris, alls Into Uuicc(jliUis viz divtrgctt-
tihiis.
Acer ukummondii, ITmkcr and Aniott, in Journ. Botan. p. 199.
AcEK KUUKcn, y? Toiirij and Gaiy, Flora N. Amur. vol. 1, p. 081.
This fine species of Maple was discovered by Drum-
niond and Professor Carpenter, in Louisiana. It is found
exclusively in very low swamps, generally subject to inun-
dation, and flowers in February, 3 weeks earlier than any
other species in the same country, accoriliiig to Professor
Carpenter; he met with it more jjarticularly in the swamps
of Opclousas.
This tree, though allied to the Red Maple, appears to be
sufficiently distinct from that species, as well by its general
appearance as its geographical range, as yet being only
known to the swamps of Louisiana. I have also been told
of its existence in the province of Texas.
84
DRUMMOND'S MAPLE.
H I
Tlic bark of tlic small branches appears to be Ii«;!it
brown ; the younj^ shoots, petioles, and the lower side of
the leaves, are clothed even when adult, with a white, soft,
and woolly pnbescenee, which when removed from the
foliat^e, leaves a glaucous surface; above they are smooth.
The leaves are 3 to -I.J inches long, by 4 or 5 wide, with 3
to 5 rather short lobes, having acute sinuses, the lower
lobes are small and obtuse, the terminal ones acute, but
scarcely acuminate, and the central lobe scarcely longer
than the rest ; the base of the leaf, when fully grown, is
auriculated with a small sinus, the margin is irregularly
serrated and toothed, with the serraturcs and teeth distant
and often obtuse. The fruit situated on long smooth clus-
tered peduncles is at first divergent at an acute angle, at
length almost convergent by the inner enlargement of the
wing of the carpel, which is broadly lanceolate, strongly
veined and confluent below, down to the juncture of the
fruit. The wings of the samara, are, at first, reddish, at
length brown. The adult samara is from 1.^ to IJ of an
inch long, and about ^ an inch wide.
Plate LXX.
A branch of the natural size, with a cluster of the fruit in a young state,
and the adult samara.
be liyht
r side of
lite, soft,
from the
smooth.
c, witli 3
10 lower
cute, but
y longer
[rovvn, is
•egularly
1 distant
ath clus-
mgle, at
»t of the
strongly
e of the
Idish, at
l| of an
ling state,
li I
p
I .11
i ^ r
i I.
Acor hi|»arlilnni
CumnU Ifufi'i/ Mii/>/f
J:'riisyttlis hiTVissiniU tut it
rutiKiln-iirnliliiis j iViiit ujialinnis, with viiV short aii(| l/finl cunealr.oval divrr^'iii;;
wings. Nrrr.vM, in 'I'ouuky ami 'Wjav's Flora fli»r. Ain, 1, p. "JIT.
This singular sluul), wliicli wc introfliicc into llio Sylva
of tlio riiitt'd StiitcH, to ccmplctc tlio liistory oftlie Maples,
was (liscovcroil in tlio Itocky Mouiitain rani,^', in about tlio
latitude of 10 , witliin tlio lino of I ppcr California, in tho
narrow valloys and ravines occupying the lofty liilU near
the borders of IJear Ivivcr, which passes into the lake of
Tinipanaujos. If appeared to be a scarce s|)ocics, confined
to an alpine region, for wc found, i)y observing the boiling
point of water, that the plains themselves, stretchinu; far
and wide like interminable meadows or steppes, were
elevated between G and 7000 feet above the level of tho
ocean.
At a little distance, this diminutive species might have
been taken for a currant bush both in the size of the plant
and by its loaves. It formed small clumps on the declivities
of the mountains, where some moisture still remained amid
tho drought which constantly prevails throughout tho
summer in this western mountain tract. From the cool
and elevated region occupied by this species, it is certain
that it might be cultivated in all the temperate parts of
Europe and the United States, as a matter of curiosity, if
not of beauty. The leaves, divided down to the base, make
86
CURRANT LEAVED MAPLE.
an approach in habit to the genus Ncgundo or Box Elder,
thougii in other respects dillurcnt.
The heiglit oftiiis species is not more tlmn about 3 feet.
The leaves have petioles l.>;iger than themselves. The
branches are whitish, and smooth, as is every other part of
the plant ; the leaves of a dark glossy green. Tlie winged
fruit is small, and in proportion with the reduced stature of
the species ; having the wings broad even at the base, so
as to leave between them an unusually small sinus. Bud
scales broad, ovate, villous within.
Japan again affords, apparently, an analogous species to
the present in the Acer trifidum of Thunberg, but in this
the leaves are also entire as well as trifid, and the divi-
sions themselves entire. It is also marked as becoming a
tree.
Plate LXXI.
A branch of the natural size.
DWARF MAPLE.
ACER GLAnnuM ; folils subrotumHs, 3-5-lohntis basi tnmcatis, lohis incisis
acute dcntatis vtrbiqiic h-
bourhood appear equally beautiful and large. In the old
trees, the bark accumulating for ages, gives the trunk a
rough and shaggy appearance, almost equal to that of the
Shell-bark Hickory.
Of this genus, there are according to DecandoUc, 1
species in Tartary, 5 in Europe, (excluding varieties
erected into species,) G in Japan ; one with oblong acumi-
nate entire leaves in Nepaul, and specimens of G more
species in the Herbarium of the Academy of Natural
'
DWARF MAPLR.
11 Chester
he loaves
utose bc-
fiux), nc-
lonentity,
fapio, the
the Acer
8!)
Sciences of Pliiladclpliia, collected also in Nopaul, by Dr.
Wallick, and probably in tlie region of the riimmalay
Mountains, of these the most remarkable is the Acer can-
datum, with unequally serrated 3-lobcd leaves, having
slender acuminated points an inch or more in lenrrth.
rtcd that
annually
counties
hen, and
3 in the
nusually
in which
)m 2,3,
lid suni-
y shady
liaijictcr
ing aud
3 house,
3 ncigh-
thc old
trunk a
; of the
12
lollc, 1
Firieties
acumi-
) more
Natural
90
NEGUNDO.
(MoENCH. NuTT. Gen. Am.) Acer, (Linn.)
Flowers DKEcious. — Cahix minute 4 to 5-toothctl. Pcfu/s none. IM.vlk,
S((tmcns 4 to 5, anthers linear and acuminate. Samara (or iVuit)
similar to that of the Maple.
Trees of North America, with pinnate or twice trifoliate loaves, the
leaves ovate or lanceolate, toothed or inciscly clcfl, roseniljlintf those of
an Ash. Racemes of the male (lowers short and aggregated, with lililbrm
pedicels. Fertile flowers racemose.
CALIFORNIAN BOX ELDER.
NEGUNDO CALIFORNICU3I, foliis trifoUnlatis 2^>(^cscc?itihifs ji'/uorih/ts
tomcfUosis, Jb/iulis ovalis acuiuinatls trllobatls iaclso-scr rails; fructihus
2>i'h(scc)itllj>(s.
Ki'ginido Californlctnn. TTook. and Arxott, But. Boerhy. Siippl. p. 327,
t. 77. ToRKEY and Gray, Flora 1, p. 250 and Gdl.
Of this species, collected by Douglas in Upper California,
we know nothing from personal observation, not having
met with it in our visii to that country. It is remarkable
for the almost tomentosc pubescence of its leaves, and the
petioles and young branchlets are said to be velvety ; the
leaflets usually 3, are ovate acuminate, 3-lobed, cleft, and
serrated. The samara oblong, pubescent, rather shorter
than the oblique, obovatc, and nearly erect wings of the
seed.
It appears there is yet a third species of this Genus,
called by Decandolle, Nesujido Mcxicamim^ which has also
trifoliate leaves.
1 1 i i
*\
IG. Af.VLK,
1 (or rriiit)
leaves, tlic
2, those of
ith lililbrm
jtniiorihim
' fru(:tih}(s
pi. p. 327,
ilifornia,
liavincT
larkablc
and the
;ty; the
left, and
shorter
i of the
Genus,
las also
! M
W'tl
-,:*»***
I'l I.NXIl.
<''i/iri'fiiui/t H(KM- /•:/,/(•/•.
N<>o'U(i(lo Ciililuriiicuiii.
/','riihh-itf (Uli/ofni't' ■
CALIFORNIAN BOX ELDER. 9^
Plate LXXII.
A branch of the natural size in fruit, a. The male flowers.
Box Elder, {Ncgundo accroUks.) This tree, on the low
alluvial borders of rivers, extends much farther to the north
than was su))posed by Michaux. Richardson, Druniniond,
and Douglas, found it to be abundant about the Red River
and Saskatchawan, which latter river, (in latitude 54°,) is
its most northern limit. It also occurs on the western
banks of the Missouri, and those of the streams which
enter it from the West. It likewise extends into the inte-
rior of Arkansas, and for some distance on the borders of
the riattc. According to Douglas, the Crow Indians manu-
facture Sugar from its sap, but it is not near as saccharine
as that of the Sugar Maple.
02
BUCKWHEAT TREE.
Natural Onlcr, MALnciiiACEAR. (Juss.) Linmcan Classi-
Jicalion, Ducandiua Monouynia.
CLIFTONIA,'* (SoLANDER, herb. Banks and Gtcrtncr.)
JMylocahium, ( Wilid. Kiiuni.)
Cnl;/x inferior, Tj-clcft. Pdnh 5, unguiculafc. Stamens 10, 5 of them
shorter, the filaments dilated at base ; antliers opening longitudinally.
Germ prismatic, 3 or 4 sided ; Stignia sessile, 3 or 4-lobcd. Capaulc
dilated, mostly 3-winged, y-cellcd. iSecd solitary.
A tree with alternate, entire, coriaceous, evergreen leaves, without stipules.
Flowers bractcolatr-, in terminal racemes, white tinged with u blush of red.
BUCKWHEAT TREE.
CLIFTONIA tiGiJSTRiNA. Miihcarinni figi/strmnm, Wxlm>. Eni'm.
riab. Berol. PrHsu. Flor. Bor. Am. 1, p. 'M2, t. 14. Elliott, Sketch
1, p. 5U8. Dot. Mag, t. 1G-J5.
This elegant tree which cnUvcns the borders cf the pine
barren swamps of the South, is met with no where to the
north of tlie Savannah river, on the hne of Georgia and
South Carohna. From hence it is occasionally seen in all
the lower and maritime region of Georgia, as well as the
lower part of Alabama and West-Florida. It attains the
height of 8 to 15 or more feet, being much branched, and
* In honour of Dr. Francis Clifton, of London, a Fellow of the Royal
Society, and a medical writer of the last century.
I
ill
11' '11,
iMll
i I
J'l l,\Xlll
Buck Whtat Tree
Clif tonia Irgnstriua.
mrfey iM
CUf'forui rt' feuiLUj vU Trotnt
BUCKWIlliAT TKEK,
93
spreading out at the summit like an apple tree. Tlic ver-
ticillate branches arc regularly covered with a smooth
grey bark. Tlie wood is compact and whitish. It is
exceedingly ornamental in (lower, which takes place in
early Spring, in the month of March, when the whole sur-
face of the tree is covered w ith the most delicate, elegant,
and somewhat fragrant tlowcrs. The borders of all the still
and sluggish streams, and the dark swamps of the South arc
enlivened by the numerous trees of this species with which
they arc interspersed. In the intervals of their shade, in
West Florida, we frequently saw growing and already in
flower, the Atamasco Lily, or Amaryllis of the North.
When the [lowers are past, the tree puts on a still more
curious appearance, being loaded with triangular, winged
capsules resembling Ijiickwheat, and hence its common
name. The leaves resemble those of Privet, are evergreen,
thick, very smooth, not perceptibly veined, and glaucous
beneath.
In the Spring of 1773, the indefatigable Wm. Bartram
discovered this tree, where I afterwards also saw it grow-
ing, on the borders of the Savannah River, in Georgia.
He thus very clearly decribes it, as "a new shrub of great
beauty and singularity. It grows erect, 7 or 8 feet high.
A multitude of stems arise from its root, there divide them-
selves into ascendinii branches, which are garnished with
abundance of narrow lanceolate obtuse pointed leaves, of a
light green, smooth and shining. These branches with
their many subdivisions, terminate in simple racemes of
pale incarnate flowers, which make a tine appearance
among the leaves. The flowers are succeeded by desic-
cated triquetrous pericarpi, each containing a single ker-
nel." (Bartram's Travels, page 31.) How so fine a plant
came to be overlooked for near half a century, is really
surprising, considering the avidity of collectors and gar-
deners. In the northern States and in Britain, it is a hardy
94
BUCKWHEAT TREE.
greenhouse plant, and well worth cultivating. But to see
it in perfection, you must behold it in its native swamps,
attaining the magnitude of a tree, and blooming profusely
on the verge of winter, without any thing near it as a con-
trast, save a withered carpet of leaves and leafless plants,
and in the midst of a gloom and solitude that scarcely any
thing else at the time rcli es.
In Bartram's Botanic Garden, (Kingscssing), it appeared
to be quite hardy, and survived for many years without
any protection.
Plate LXXIII.
A branch of the natural size, the friiil.
95
Jt to see
swamps,
profusely
IS a con-
is plants,
cely any
ippeared
without
C Y R I L L A.
Natural Order, Cyrille/e.* {Torrey and Gray, in note,
Flor. N. Amer. I., p. 25G.) Krice/e, (Jussieu.) Linmcan
Classification, Pentandria, Monogyma.
CYRILLA.f (Richard, in Mich. Dr. Garden and Linn,
excluding the fruit.)
Calyx 5. parted, persistent, the divisions small, ovate-lanccolato acute.
Petals 5, sessile, lanceolate and acute, thick and convex in the centre,
exceeding the length of the calyx. Stamens o, at)out the length of tho
petals, the filaments subulate, anthers cordate, distinct, !2-cclled, opening
longitudinally. Ovary, superior, oval, with a short style, and 2, or
rarely 3 thick obtuse stigmas ; ovalrs solitary, suspended. Fd-iraip
oval, small, at iirst somewhat fleshy indciiiscent, at length suberose, 2-
cellcd, the cells l-secdcd, and the seed pendulous from the sunnuil of
the cells.
* To tliis genus, as a natural groupe, Torrey and Grey refer also the
Cliftoiiia, {M/jhcariinu, Wilt.d.,) as well as the EUioUub of Muhlenberg,
and the whole arc considered as a sub-order of Kkhaci;.!". Of JOlliottia,
however, I conceive wc know too little to be able to decide on its n.-itural
aflinities, it will probably remain near Ciethra in iM'icaceie. CliftoniiL
appears to be inseparable from the AIali'iuhiacio.i^ The only genus, then,
at present embraced in this order, is that of C'yrilla, which without ;uiy
real aflhuty to the Ericaceae, is allied to the Mali'kmiiac r..E by its iVuit.
The description of tho genus, for the present, may be considered also as
that of the order. Tho fruit of some other i)lant than the present, is dc-
scribed by Linnrcus, Schrcber, W'illdenow, L'l Itn-itier, and Duhamel ; as
tliey give a bilocular, bivalvular capsule, containing many small angular
seeds. It is to Richard, in Michaux, that wc owe the first correct descrip-
tion of <'e fruit of Cyrilla.
t In honour of Dominico Cyrilli, professor of Medicine, at Naples, and
a botanical author.
i I
ji'i
if p I
t
la
9G
CAROLINA CYRILLA.
CYRILLA RACEMiFLORA, foIHs cuncato-lmiceolatis, viz acutis, mh-mem-
hranaccis, glabris, pctalis calijce trij^h lotigioribus medio convexis.
Cyrilla raccmijiora. Linn. Mantis, p. 50. Waltek. Flor. Carol, p.
103. WiLLD. Sp. PI. 1. c. Elliott, Sketch, I. p. 'JO 4. Nouv. Du-
iiAMEL, vol. 1, p. 215, t. 4G.
Cyrilla raccmifcra, Vandrll. Florul. Lusitnn. ot Tii'osil, spocim. 88.
Cyrilla Caroliniana. Richard in Mich. T'lor, Bor. Amor. 1, p. 158.
Persoon 1, p. 175.
\tf.\ Cijrilla. L'IIerit. Stirp. vol. 1, p. 137, tab. G6. Swartz, P>w/.
p. 50. Sp. pi. 1, p. 1140.
This very elegant tree begins to appear in the low
humid woods and pine barrens of South Carolina, in
swampy places, where it attains the height of 12 to 20
feet, with a diameter of 8 to 10 inches, and is sometimes
so loaded with its numerous racemes of white flowers that
we can scarcely perceive the leaves. It is in fact one of
the most beautiful trees of the southern forests, and is there-
fore often preserved in the vicinity of habitations as an
ornament. It continues to be met with throughout Georgia
and the Floridas ; reappears in the West Indies, and was
discovered by Vellozo in Brazil. According to Michaux
the elder, there is also a second species, {Cyrilla ^ntil-
lana^) with laurel-like leaves in the Antilles.
From the name of Iron- Wood sometimes given to it by
the English, it would appear that the wood is hard and
close-grained, but no experiments have yet been made
upon it. In Bartram's Botanic Garden, at Kingsessing, in
this vicinity, it is perfectly hardy ; there is now growing
there a tree near upon 20 feet high, and 2 feet 2 inches in
circumference. The bark on the old trunks is of a reddish
is, snb-mem-
nvexis.
or. Carol, p.
Nouv. Du-
locim. 88.
r. 1, p. 158.
ARTz, Prod.
the low
•olina, in
12 to 20
ometimes
vvers that
ct one of
I is there-
is as an
Georgia
and was
Michaux
la Jlntil-
i to it by
lard and
m made
ssing, in
growing
nches in
reddish
U-: a
15
i
"Si
n; !i
i;!:
! ■ :i
!m !
,li
PI I.WIV
C\iilla I'tntemiflora
Crnolwn CyriZia-
CjriUt dc Cari'lifit ■
CAKol.lW CVHILI.A.
o:
brown colour, in layers of about ii lino in tliirknt'ss, ni' n
8oft, elastic, librous and lVial)le consistence, almost like
Agaric, and may bo used like that snl)stance as a styptii,'.
The tree presents a widely spreading bright green sum-
mit, and the branches come out in a circular order, pre-
senting numerous slender twigs. The leaves are alternate,
rather narrow and lanceolate, very entire, sometimes ob-
lanceolate, nearly perennial. The llowers are small but
very numerous, disposed in slender pendulous racemes,
]>roducing a very graceful eflect, and these racemes are
clustered at the extremities of the Ijranclies oi" the ibvmer
season. The jjotals aro three times as long as the calyx,
inserted without claws at the liase of the germ, and have
each an oblong, convex elevaticm or tliickening of the petal
on the lower part. The filaments alternate with the petals,
and are somewhat shorter. The anthers are incumbent,
cordate, 2-celled, billd at the base. Style short, the stig-
mas 2 and obtuse. The pericarp of an oval form, never
opens, is 2-celled, the sides idled with a dry spongy granu-
lar pulp, and with a single ovate seed in each cell.
Platk LXXIY.
A branch of the natural size. n. The flower enlarged.
Vol. II.— 1.':;
U8
MAHOGAAY
(>lAHAno\, Fr.)
Natural Order, Cedrele.e. (R. Brown.) Linncmn Clasfti-
fication, Decandria, Monogvnia.
SWIETENIA.-^ (LixN.)
Cali/x miuute, 4 to u-lobcJ. defitliiuiis. ]\kils 4 or 5. SUnnina 8 to 10,
united into a subcaiiipuuuliito 10 toothed tube, inteinally antherit'eroua.
Sti/h, short; stighia discnid, dcntato. Cupau/i: ovoid, hirgc and woody,
5-cclled, many seeded, opening fnmi the base upwards, with o marginal
valves; tlie axis largo, persistent, pentangular above, O-winged below
with the partitions of the valve.i. Sceila, alated, pendulous, about 12 in
each ooll, imbricated in a double series. Ihnhri/o transverse. Cotyle-
don» eonfluent in iiud eonfouiidi'd with tlie fleshy albumen.
Trees of warm or tropieal climates, chiefly India and America, with
hard dark reddish wood. TIu^ leaves nbruptly pinnated, mostly with un-
equal sided letiflets. Flowers in Mxillary or somewhat terminal loose
panicles.
* Named by Jacquin, in honour of (Jerard \i. B. Von Su-ieten, archiater
to Maria Teresa, Fimpress of (lermany, who, at his persuasion, founded
the IJor.iuic (iurden at N'ienna.
*i Clasd-
a 8 to 10,
lerit'eroua.
ikI wootly,
marginal
;ed below
)out 12 in
Cotyle-
rica, with
with un-
tial loose
archiater
fbiinded
ill
h
IM. I.XXV
I I
I- I
'^IJ\ '-^^^
Swu'U'tita MiiJujooni
Affi/txJijinijr Tree
\fo^jnfo/u if'^/mcff,
i/iif .
I'l.l.XXV
v/^-r,
'T^ue .
\'i
09
MAHOGANY TREE.
SWIETENIA JIAHOGOM, foliis snhquadrijurjis, fclivUs ovato-lanccolatis
falcatis aruminatis basi innsqitdlibiis, raccmis axilkiribus paniculatis.
— Linn. Sp. pi. Decand. Prod. vol. 1, p. Q'lb. Cavan. Dissert, vol.
7, p. 365, t. 209. Jacq. Amer. (Ed. picta), p. 127. C.\tesby, C.-^-ol.
vol. 2, t. 81. AuR. JussiKu, Mem. Mus. vol. 19, p. 249, t. 11. La-
marck, Eueyc. vol. 3, p. 078. Hook. I3ot. Miscel. vol. 1, p. 21, t. 10.
ToRR. & Gray, Flor. vol. 1, p. 242.
Cedrela /oh'is pinnatis, Jloribus sjxirsis, Uyno graviori. Brown, Jam.
p. 158.
Cedrus mahorjoiiL Miller, Diet. No. 2.
The late Doctor Muhlenberg was the first to annoimc
the existence of the Mahogany tree within the limits of
the United States, and he gives it in his catalogue as a
native of Florida. Torrey and Gray add in their Flora,
" We have seen in the herbarium of the late Mr. Groom, a
capsule from a collection made in Southern Florida by the
late Doctor Leitner, who considered the tree to which it
belonged to be the true Mahogany," 1, p. 242. In one of
those botanical excursions to explore the wilds of Florida,
in which he had previously been so eminently successful,
the indefatigable Leitner fell a victim to the savage hos-
tility which has now so long been protracted over that
devoted soil. He ascended a creek into the interior, — and
was seen no more
I
. . . facilis descensus Averno.
Sed revocarc graduni, superasque evadere auras,
Hoc opus, hie labor est.
i'EXElD. lib. VI.
The Mahogany tree is said to be of rapid growth, be-
coming a lofty tree, with a graceful spreading summit,
« i
100
MAIIOGAXY
TREE.
the
stem
attaining
very large
! dimensions,
acquiring a
diameter of five or
six feet.
It grows
in
the warmest
parts of America, as in Cuba, Jamaica, St. Domingo, Aca-
pulco on the Pacific, Realijo in Guatemala, and the Baha-
ma islands, and generally affects a rocky soil or the sides
of mountains, growing often in places almost absolutely
deprived of earth. The seeds germinate in the clefts of
rocks, and when the roots meet any insurmountable impe-
diment, they spread out and creep till they find entrance
into other clefts into which they can penetrate, and some-
times it happens that the increasing dimensions of the
roots succeed so far as to split the rocks themselves. Such
trees in the Bahama islands, growing so contorted for want
of soil, produce the much esteemed and curiously veined
wood, known in Europe a.s "Madeira Avood." In Jamaica
it is also a common tive on the plains or lower hill sides,
and Dr. Miicfadyen remarks, in that island he had never
met with it at an elevation above 3000 feet, nor very clo^
to tlie sea shore. In some of the islands it is now rare in
the neighbourhood of the sea, because of its convenience
for embarkation, and it is cut down of all ages, without
any forethought for the future.
Doctor Macfadyen, speaking of the Mahogany of Ja-
maica says, " It is at present much more scarce than it
appears to have formerly been. It was from this island
that the supply for Europe yvna in former times principally
obtained, and the old Jamaica Mahogany is still considered
superior to any that can now Ijo procured from otlicr coun-
tries. In 1753, according to Dr. Browne, 521,300 feet in
planks, were shi])ped from this island, but at present very
little is exported from it. It was formerly so plentiful as
to be applied to the commonest purposes ; such as planlvs,
boards, shingles, &c." " The beauty of the Mahogany
wood, is said to have been first discovered b}- a carpenter
on board of Sir Walter Raleigh's vessel, at the time the
MAIIOGANV TKEK.
101
uiriiig a
wannest
igo, Aca-
!ie Baha-
tlie sides
jsoliitely
clefts of
)le impe-
eiitrance
id some-
i of the
s. Such
for want
v' veined
Jamaica
ill sides,
id never
■ry clo^
rare iir
'enience
without
of Ja-
than it
island
ici pally
side red
r coun-
fcet in
it very
tiful as
blanks,
logan V
'penter
ne the
ship was in harbour at Trinidad, in 1595." The first use
to which it was applied in England, was the humble one
of forming a candle-box, and about the end of the 17th
centur}', it was brought into notice hy Dr. Gibbons, a Lon-
don physician, who had received planks of it from his ))ro-
ther, commanding a vessel in the West India trade. Since
whi(;h time it has been emplo3ed for costly furniture, and
occupies the most distinguished place in the drawing-rooms
of nobility and fashion, quite supplanting the old oaken
tables and domestic panelling of antiquity.
The most beautiful wood for variety of figure and agree-
able accident, is oljtaincd from sections of the base of the
stem and root. No other wood can rival it for diversity
of shades, presenting spots, waves and clouds, more varied
even than the tortoise shell, which it so much resembles.
Its superior density also allows it to acquire the highest
polish of which any wood is susceptible.
T'l; 'jfrcipal supply of Mahogany is now obtained from
Iloiitc r but it is of a very inferior quality, being open
grained, light and porous, and of a paler and inferior colour.
Trees, it seems, grown in low or alluvial lands, never give
a rich and hard wood. Hence the Mahogany of St. Do-
mingo and that of the Bahama Islands, is considered supe-
rior to what is at present exported from Jamaica. It was
formerly employed by the Spaniards of Ilavanna in ship-
building, and it is said to be unattached by worms, to
endure long in water, and to receive the bullet without
splitting. Mr. Crout, cabinet maker, in Philadelphia, so
curious in our native woods, has favoured me with a speci-
men of Mahogany from East Florida, remarkable for its
waving spots, which almost exactly resemble those of the
Bird's Eye Maple.
The bark of the Mahogany is astringent, and considered
useful in diarrhoea ; indeed it resembles that of the Cin-
chona in colour and taste, though somewhat more Ijitler.
102
MAHOGANY TREE.
It has been given with snccess in powder, as a substitute
for Peruvian Bark.*
The leaves of the Mahogany have a very light, airy and
graceful appearance, feathered or pinnate, in three to five
pairs of leaflets, ending abruptly without any terminal one.
They are remarkable for their obliquity or the inequality
of their sides, the lower portion of the leaf from the mid-
rib not being more than half as wide as the upper, they
are quite entire, smooth, shining, and coriaceous like the
laurel, being probably of long duration, and giving the tree
the character of an evergreen ; their form is between ovate
and lanceolate, with a very slender and sharply acuminated
point ; the general footstalk is about an inch and a half
long. The flowers arc small and greenish-j^ellow, disposed
in loose, axillary, long pedunculated panicles, three to four
inches long and pendent. The flowers and their mode of
growth are a good deal like those of the Melia, or Pride of
India, but they are smaller. The calyx is minute, with
five very shallow lobes. Petals oblong-ovate. Tube of the
stamens cylindric-campanulate, 10 toothed, internally a
little below the summit, bearing the anthers, which are
small, yellow, and alternating with the teeth of the tube.
A short denticulate disc encircles the base of the ovarj^
Ovary ovate, green ; style cylindrical ; the stigma peltate,
with five denticulations. Capsule egg-shaped, the size of
an orange, rufous-brown, minutely tuberculated, 5-celled,
opening with five valves from the base, covered within
with a distinct coriaceous plate. Receptacle central, large,
pentagonal, with the angles prominent, opposite, and meet-
ing up with the edges of the valves, so as to form the septa
of the cells; seeds at the apex of the receptacle, 15 in
each cell, compressed, truncated at base, expanded at the
summit into a membranaceous, oblong wing.
* Marj'adi/cn, Flora Jamaic. p. 177-
MAIIOOANV THKK.
lo:J
ubstitute
airy and
!e to five
inal one.
equality
the mid-
>er, they
like the
the tree
en ovate
minated
a half
lisposed
i to four
mode of
Pride of
ke, -with
e of the
nally a
ich are
) tube.
ovarj^
peltate,
size of
•celled,
within
, large,
meet-
i septa
15 in
at the
To show the present extensive use of Mahojiany in Kng-
land, it mav bo sunicient to mention that in l!S29, the im-
portation amounted to 19, oo-") tons.
In Cuba and Honduras, it becomes one of the most ma-
jestic of trees, growing and increasing for some centuries.
Its gigantic trunk throws out such massive ju-ms, and
spreads the shade of its shining green leaves over such a
vast surface, that all other trees appear insignilicant in the
comparison. A single log not unlrequently weighs six or
seven tons, nnd a tree has been known to contain as much
as 12,000 superficial feet, and to have produced upwards
of 1000/. sterb'ig. The largest log ever cut in Honduras,
was 17 feet long, 57 inches broad, and five feet four inches
in depth ; measuring 5,1()(S superficial leet, or fifteen tons
weight.
The Mahogany of ILjuduras"' is cut about the month of
August, by gangs of men of from 20 to 50 each. The
woods are penetrated and surveyed from the summit of
some lofty tree, and the leaves at this season having ac-
quired a }ellow reddish hue, are discerned by an accus-
tomed eye at a great distance. The trees are commonly
cut 10 or 12 feet from the ground, a stage being erected
for the purpose. The trunk from the dimensions of the
wood it furnishes, is deemed the most valuable ; but for
ornamental purposes, tlio limbs, or ])ranchos. are generally
preierred.
A sufiicient number of trees being felled to occupy the
gang during the season, they commence cutting the roads
upon which they are to be transport(>(l. This may fairly
be estimated at two-thirds of the labour and expense of
Mahoi'iuiv (iuttinti,'. Each maho^-anv work forms in itself
a small villaue on tlie bank of a river, — the choice of situ-
'■' Snpposoil by Mr. II. Hrowiie to lio :i ppculi.ir species, on tlio autliority
of Browu'ij Ili.st. of Jamaica.
I .
i i
i
101
maiu)c;any tuee.
iitioii being nhva^s rogiilatcd by tlie proximity of .^uch
river to the inaliogany intended as the object of future ope-
ration.
These roads are cleared out by the cutlass and the nxe,
in the same manner that the lirst roads in our back forests
are made; bridges have also to be constructed. The
trunks of the trees are then cut into square logs. April
and May, being the driest season in this climate, is chosen
as the only time when the logs can be drawn to their des-
tination from the interior of the forest. Each truck re-
quires seven pair of oxen and two drivers, and 12 to lead
or put the logs on the carriages. From the intense heat
of the sun, the cattle especially, would be unable to work
during its intluence, and consequently the loading and car-
riage of the timl>er is performed in the night. On the rise
of the rivers at the close of May, the logs are floated down
to their destination and finally shipped from Belize in Hon-
duras to Europe,
Plate LXXY.
A branch in flower of the natural size. a. The capsule, /j. The seed.
105
ORANGE TEEE.
(L'OrangeR; Fr.)
Natural Ordcr^ Aurantiace^, (Correa.) Linnaian Classi-
fication^ POLYANDRIA MoNOGYNlA.
CITRUS.* (Linn.)
Calyx S-cleft, persistent. Petals 5 or more, oblong, spreading. Stametis,
filaments about 20 to 60, forming a cylinder and disposed in several
sets. Germ superior, style cylindrical with a capitate stigma. Bcrnj
many-celled, inclosed by a fleshy glandular rind, the cells 9 to 18, sepa-
rated from each other by membranous envelopes, pulp watery, contained
in numerous utricular vesicles. Seeds oblong, attached to the inner
angle of the cell, albumen none. Embryo straight, the seed leaves or
cotyledoncs largo and thick, often more than 2.
Trees or shrubs of tropical or mild climates, chiefly indigenous to
eastern Asia, India, and China, with a single species in Guiana, (troj)ical
America.) Leaves alternate, solitary, articulated to the summit of a
petiole which is usually margined or alated, the axils of the leaves, in the
uncultivated state, usually produce simple spines.
* Derived from Knpix, the Lemon, and jt/r/»«)», the Citron, which among
the Greeks and Romans included also the Cedar or some similar tree,
which they probably associated from the fragrance of its wood.
14
fi! ;■
!()(>
WILD ORANGF. TREE.
CITRUS VTTtn.Mits, (RisHJo) ;)r//o//,s nhitis, folm rUij^tlcis ncvtis crcnn-
/(ilis, Jlofihiis icosunifris, fnictnitni L^Johnsonim cnrtkc iniid scrihroao,
^vilpa acri amiua. DiiCANu. Prod. I. p. 539. Risso, Aiinal. Miis. vol.
yo, p. 190.
Crrnus Aurantium Indiaim. Oall. cilr. p. \'-l'.l.
CiTKUS Bigarradic. Nouv. Duiiajiel, vol. 7, p. 99.
Bigdrculc of the French, or Bitter Onuigc.
Citrus sjnnosinsima? Meyeh, Esseuuiii. p. 247.
Aurantium vulgarc, acre ; primntii. Farrarius, Ilespcr. p. 374.
Aurantium sylvcstrc, medulla acri. Tournefort's Institutes, p. G20.
Malus Aurantia sylvcstris, J. Bauiiin, Ilist. vol. 1, p. 99.
From the relation of William Bartram, in his Travels
up the St. John's in East Florida, in the year 1774, it is
evident that the Orange tree is abundantly indigenous to
the banks of that stream. Groves of Orange trees, of larjzc
dimensions, loaded with their golden fruit, spread them-
selves before the traveller in the greatest profusion, and he
might readily imagine himself transported in reality to the
gardens of the Ilespcrides. As the Orange was there found
an established denizen of the country, previous to all Euro-
pean settlement, Ave must of course conclude it to be, like
the banana and some other tropical productions, a native
alike of both the old and the new continent. These forests
of the Wild Orange trees are frequent in East Florida as
far north as the latitude of 28°. According to the observa-
tions of the late Mr. Croom, " they are rarely found north
of latitude 29° 30', although there is a small grove near the
Alligator Pond, which is somewhat north of latitude 30°.
The fruit, (according to Torrey and Gray,) is known by the
name of the Bitter-Swect Orange.
To show the extent of these groves, in a notice of the
■cutis cmiv-
\ni srnhwsfi,
al. Mus. vol.
374.
p. 020.
Travels
774, it is
enous to
, of large
id tliem-
J, and he
ty to the
re found
ill Euro-
be, like
a native
3 forests
orida as
)bserva-
id north
lear the
ide 30°.
[1 by the
! of the
) I \XM
J/ /,,/ (^1 i/Z/t/i '/} ■(
;ifis
l//t/i ■ ^,/yor run l\\v,
lines of the colony, wlu.n; llicre was mitlMr lialtitation i\*n'
cleared field. It was tlicn a fainons Oranije m'ove, tju;
npper or south promontory of si ridjjje nearly hall' a imlo
wide, and stretching north about 10 miles," vVc. All this
was one rulirc ()r(uii!;r y.
The specimens which I have seen brought from East Flo-
rida, by Mr. James Reed, arc evidently referable to tho
present species, the Orange of India, though wo have not
had the satisfaction of seeing any specimen of the fruit;
but, according to Rartram, tho taste is sulliciontly grateful,
as he made use of it to season and add a relish to his
animal food.
India is the native country of the Orange now so gene-
rally naturalized in the south of Europe, purtik. u^irly along
* PiULLirs ill Ilakluyfs Voyages, 1. c.
PTr
I t
:3 ,|
108
WILD ORANGE TREE.
the coast of the Mediterranean. About Nice all the known
species and varieties of this grateful fruit are cultivated in
perfection. The Orange has also been supposed to be a
native of the Hesperides, or Canary Islands, and its fruit
to be the golden apples, which the daughters of Hesperus
caused to be so strictly guarded by a watchful dragon. Under
this idea, Ventenat changed the name of the natural order
to which it belongs from Aurantiaj to Hesperida), an inno-
vation more poetic than philosophical, and which has not
been adopted.
The Lemon appears to have been the first of the genus
which was introduced into Europe. Theophrastus, and
after him Pliny, speak of a fruit known under the name of
the Apple of Persia^ or of Media. Virgil in his Georgics,
extols the happy eftects supposed to be produced by the
use of the Apple of Media.
. . . Animos ct olcntia Modi
Ora fovcnt illo, ct scnibus mcdicantur anhclis.
Geokg. Lib. 2.
The Phocians are supposed to have been the first who
planted this tree on the coast of the Mediterranean, when
they founded the city of Marseilles. In the 11th century
the Seville Orange was already spread through all the
islands of the Mediterranean, and in the 13th century it
was established about Nice. The species of Orange of
which we are now treating, (the Bigaradier of the French,)
appears to have been introduced from India into Europe by
the Arabs, who cultivate it in all the countries subjected to
their dominion. The Citron passed from Egypt into Europe
in the time of the Crusades. According to the testimony
of one of the Arabian writers, it was from Phenicia that the
golden Orange was conveyed to the gardens of Seville.
No traveller has in a positive manner established the
native country of the true Orange ; and it is nearly ahke
4
WILD ORANGE TREK.
109
he known
Itivated in
d to be a
d its fruit
Hesperus
on. Under
ural order
c, an inno-
ch has not
the genus
astus, and
lie name of
5 Georgics,
ced by the
mc. Lib. 2.
le first who
ncan, when
th century
igh all the
1 century it
Orange of
le French,)
} Europe by
subjected to
into Europe
e testimony
cia that the
of Seville.
Wished the
nearly alike
whether we should attribute it to Japan or the islands of
the Pacific, more particularly the Philippines.
The duration of the Orange tree, in the countries where
it is indigenous, is no doubt very great. Many of those
cultivated in the maritime Alps of France, are more than
250 years of age; and according to Risso, a wind from the
S. S. E. in February 1807, overturned in the commune of
Esa, citron trees which were more than 500 years old.
Tamara and Ferrarius both describe an Orange tree,
planted in the year 1200 by Saint Doniinick, in the garden
of the convent of Saint Sabine in Rome, which is said still
to exist.
The Orange is considered the most beautiful tree of
Euroj)c ; the majesty and regularity of its form, the bril-
liant and unfading green of its graceful foliage, its white
and fragrant flowers, and splendid fruit, strike the beholder
with admiration. Its beauty is not transient like that of
ordinary orchard trees, but nearly throughout the year it
is luxuriantly adorned with flowers and fruit. Tiie culti-
vated Orange attains the height of 25 to 30 feet, with a
circumference of 2 or 3 feet. The wild Orange of Florida,
however, acquires a greater height than those which I
have observed in cultivation in the Azores. The wood is
compact, close and fine grained, very hard, and suscep-
tible of a fine polish, slightly veined, and suitable for inlaid
work. The wood of the Wild or Bitter Orange is pre-
ferred by chemists because of its superior density. The
leaves have also a more powerful odor, distilled they give
a bitter aromatic water, known in Languedoc by the name
of VEan lie Naples. By the same operation is also ob-
tained an essential oil of a better quality than that from
the leaves of the true oranjie. The Omn;.-^.« ;,„/,.„,„,-,, .a/yc.;,./y^,/.,//,, ,,,,;^^ ,,,^^^ ^^^^^
/a.a, .^a«^m^... ,^.,«^...,,•, /.-avA.., .s/^o,,,,,/,,, „-,«V.. 12, M'..
oi«.a^^. «/./..«•. a%««,,./o „;,„,„,•,,.,/,^>. /.a^Vcr ^;.^,«/«,,-. ,,,,v,,,.v " De-
CAND. Prod. vol. 1, p. 559. *
Clausa flava, foliis avemis, corolUs tctrnpctnlis. Linn. Svst Vca
vol. 4, p. 328. JAca. Stirp. Amcr. p. 272, t. 167. '
* Named in honour of Cliarles dc I'Ecluse, a celebrated botanist of the
loth century.
112
VELLOVV FLOWERED HALSAM TREE.
Clijsia aihura, folds crassis, nitUlk, o/iovd, not
acuminate, decidedly crcnatc on the margin, ^.^-.d of a
much thicker consistence.
The wood of this species is yellowish white, close grain-
ed, and capable of receiving a high polish. The leaves and
bark of several of the West India species of this genus
yield a fine balsamic juice, wholly resembling that of the
Gilead balsam. By distillation the wood would also yield
a very grateful perfume.
116
FLORIDA TORCH WOOD.
One of the oriental species formerly included in this
genus, has been long familiar; namdy the A. GilcadcnsiSf
which yields the balsam of Mecca or of Gilcad, the most
fragrunt and pleasant of balsams. From the A. Elemifera
of Brazil, is obtained the gum Elemi. The A, Ambrosiaca
of Guiana, (now referred to Idea of Aublet,) becomes a
tree, and yields a very odoriferous balsam from the trunk
and branches, which is used in dysentery, and burnt in
houses and churches as a perfume. It also produces the
resin of Couraia.
Plate LXXVIII.
A branch of the natural size. a. The flower, b. The fruit.
I I'
[I in this
Icadcnsis,
the most
Elcmifera
mbrosiaca
ecomes a
the trunk
burnt in
luces the
fruit.
li
Hni'xvrjj (limniul\!i'a.
llk'f /ll|MIUII
Siiiiiicv . Ketttfii
>•«■ I Uetofii
ll'l
CORAL SUMAC J I.
Jamaic. p. 1 77, (..,1,. 1;}, fi^,. ;.. """"'
JhriM.. nuuin,., rnn>is j..urM,.s n.,/'.-;,,.. af,juc rotundionius,
l^il. Fig. 3. IUn,l)emlroI. p. r.l. ' ' '
7yc-/.-«/a /n,rl„ n.rnlHuo, Jh,r,- p,nU,,u'U,ln. 1'u:mikk, ic. (ll.
Tins stately spccios of Sumach becomes a tree of 15 to
10 or more feet in liei-ht, and in Jamaica afllrts the cal-
eareous lulls. It is also a native of Cuba and Key West
(Dr. IJlodgelt.) The wood is hard, and when hu-e enou-h'
suitable lor furniture. ° '
Like several other native species of the -enus, it is to
some individuals poisonous to the touch. This and the
Mountain Sumach, are called in St. Dominf^o, - Mountain
Manchmiel, from the poisonous qualities of the juice they
exude. The branches are erect and smooth. The leaves
come out at the ends of the branches, and are unequ'allv
puniate, usually two pair aud an odd ouo, but sometimes
three pair and a terminal leallet. The leaves are very
smooth a.Kl coriaceous, (|uite entire, upon Ion- petioles'-
the leaflets are usually broad-ovate aud acuminate on*
lungish partial petioles, the upper pair une«pial at the
base; sometimes they are of an elliptic Ibrm, and occa-
sionally obtuse and rounded at the extremi(^^ The IJowers
are dioicous; in terminal, loose, open, sprJadin- panicles
which are about the length of the leaves; the bracts are
Vol. II. — 10
122
COKAL SUMACH.
very small. The calyx in 5-parto(l, the scjxmeiit.s ovate
and dilated with membranous margins. Petals five, ovate,
yellowish-white, covered with dark longitudinal lines. Sta-
mens five, not exserted. In the fertile llower the stigma
appears to be very small and unequally 3-lobed. The
berries are oblong, smooth, somewhat o])lique, scarlet, and
as large as peas ; the nut is thin and chartaceous.
A transparent gum in small quantities, exudes sponta-
neously from the peduncles of the flowers, which probably
is of the nature of varnish.
Among the useful and remarkable species of this ex-
tensive genus, may be mentioned the Elm-Leaved Sumach,
(Ehis Coriarki,) which is so far harmless as occasionally
to be employed for culinary purposes, the seeds being com-
monly used in Aleppo at meals to provoke an appetite.
The leaves and seeds are also used in medicine as astrin-
gent and styptic applications. From time immemorial it
has been employed like oak bark for tanning leather, and
that of Turkey is chiefly tanned with this plant. The
pulp of the drupes of several species affords an agreeable
acid, similar to that of wood sorrel, either the oxalic or
tartaric.
The Rhus vernix affords the Japan varnish, which oozes
from incisions made in the tree, and grows thick and black
when exposed to the air. It is so transparent, that when
laid pure upon boxes or furniture, every vein of the wood
may be clearly seen. With it the Japanese varnish most
of their household furniture made of wood. The milky
juice of the plant stains linen a dark brown ; the whole
shrub like our Poison Ash, {R. venenata,) to which it is
nearly allied, is in a high degree poisonous ; and the poison
is communicated by touching or smelling any part of it.
Inflammations appear on the skin in large blotches, suc-
ceeded l)y pustules which rise in the inflamed parts, and
rmont.s ovato
Is five, ovato,
il lilies. 8ta-
r tlie stigma
•lobed. TIio
scarlet, and
ous.
ides sponta-
icli probably
of this ex-
'^ed Sumach,
occasionally
I being com-
m appetite.
13 as astrin-
nemorial it
eather, and
'lant. The
1 agreeable
3 oxalic or
CORAL SUMAClf. loo
-I wO
till Avith watery matter, attended with burnii.g and itchin.r
whicli contmues for several days, after wiiich ti.e infian"
mation subsides. The extremities and ghmduiar parts of
the body are those which are most aflected. Our lihus
radtao^ and R. To^iroclendron, (Poison Vines,) operate
nearly in he same way, though in a less degree than tiie
Poison Ash or Rlu,s rcn.U Many persons, however, can
approach and handle these deleterious plants with imj)u-
nity. One of the most dangerous species in America, is
the lihusimmda, of Michaux, a native of North Carohna
Mr Lyons, a well-known and assiduous collector of rare
and ornamental plants, suffered extremely from its venom
by merely collecting the seeds; it produced a general fever^
and aflected the use of his limbs for several years.
Plate LXXX.
• A branch of the natural size. a. The male flowers. /.. A flower
enlarged.
t'hich oozes
I and black
that when
f the w^ood
rnisli most
rhe milky
the whole
*'hich it is
the poison
part of it.
tches, suc-
parts. and