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UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
jtortjj Jmcntan Sglfoi;
OR, A DESCRIPTION OF THE
FOREST TREES
OF THE
UNITED STATES, CANADA, AND NOVA SCOTIA.
CONSIDERED PARTICULARLY
WITH RESPECT TO THEIR USE IN THE ARTS AND THEIR
INTRODUCTION INTO COMMERCE.
TO WHICH IS ADDED
A DESCRIPTION OF THE MOST USEFUL OF THE
EUROPEAN FOREST TREES.
IIXUSTRATED BY 15B COLORED ENGRAVINGS.
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF
F.-"' ANDREW MICHAUX,
MEMBER OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF PHILADELPHIA, ETC. ETC.
WITH NOTES BY J. JAY SMITH,
EDITOR OF THE HORTICULTURIST, MEMBER OF THE ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES, ETC.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. II.
PIIILADELPIIIA:
PUBLISHED BY RICE, BUTTER & CO.
No. 525 MINOR STREET.
18 6 5.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in tho year 1SG5, by
RICE, RUTTER & CO..
COLLINS, PRINTER
CONTENTS OF VOLUME SECOND.
Large Magnolia, or Big Laurel Magnolia grandiflora 8
Small Magnolia, or White Bay Magnolia glauca 12
Cucumber Tree Magnolia acuminata 15
Heart-Leaved Cucumber Tree Magnolia cordata 18
Umbrella Tree Magnolia tripetala 20
Long-Leaved Cucumber Tree Magnolia auriculata 23
Large-Leaved Umbrella Tree Magnolia macrophylla 26
Loblolly Bay Gordonia lasyanthus 29
Franklinia Gordonia pubescens 31
Papaw Anona triloba 33
Poplar or Tulip Tree Liriodendrum tulipifera 35
Sweet Gum Liquidambar styraciflua 44
Buttonwood or Sycamore Platanus Occidentals 48
Catalpa Bignonia catalpa 55
Crab Apple Malm coronaria 58
June Berry Mespilus arborea GO
Dwarf Rose Bay Rhododendron maximum 62
Mountain Laurel Kalmia latifolia 64
Canoe Birch Betula papyracea 70
Common European Birch Betula alba 73
White Birch Betula populifolia 78
Bed Birch Betula rubra 80
Yellow Birch Betula lutea 82
Black Birch Betula lenta ; 85
Common Alder Alnus serrulata 88
Black Alder Alnus glauca 89
3
4 CONTENTS.
pace
Locust Robinia pseudo-acacia U2
Rose-Flowering Locust Robinia viscosa 104
Yellow Wood Virgilia lutea 106
Sweet Locust Gleditschia triacantlios 108
Water Locust Gleditsch ia monosperma Ill
Sassafras Laurus sassafras 113
Red Bay Laurus Caroliniensis 118
Camphor Tree Laurus camphora 120
A aierican Holly Ilex opaca 122
S Jrel Tree A ndromeda arbor ea 126
Devil Wood Oka Americana 128
Olive Tree Olea Europoea 130
Wild Cherry Tree Cerasus Virginiana 147
Wild Orange Tree Cerasus Caroliniana 150
Red Cherry Tree Cerasus borealis 152
Large Buckeye Pavia lutea 153
Ohio Buckeye Pa via Oliioensis 156
Persimmon Diospyros Virginiana 157
Carolinian Poplar Populus angulata 161
Cotton Wood Populus Canadensis 164
American Black Poplar Populus Pcudsonica 167
Virginia Poplar Populus monilifera 168
Cotton Tree Populus argentea 170
Balsam Poplar Populus balsam if era 172
Heart-Leaved Balsam Poplar Populus candieans 173
American Aspen Populus tremulo'ides 175
American Large Aspen Populus grandidentata 176
Common White or Gray Poplar Populus canescens 178
THE
NORTH AMERICAN
SYLVA.
MAGNOLIAS.
Magnoliacese. Juss.
The trees and shrubs which compose this genus are, without
exception, natives of Asia and America, where they are found
nearly in the same latitude, being included between the 28th
and 4 2d parallels.
All the Magnolias are adorned with beautiful foliage, and
most of them with magnificent flowers. The species which are
indigenous to North America, and particularly those which grow
in the southern part of the United States, are in these respects
the most remarkable ; hence, for more than half a century, they
have been highly esteemed in Europe as ornamental vegetables.
In the climates of London and Paris, several of the Asiatic and
one of the American species require to be sheltered in the winter,
to secure them from the danger of perishing by cold.
Of thirteen species of Magnolias which have hitherto been
distinctly ascertained, five belong to China and Japan. Of these,
6 MAGNOLIAS.
the Magnolia Yulan* is the largest. It attains the height of
thirty or forty feet, and its Mowers, which are nearly six inches
in diameter, diffuse a delicious odor. It has been cultivated
during several centuries, and serves particularly for the em-
bellishment of the Emperor of China's gardens. In Chinese
poetry it figures as the symbol of candor and of beauty.
Of the eight remaining species, which are natives of the New
World, one belongs to the West Indies, and seven to the United
States : others will perhaps be discovered in the Floridas and in
the country west of the Mississippi.
[<S'oi7, situation, &c. The Magnolia family proper contain?
about thirty species in several genera.
Many magnificent species yet remain to be introduced into
Europe and America, one of which, the Manglietia insignis, dis-
covered and figured by Wallich, in his splendid work, Plantes
rariories Asiatics, under the name of Magnolia insignis, grows in
the mountains of Nepaul from G000 to 12,000 feet above the sea.
He says, " It is in blossom in April and May, at which period it
is impossible to behold a more magnificent object. The flowers
are produced in vast numbers : they are very beautiful, large,
and fragrant, of a yellowish-white color, with the apex of the
petals pink, and the reflexed leaves of the calyx brownish-red,
and elegantly reticulated with pale-green nerves and veins.
The capsules are purple, and disposed in large erect oblong cones,
from which the scarlet seeds hang down in all directions, being
suspended on delicate white threads. The leaves are dark green,
and leathery, and form a very umbrageous crown. The tree
attains a vast size, its trunk frequently measuring four or five
feet in diameter."
* [Cunspicua, or Chandelier Tree. Of this beautiful tree the following varie-
ties have been introduced, varying merely in the shades of coloring from white to
delicate purple : — Alcxandriua, Soulangiana, Speeiosa, Striata, and Superba.]
MAGNOLIAS. 7
The Aromadendron elegans of Blume grows in the forests of
Java, from eighty to one hundred and twenty feet in height, with
beautiful large leaves, and flowers having a penetrating, agree-
able aroma. Several others of the family, particularly of the
genus Michelia, grow in the mountains of Java, and are re-
markable for the beauty and fragrance of their flowers. The
Michelia chanvpaca of India and the Molucca Islands is a beau-
tiful tree about thirty feet high, with large glossy green leaves,
and yellow flowers which emit a delicious perfume. It blooms
the whole year, and is cultivated around the houses of the Hin-
doos and Malays, who make a sweet-scented pomatum of its
flowers with cocoanut-oil. Like our Magnolias, it is also much
used as an anti-intermittent. Several fine species of the family
are also found in Brazil and the West Indies, one of which — the
Talauma Plumieri — attains a height of sixty or eighty feet, with
large coriaceous leaves, and white flowers as large as those of
our Magnolia grandiflora. The Magnolia fuscata forms a charm-
ing and most fragrant greenhouse shrub.
The wood of most species is solid and fine-grained. The
bark and sometimes the leaves are aromatic and bitter, and
hence their use as stomachics, anti-intermittents, emmenagogues,
and carminatives.
The forests of North America contain two genera of this tribe,
distinguished readily by the carpels, viz. : —
Magnolia: Linn. Carpels dehiscent, or opening for the seed
to escape.
Liriodendron : Linn. Carpels indehiscent, or not opening to
permit the escape of the seed.
A deep sandy soil, and a situation sheltered from the north
and east, suits most of the species, though some, as M. glauca,
for example, thrive naturally best in a moist peaty soil.
In ornamental planting, the Magnolias are extremely import-
ant, both for their variety and great beauty; an assemblage of
8 LARGE -FLOWERED MAGNOLIA.
all the species that will grow in a given climate should by no
means be omitted.
The seeds of the different kinds of Magnolia should be sown
immediately after being ripe, or be preserved in damp sand or
earth till March, for, if kept dry till that time, very few, if any,
will vegetate till a year or two following. They may also be
propagated by layers and suckers, and by in-arching, budding,
and grafting upon one another.]
LARGE-FLOWERED MAGNOLIA.
BIG LAUREL.
Magnolia grandiflora. 31. foliis perennardibus, ovalibus, rigkU crassl-
quc coriaccis; pistittis lanatis, petalis dilataio-ovalibus, abrupii in unguem
angustaUs.
Magnoliaceae. Juss. Polyandria polygynia. Linn.
Of all the trees of North America, east of the Mississippi,
the Big Laurel is the most remarkable for the majesty of its
form, the magnificence of its foliage, and the beauty of its
flowers. It is first seen in the lower part of North Carolina,
near the river Nuse, in the latitude of 35° 31'; proceeding from
this point, it is found in the maritime parts of the Southern
States and of the Floridas, and as far up the Mississippi as
Natchez, three hundred miles above New Orleans; which em-
braces an extent of 2000 miles.
At Charleston, S.C., and in its vicinity, this tree is commonly
called Large Magnolia; but it is more generally known in the
J'Ui.
Laro'c Magnolia or liio 1 Laurel
Mmjnofiit (rrandijiora .
LARGE-FLOWERED MAGNOLIA. 9
country by the name of Big Laurel; the French of Louisiana
call it Laurier Tulipier.
The Large-flowered Magnolia claims a place among the largest
trees of the United States. It sometimes, though rarely, reaches
ninety feet in height and two or three feet in diameter; but its
ordinary stature is from sixty to seventy feet. Its trunk is
commonly straight, and its summit nearly in the shape of a
regular pyramid. Its leaves are entire, oval, sometimes acumi-
nate and sometimes obtuse at the summit, six or eight inches
long, and borne by short petioles. They are evergreen, thick,
coriaceous, and very brilliant on the upper surface.
The flowers are white, of an agreeable odor, and seven or
eight inches broad. They are larger than those of any other
tree with which we are acquainted, and on detached trees they
are commonly very numerous. Blooming in the midst of rich
foliage, they produce so fine an effect that those who have seen
the tree on its native soil agree in considering it as one of the
mast beautiful productions of the vegetable kingdom.
The fruit is a fleshy, oval cone, about four inches in length :
it is composed of a great number of cells, which, at the age of
maturity, open longitudinally, showing two or three seeds of a
vivid red. The seeds soon after quit the cells, and for some
days remain suspended without, each by a white filament at-
tached to the bottom of its cell. The red, pulpy substance,
which surrounds the stone, decays and leaves it naked. The
stone contains a white, milky kernel. In Carolina, this tree
blooms in May, and its seeds are ripe about the beginning of
October.
The trunk is covered with a smooth, grayish bark, resembling
that of the Beech. The wood is soft, and remarkable for its
whiteness, which it preserves even after it is seasoned. I have
been informed that it is easily wrought and not liable to warp,
but that it is not durable when exposed to the weather, and, for
this reason, is used only in joinery in the interior of buildings.
10 LARGE-FLOWERED MAGNOLIA.
In trees from fifteen to eighteen inches in diameter, I discerned
no mark of distinction between the sap and the heart of this
wood, except a deep-brown point, six or eight lines in diameter,
in the centre of the trunk. The trees from which I drew this
observation had been felled about three weeks, and I remarked
that some of the chips, after a slight fermentation, had changed
to a rose-color. I have taken notice of an analogous fact in the
Poplar or Tulip Tree, which will be particularly mentioned in
the description of that tree.
This Magnolia grows only in cool and shady places, where
the soil, composed of brown mould, is loose, deep, and fertile.
These tracts lie contiguous to the great swamps which are found
on the borders of the rivers and in the midst of the pine-barrens,
or form themselves a part of these swamps; but they are never
seen in the long and narrow marshes, called branch-swamps,
which traverse the barrens in every direction, and in which the
miry soil is shallow, with a bed of Avhite quartzy sand beneath.
In the situations mentioned above, it is generally accompanied
by the Swamp Chestnut Oak, Spanish Oak, Beech, Wahoo, and
Devil Wood. I have uniformly remarked that wherever the
Big Laurel grows it is accompanied by the Umbrella Tree, but
that the Umbrella Tree, which endures an intense degree of
cold, is not always accompanied by the Big Laurel.
The seeds become rancid less speedily than those of other
species of Magnolia: they may be kept several months before
they are sown. This species also furnishes the greatest number
of young stocks, which are as thriving as plants carefully raised
in the nursery, and so numerous in the districts where the tree
abounds, that several hundreds of them may be plucked up in
an hour.
Insulated trees bear a proportionally greater number of blos-
soms and of cones than those which are enclosed in the forests :
a single tree sometimes yields 300 or 400 cones, each of which
contains forty or fifty seeds.
LARGE-FLOWERED MAGNOLIA. 11
This Magnolia is deservedly esteemed in Europe by the
curious in foreign trees. It is valued, not only for the magnifi-
cence of its foliage and of its flowers, but also for its insensibility
to cold. It is hardier than the Orange Tree, and in America it
grows five degrees farther north: the Orange Tree does not
multiply in the American forests above 28° of latitude. In
Europe, the most northern point at which the Big Laurel passes
the winter securely in the open air is about Nantes, in the lati-
tude of 47° 14'; but it begins to yield ripe fruit near Grenoble,
in the latitude of 45° 11'. In the garden of the late Mr. W.
Hamilton, near Philadelphia, I saw a Magnolia which bore un-
injured the rigorous climate of this part of Pennsylvania, which
is much more severe than that of Paris and of London. From
these facts, it may be inferred that, with time and perseverance,
this tree may be habituated to a degree of cold far exceeding
the temperature of its native skies, and that it will one day
become the finest ornament of our parks and gardens.
PLATE LI.
A leaf of the natural size. Fig. 1. A flower of half the natural size.
Fig. 2. A cone of the natural size.
[Several varieties of this tree are to be found in the nurseries
of London and Paris, differing only in the shape of the leaves
and size of the flowers, both of which are modified by cultivation
and sometimes greatly increased in size; of these, the most orna-
mental, both for foliage and flower, is the Exmouth variety. A
deep sandy loam, dry at bottom, and enriched with vegetable
mould, suits all the varieties of this species, and it is best pro-
pagated by layers, those raised from seed requiring a long time
to flower. The shoots should be laid down in autumn, and re-
quire two years to become sufficiently rooted for separation ;
they are then potted, and kept in pits or under glass during
winter, and set in the open air during summer, till wanted for
12 SMALL MAGNOLIA.
final planting. A few specimens have thriven very well in the
vicinity of Philadelphia, but farther north they require protec-
tion. Planting against a south wall with projecting eave-boards
would probably be advantageous; in such situations I have seen
them in excellent condition in England. See Nuttall's Supple-
ment, vol. i. p. 96.
Additional Note, January, 1857. — The severe winter of 1S55-
56 greatly injured or destroyed the best specimens near Phila-
delphia, though some trees survived. South of Baltimore, this
superb tree flourishes luxuriantly, and it is becoming a great
favorite.]
SMALL MAGNOLIA,
WHITE BAY.
Magnolia glauca. M. foliis ccqiialiter ovalibus,vel ovali-oblovgis ; subiiis
glaucis.
This tree, though inferior in size to the preceding species, and
less regularly formed, is interesting on account of its beautiful
foliage and flowers. The Small Magnolia has lately been found
near Cape Ann in Massachusetts, in the latitude of 45° 50'. It
is common in Lower Jersej 7 , and becomes more so in proceeding
toward the south. In the maritime parts of the Southern
States, in the Floridas, and in Lower Louisiana, it is one of the
most abundant among the trees which grow in wet grounds. It
is not found far in the interior of the country, and in New York,
Pennsylvania, and Maryland, disappears thirty or forty miles
north of the capitals of these States. In the Carolinas, and in
7° ,/. A-J.;,/.-' .M
Small Magnolia or White I ^ a \
Wagnoha tjlctuca .
SMALL MAGNOLIA. 13
Georgia, it grows only within the limits which I have assigned
to the pine-barrens. I do not remember to have met with it in
the back part of these States, nor in the country west of tbe
mountains. In Philadelphia and New York, and in their
vicinity, this tree is called Magnolia, which denomination has
entirely superseded those of Swamp Sassafras and BeaA r er Wood,
which were in use among the Swedish settlers who first fixed
themselves in the country. In the Southern States, it is gene-
rally called White Bay or Sweet Bay.
In the lower parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and
farther south, the Small Magnolia is seen only in the most miry
swamps, which, during the greater part of the year, are so wet
as to be impassable. Here it is accompanied by the White
Cedar, and by the different species of Andromeda and of Whortle-
berry. In the Carolinas and in Georgia, it is rarely found in
the large swamps which border the rivers; but it grows abun-
dantly, I may almost say exclusively, in the long and narrow
marshes which traverse the pine-barrens, and of which the black
and miry soil reposes upon a bed of sterile sand: with the
Loblolly Bay and Red Bay, it constitutes the mass of these
woods. In the last-mentioned States, the Small Magnolia some-
times rises to the height of forty feet, with a diameter of twelve
or fourteen inches; but it does not ordinarily exceed twenty or
thirty feet. It is still smaller about New York and Philadel-
phia, where it yields fruit at the height of five or six feet.
The leaves are five or six inches long, petiolated, alternate,
oblong-oval, and entire. They are of a dark, shining green above,
and glaucous underneath, thus presenting an agreeable contrast
in the color of the two sin-faces. The leaves fall in the autumn,
and reappear early in the spring.
The flowers, which are single and situated at the extremity
of the branches, are two or three inches broad, white, and com-
posed of several concave, oval petals. Near Charleston, S.C.,
the tree blossoms in May, and a month later in the neighbor-
14 SMALL MAGNOLIA.
hood of Philadelphia and New York, where the women and
children penetrate into the swamps and gather its sweet-scented
flowers to sell them in the markets.
The fruit is small, green, and conical, composed of a great
number of cellules, and varying in length from an inch to an
inch and a half. When ripe, the seeds, which are of a scarlet
color, burst their cells, and remain some days suspended without,
by white, lax, slender filaments.
The seeds of the Small Magnolia very speedily become rancid.
To preserve for a length of time their faculty of germinating,
they must be placed as soon as they are gathered, and before the
pulp which envelops the stone is withered, in rotten wood or in
sand slightly moistened, where they are kept cool till they are
committed to the ground : this is the only mode of obtaining the
tree from the seed. Although the Small Magnolia is so abundant
in Lower Louisiana, in the Chrolinas, and in Georgia, young
plants are very rarely met with.
The bark of this tree is smooth and grayish, and its trunk is
always crooked and divided into a great number of divaricating
branches. Its wood, which is of a white color and very light,
is employed for no use. The name of Beaver Wood, formerly
given to the Small Magnolia, proves that the beaver once in-
habited those parts of the Middle States to which this tree is
indigenous, and that on account of its softness it was felled by
these animals in preference to other trees, for the construction
of their dams and houses. The bark of the roots has an aro-
matic odor and a bitter taste. Some of the inhabitants drink
an infusion of it in brandy, in rheumatic affections, as a slight
sudorific. In Lower Jersey, the country-people steep the cones
in rum or in whiskey; and this liquor, which is very bitter, is
regarded by them as a preservative against autumnal fevers.
The Small Magnolia possesses the advantage of successfully
resisting the rigorous winters of France, Germany, and England.
In 1811, a great number of trees of this species yielded ripe
( iivumhcr Lret
Jfiuyno/ta itcimwutta
CUCUMBER TKEE. 15
seeds in the environs of Paris. Of all indigenous and exotic
trees capable of enduring an equal degree of cold, there is none
which rivals it in the beauty of its foliage and of its flowers.
It is deservedly in great request among the amateurs of garden-
ing, to whom its multiplication, for the embellishment of their
country-residences, cannot be too warmly recommended.
PLATE LII.
A branch with leaves and a flower of the natural size. Fig. 1. A cone with
seeds of the natural size.
[Since Michaux wrote, this tree has been found in Essex,
Massachusetts. Though growing naturally in wet ground, it
may easily be made to thrive in dry, but will not then remain
long in flower; a good plan is to plant it near a gutter, or in a
spot shaded and sheltered by larger trees, but not overtopped by
them. There is a variety sold in the nurseries of late, called
longifolia, which has nearly equal merits with the glauca. M.
Thompsoniana is a hybrid between this and M. tripetala.~\
CUCUMBER TREE.
Magnolia acuminata. 31. foliis ovalibus, acuminatis, subtus pubesccnli-
bus ; florib us flavo-cozrulescentibus.
In all parts of the United States where this tree is found, it
is known only by the name of Cucumber Tree. It is a beautiful
vegetable, equal in height and in diameter to the Large-flowered
Magnolia. Among the trees of this genus hitherto discovered
in North America, these two species alone exhibit very large
10 CUCUMBER TREE.
dimensions. The most northern point at which I have myself
observed the Cucumber Tree is on the Niagara River, near the
celebrated cataract of that name, in the latitude of 43°; and I
believe it does not exist far beyond this limit. It abounds along
the whole mountainous tract of the Alleghanies, to their termi-
nation in Georgia, over a distance of 900 miles. It is also com-
mon on the Cumberland Mountains, which divide the State of
Tennessee.* The situations peculiarly adapted to its growth
are the declivities of mountains, narrow valleys, and the banks
of torrents, where the air is constantly moist, and where the
soil is deep and fertile. At the distance of forty or fifty miles
from these mountains, either eastward or westward, the Cucum-
ber Tree is met with only accidentally upon the steep banks of
rivers, where the atmosphere is constantly refreshed by the
evaporation from their surface.
We may conclude, then, that this tree is a stranger to all the
regions north of the river Hudson, and to all the Atlantic parts
of the United States, to the distance of 100, 150, and 200 miles
from the sea : the nature of the soil, and the extreme heat of
the climate in summer, being utterly uncongenial to its growth.
It is also rare in the parts of Kentucky and West Tennessee
which are most remote from the mountains, where the face of
the country is less uneven.
The leaves of the Cucumber Tree are six or seven inches
long and three or four inches broad, upon old trees ; upon sap-
lings growing in moist places, they are twice as large. Their
form is oval, entire, and very acuminate : they fall in the
autumn and are renewed in the spring.
The flowers, which are five or six inches in diameter, are
bluish, and sometimes white with a tint of yellow. They have
* [And in the mountains of Virginia, near the hygienic springs of that
State, &c]
CUCUMBER TREE. 17
a feeble odor, but, as they are large and numerous, they have a
fine effect in the midst of the superb foliage.
The cones or fruit are about three inches long, eight or ten
inches in diameter, of nearly a cylindrical shape, and often a
little larger at the upper end than at the base. They are con-
vex on one side and concave on the other; and when green
they nearly resemble a young cucumber, whence the tree has
derived its name. The cells are arranged as in the other spe-
cies of this genus, and each of them contains one rose-colored
seed, which, before it escapes, remains suspended, like those of
the Great and Small Magnolias. Most of the inhabitants of the
country bordering on the Alleghanies gather the cones about
midsummer, when they are half ripe, and steep them in whis-
key : a glass or two of this liquor, which is extremely bitter,
they habitually take in the morning, as a preservative against
autumnal fevers. Its efficacy I do not deny, but it has not been
made sufficiently evident to induce any physician to attempt its
verification.
The Cucumber Tree sometimes exceeds eighty feet in height,
and three or four feet in diameter at the same number of feet
from the ground. The trunk is perfectly straight, of a uniform
size, and often destitute of branches for two-thirds of its length.
The summit is ample and regularly shaped, and the tree is one
of the finest in the American forests. On old stocks the bark
is grayish and deeply furrowed. The heart or perfect wood is
soft, and of a yellowish-brown color, bearing, in this respect,
some analogy to the Poplar or Tulip Tree. Like the Poplar-
wood, it is fine-grained and susceptible of a brilliant polish ; but
it is less strong and less durable when exposed to the weather.
Being a rare tree, it is only accidentally employed in the arts.
Sawn into boards, it serves in joinery for the interior of wooden
houses, and, for its size and lightness, it is selected for large
canoes. As its wood possesses no properties which fit it for any
Vol. n.— 2
18 HEART-LEAVED CUCUMBER TREE.
determinate use, the Cucumber Tree is esteemed only because its
foliage aud flowers render it ornamental, and because, like the
other trees of this genus, it blooms at an early age. Like the
Small Magnolia, it endures uninjured the rigorous winters of
England and Germany, and the North of France, and flourishes
and blooms in the open fields. The seeds, it is true, seldom
ripen ; but when the trees become a little older, if proper atten-
tion is bestowed upon selecting for them a shaded southern ex-
posure, we may hope to see their fruit arrive at maturity.
PLATE LIII.
A leaf of the natural size. Fig. 1. A flower of half the natural size.
Fig. 2. A cone with seeds of the natural size.
[Propagation the same as in the other species. The layered
plants bloom sooner than seedlings, but the latter make more
durable trees. It thrives well at Philadelphia. It has attained
a height of eighty feet in Pennsylvania, and seven to eight feet
in circumference according to Meehan.]
HEART-LEAVED CUCUMBER TREE.
Magnolia cordata. M. foliis cordatis, subliis sublomenlosis ; floribus
Jlavis.
Tins species of Magnolia, which, in its general appearance
and in the form of its fruit, very nearly resembles the pre-
ceding, has been confounded with it by the inhabitants of the
regions in which it grows ; hence, it has received no distinguish-
/7., v
Heart Leaved cucuuiberTree
Maqnoha cordatn .
HEART-LEAVED CUCUMBER TREE. 19
ing name, and, to supply the defect, I have given it that of
Heart-leaved Cucumber Tree.
The banks of the river Savannah, in Upper Georgia, and
those of the streams which traverse the back parts of South
Carolina, are the places where my father and myself particu-
larly observed this tree. The nearest point to the sea at which
I have found it is the plantation of Good-rest, twelve miles from
Augusta, where, in my last journey in the United States, I
noticed it along the sides of Horn Creek. The Heart-leaved
Cucumber Tree is forty or fifty feet in height and twelve or
fourteen inches in diameter. Its trunk is straight, and covered
with a rough and deeply-furrowed bark, very much resembling
that of the Sweet Gum and of the young White Oak. Its
leaves, which are borne upon long petioles, are from four to six
inches in length, from three to five inches wide, smooth and
entire. The flowers, which appear in April, are yellow, with
the interior of the petal longitudinally marked with several
reddish lines. These flowers, though somewhat smaller than
those of the Cucumber Tree, are nearly four inches in diameter.
The cones are about three inches long, and ten or twelve lines
in thickness, of a cylindrical form, and of a similar construction
to those of the other Magnolias. The seeds also are similar in
color and arrangement.
The wood of the Heart-leaved Cucumber Tree resembles, in
every respect, that of the Cucumber Tree. From its softness
and its readiness to decay, it is not employed for any deter-
minate use. Besides, the tree is rare in Upper Georgia, being-
found, as has already been observed, only on the elevated banks
of the rivers, and never making its appearance in forests com-
posed of Oaks, Walnuts, &c. The beauty of its yellow flowers,*
which form an agreeable contrast with its luxuriant foliage, and
the advantage of resisting an intense degree of cold, are its only
* [Which appear again iu the autumn.]
20 UMBRELLA TREE.
recommendations to amateurs ; but in these respects it deserves,
as well as any other species of the genus, to figure in parks
and gardens.
PLATE LIT.
A leaf of the natural size. Fig. 1. A flower of half the natural size.
Fig. 2. A cone with seeds of the natural size.
[There is a specimen in Mr. Pierce's arboretum, Chester
county, Pennsylvania, four feet in circumference.]
UMBRELLA TREE.
Magnolia tripetala. 31. foliis amplioribus, oblongis, subeuneato-obora-
libus, calice reflexo.
Obs. Petala solito noveiu.
The Umbrella Tree is first seen in the northern part of the
State of New York; but it is more multiplied farther south, and
is common on some of the islands in the river Susquehanna,
and is still more so in the Southern and Western States. It is
found in the maritime parts of the Carolinas and of Georgia,
and three hundred miles from the sea, on that part of the
Alleghanies which traverses these States. The forests which
cover the banks of the river Nolachuky, in East Tennessee,
may be particularly mentioned as abounding in the Umbrella
Tree. Though this tree grows naturally over a great extent of
country, it is not met with at every step in the woods like the
Witch Hazel, the Dogwood, and a certain species of Oak: it
appears only in situations perfectly adapted to its growth, which
/',
Umbrella Tree .
Maqnolia tripetala
il,{J sculp.
UMBRELLA TREE. 21
are always shady, and where the soil is deep, strong, and fertile.
Thus, in the lower parts of South Carolina and of Georgia, it is
found only near the great swamps which lie along the rivers,
or which are enclosed in the pine-barrens. Here, it is almost
invariably accompanied by the Big Laurel, Swamp Chestnut
Oak, and Sweet Leaves, and never by the Small Magnolia, Eed
Bay, and Loblolly Bay, which grows in the small swamps that
intersect the barrens, and of which the soil is shallow, black,
and often miry.
The Umbrella Tree, like the following species of this genus,
is remarkable for the largeness of its leaves and of its flowers.
The dimensions of the tree are such as to form a connecting
link between the larger shrubs and trees of the third order;
for, though it sometimes rises to the height of thirty or thirty-
five feet, with a diameter of five or six inches, it rarely attains
this size. Its leaves, which are thin, oval, entire, and acuminate
at both extremities, are eighteen or twenty inches long and
seven or eight inches broad; they are often disposed in rays at
the extremity of vigorous shoots, and thus display a surface of
thirty inches in diameter; whence is derived the name of
Umbrella Tree. I have almost uniformly remarked that the
trunk grows in an inclined direction; the young and feeble
stock, being laden, before it is as large as the little finger, with
ample foliage, is bent by the winds, even when growing in
sheltered situations.
The flowers are seven or eight inches in diameter, white,
composed of several oblong, concave petals, and situated at the
extremity of the branches : they are beautiful, though less
regularly shaped and of a less agreeable odor than those of the
other species of Magnolia.
The conical fruit is four or five inches long, and about two
inches in diameter; it ripens in the beginning of October, and is
of a beautiful rose-color, with seeds of a pale red. Well-grown
and perfectly-formed cones contain fifty or sixty seeds, which,
22 UMBRELLA TREE.
as they speedily become rancid, should be sown immediately
after they are gathered. A great number of young plants may
in this way be easily obtained. By keeping the seeds in moss
constantly moist, they may be preserved for several months.
The wood of the Umbrella Tree is soft, porous, and unfit for
use. The bark upon the trunk is gray, smooth, and polished ;
if cut while green, it exhales a disagreeable odor.
This Magnolia, which resists an extreme degree of cold, has
long been cultivated in pleasure-grounds in France and Eng-
land. It is remarkable, among all the indigenous trees of
Europe, for the size and form of its leaves and flowers. For
many years it has yielded prolific seeds in this quarter of the
world, so that it is no longer necessary to go in quest of it to
its native climate.
PLATE LV.
A leaf of a fourth part of the natural size. Fig. 1. A petal of the natural
size. Fig. 2. A cone with seeds of the natural size.
[It is mostly propagated by seeds. A sheltered glade in a
shrubbery or wood, not near enough to other trees to be injured
by the roots, is the most desirable site. The odor of the flowers
is decidedly disagreeable. Mr. Meehan gives the size of a Bar-
tram specimen as about thirty feet high and twelve inches in
circumference.]
I'l. 56.
Long 1 leaved encumber Tree
Mctqnolui ctitriciuala
LONG-LEAVED CUCUMBER TREE.
Magnolia auriculata. 31. folds subrhomboideo-obovalibus, infeme an-
gustaiis, basi pro/undo sinu quasi auriculatis, membranaceis, utrinque-
viridibus.
This species of Magnolia, equally remarkable with the pre-
ceding for the beauty of its foliage and for the size of its flowers,
which are of an agreeable odor, is found only in a small tract
far retired in the country, and has but lately become known to
botanists. As the result of my own researches, it appears to be
particularly confined to that tract of the Alleghany Mountains
Avhich traverses the Southern States, at the distance of nearly
300 miles from the sea. It should be remarked that in this
part the chain is much broader than farther north, in Virginia.
The Long-leaved Cucumber Tree is, however, sometimes found
on the steep banks of the rivers which rise in these lofty moun-
tains, and which on one side roll their waters to the sea, and on
the other flow to meet the Ohio, after traversing the States of
Kentucky and Tennessee. The point nearest the sea at which
I have met with it is Two Sisters' Ferry, about thirty-five miles
from Savannah in Georgia : but it seems to be found here only
by accident, for from this spot to the mountains, a distance of
150 miles, it is no more seen. I have nowhere found it as
abundant as on the steepest part of the lofty mountains of North
Carolina, particularly those which are called by the inhabitants
Great Father Mountains, Black and Iron Mountains. It is
designated by the names of Long-leaved Cucumber Tree, and of
Indian Physic. The soil of these mountains, which is brown,
deep, and of an excellent quality, is peculiarly favorable to its
growth; and it multiplies spontaneously with such facility, that
I could have collected a thousand young plants in a single day.
24 LOXG-LEAYED CUCUMBER TREE.
The Black Oak, the Scarlet Oak, the Red Oak, the Chestnut, the
Reel Ash, the Buck Eye, the Cucumber Tree, and the Sorrel Tree
compose the remainder of the forests Avhich shade these solitary
retreats, where, in the finest clays of summer, the atmosphere is
charged with moisture by evaporation from the numberless tor-
rents which tumble from the summits.
The Long-leaved Cucumber Tree is much inferior in size to
most of the trees with which it grows, attaining only the height
of forty or forty-five feet and the diameter of twelve or fifteen
inches. Its trunk is straight and well shaped, and often un-
divided for half its length; its limbs, widely spread and sparingly
ramified, give to the tree, when stripped of its leaves, so pecu-
liar an air, that it is readily distinguished.
The leaves are of a light-green color, of a fine texture, eight
or nine inches long, and from four to six inches broad; on young
and vigorous trees they are often one-third or even one-half
larger. They are smooth on both surfaces, acuminate at the
summit, widest near the top and narrowest toward the bottom.
The base is divided into rounded lobes, whence is derived the
specific name of Auricula/a.
The flowers are three or four inches in diameter, of a fine
white color, of an agreeable odor, and situated at the extremity
of the young shoots, which are of a purplish-red dotted with
white.
The cones are oval, three or four inches long, and, like those
of the Umbrella Tree, of a beautiful rose-color when ripe. They
differ from those of the other species by a little inferiority of
size, and by a small appendage which terminates the cells.
Each cell contains one or two red seeds.
The wood is soft, spongy, very light, and unfit for use. The
bark is gray, and always smooth, even on the oldest trees.
When the epidermis is removed, the cellular tissue, by contact
with the air, instantly changes from white to yellow. The bark
has an agreeable, aromatic odor, and an infusion of it in some
LONG-LEAVED CUCUMBER TREE. 25
.spirituous liquor is employed as an excellent sudorific in rheu-
matic affections.
The Long-leaved Cucumber Tree flourishes in the open fields in
the neighborhood of Paris and of London. It is becoming com-
mon in Europe in the gardens of amateurs of foreign vegetables,
who justly prefer it to the Umbrella Tree on account of its flowers,
which, though smaller, have the advantage of an agreeable
perfume. This tree bears equally well the diversity of the
winters of Philadelphia; for several stocks sent by my father
from the mountains of North Carolina to Messrs. "W. Hamilton
and Bartram, who reside near that city, succeed perfectly in the
open garden, and have for several years bloomed and yielded
seed. The useful and agreeable productions which seem to have
been confined by the hand of nature to a single district are thus
propagated from one extremity of the globe to the other, and
serve, by the innocent pleasure attending their cultivation, to
solace the afflictions of humanity.
PLATE LVI.
A leaf of a fourth part of the natural size. Fig. 1. A flower of two-thirds
of the natural size. Fig. 2. A cone with seeds of the natural size.
[The best Bartram specimen is seventy feet high and five
and a half feet in circumference. — Meeharis Handbook of Orna-
mental Trees7\
LARGE-LEAVED UMBRELLA TREE.
Magnolia macrophylla. 31. ramis medullosis, fragUibus; foliis om-
nium amplissimis, oblong^ subciineata-obovaUbus, basi sinuald, subauri-
culatis siibtus glaucis ; junioribus argenteis, densissimh holosericeis.
Of the twelve species of Magnolia hitherto discovered on the
Old and New Continents, the Large-leaved Umbrella Tree is the
most remarkable for the size of its leaves and of the flowers.
It is also the least multiplied of the American species, and is
rarely met with in the forests. On account of the resemblance
of its leaves to those of the Umbrella Tree, the two species have
hitherto been confounded by the inhabitants of the districts in
which they grow : I have, therefore, given it the specific name
of Large-leaved Umbrella Tree, which is sufficiently character-
istic. My father, in his Flora Boreali-Americana, as well as
many succeeding botanists, designates it by the name of Mag-
nolia macrophylla, Large-leaved Umbrella Tree, while in the
catalogues of gardeners, and sometimes in those of botanists, it
is denominated Magnolia Michauxii. I have thought proper to
drop this specific name, however honorable to my father, and to
retain the one which he himself had established.
In the month of June, 1789, in the first journey made by my
father from Charleston to the mountains of North Carolina, I
accompanied him, and discovered this tree, which he imme-
diately judged to be a new species of Magnolia. The spot on
which we found this magnificent vegetable is in North Carolina,
ten miles south of Lincolnton, and 250 miles from Charleston.
Our extensive researches in quest of it in the upper part of the
Southern States, and those subsequently made by several Eng-
lish botanists east of the Alleghanies, which were alike unsuc-
cessful, sufficiently prove that it is extremely rare between the
PL5/.
Large leaved Umbrella Tree.
MaanoTJo mrusrophyUa/.
LARGE-LEAA^ED UMBRELLA TREE. 27
mountains and the sea. West of the range, in Tennessee, it is
more common ; but even here only a few trees are found toge-
ther, at intervals of forty or fifty miles, as I had an opportunity
of observing during my journey in the Western States in 1803.
The Large-leaved Umbrella Tree, like the Umbrella Tree, on
which it is a constant attendant, delights in cool situations shel-
tered from the wind, where the soil is deep and fertile. In its
general appearance, and in the terminal arrangement of its
leaves, it most nearly resembles the species just mentioned; in
the conformation of the inferior surface of the leaf, it is more
like the Long-leaved Cucumber Tree. It forms also a mean
between these two species by its size, which does not exceed
thirty-five feet in height and four or five inches in diameter.
The body of the tree is covered with a smooth and very white
bark, by which in the winter, when stripped of its leaves, it is
readily distinguished from the Umbrella Tree. At this season
it differs also from the Umbrella Tree in its buds, which are com-
pressed instead of being rounded at the end, and which are
covered with a soft and silvery down.
Of all this genus the Large-leaved Umbrella Tree is the spe-
cies which bears the largest leaves; some of them are thirty-
five inches long and nine or ten inches broad. They are borne
on petioles, short in comparison with the size of the leaves, and
are of an oblong-oval shape, pointed at the extremity, and cordi-
form at the base : their color is light green above, and glaucous
beneath : they fall in the autumn and reappear early in the
spring. The flowers are white and larger than those of any
other species of Magnolia, for when fully blown they are some-
times eight or nine inches in diameter : they are composed of
six petals, longer and broader than those of the Umbrella Tree.
Within the flower, near the bottom of the petals, is a purple
spot seven or eight lines in diameter. The flowers diffuse a
fragrant odor, and their beauty is heightened by the luxuriant
foliage which surrounds them.
28 LARGE-LEAVED UMBRELLA TREE.
The cones are about four inches long, nearly cylindrical, and
of a vivid rose-color when arrived at maturity. In the arrange-
ment of the cells and of the seeds, they resemble those of the
Umbrella Tree and of the Long-leaved Cucumber Tree. It
should be remarked, however, that they are destitute of the
appendages visible on the fruit of the last-mentioned species,
especially when it is dry.
The seeds of the Large-leaved Umbrella Tree require, in order
to preserve their power of germination, the same attention with
those of the preceding species.
The wood of this tree is softer and more porous than that of
the Umbrella Tree, and is of no value in the arts : like many
other plants, its only use is to adorn the garden, and to add
another charm to the rural retreat. For this purpose only it is
eagerly sought for in France and England by the lovers of
exotic trees, and with the more reason as it passes the winter
uninjured in the climates of Paris and of London. A tree of
this species, which I brought from America seven years ago,
bloomed in 1811 in the gardens of the Empress Josephine at
Malmaison.
The Large-leaved Umbrella Tree might be grafted by approach
or b} r inoculation on stocks of the Umbrella Tree, which is far
more common : an experiment of this sort, made by my father
m his garden near Charleston, S.C., was crowned with complete
success.
PLATE LYII.
A leaf of a fifth fart of the natural size. Fig. 1. A petcd of half the
natural size.
[The flowers of this superb tree, which deserves to be uni-
versally introduced, are attacked, immediately on their opening,
by thousands of rose-bugs, which desert the rose for its superior
attractions.]
[See Nuttall's Supplement, vol. i. p. 00.]
P/.6S.
P. ,/. JUJouh- ./.•/■
Loblolly Bay.
Gort/onia /asi/an/ntis
LOBLOLLY BAY.
Gordonia lasyanthus. G. foliis glaberrimis, subserratis, nitidis, coriaceis ;
floribus longb pcduncidatis ; eapsula conoided, acuminata.
Polyandria inonogynia. Linn. Blalvaceas. Juss.
The Loblolly Bay is comprehended within the same limits
with the Long-leaved Pine, being confined to the maritime parts
of the Southern States, to the two Floridas, and to Lower
Louisiana. It is very abundant in the branch-swamps, and
exists in greater proportion than the Eed Bay, Swamp Bay, and
Black Gum, with which it is usually associated. In the pine-
barrens, tracts of fifty or one hundred acres are met with at
intervals, which, being lower than the adjacent ground, are kept
constantly moist by the waters collected in them after the great
rains. These spots are entirely covered with the Loblolly Bay,
and are called Bay Swamps. Although the layer of vegetable
mould is only three or four inches thick, and reposes upon a bed
of barren sand, the vegetation of these trees is surprisingly
luxuriant.
The Loblolly Bay grows to the height of fifty or sixty feet,
with a diameter of eighteen or twenty inches. From twenty-
five to thirty feet its trunk is perfectly straight. The small
divergency of its branches near the trunk gives it a regularly-
pyramidal form; but as they ascend they spread more loosely,
like those of other trees of the forest.
The leaves are evergreen, from three to six inches long, alter-
nate, oval-acuminate, slightly toothed, and smooth and shining
on the upper surface. The flowers are more than an inch broad,
white, and sweet-scented; they begin to appear about the middle
of July, and bloom in succession during two or three months.
SO L B L L L Y B A T.
This tree possesses the agreeable singularity of bearing flowers
when it is only three or four feet high.
The fruit is an oval capsule, divided into five compartments,
each of Avhich contains small, black, winged seeds. These seeds
appear to germinate successfully only in places coA'ered with
Sphagnum, a species of moss which copiously imbibes water,
and in which are found thousands of the young plants, which
are plucked up with ease.
The bark of the Loblolly Bay is very smooth while the tree
is less than six inches in diameter; on old trees it is thick and
deeply furrowed. In trunks which exceed fifteen inches in
diameter, four-fifths of the wood is heart. The wood is of a
rosy hue, and of a fine, silky texture: it appears to be very
proper for the inside of furniture, though the Cypress is gene-
rally preferred. It is extremely light; when seasoned, it is
very brittle, and it rapidly decays unless it is kept perfectly
dry; hence it is entirely neglected in use, and is not employed
even for fuel.
The value of the Loblolly bark in tanning compensates in
some measure for the uselessness of its wood : it is employed
for this purpose throughout the maritime parts of the Southern
States and of the Floridas. For, although this branch of indus-
try is by no means as extensive^ practised in this part of the
country as in the Northern States, and though these regions
afford many species of Oak, yet the species whose bark is proper
for tanning are not sufficiently multiplied to supply the con-
sumption. As much of the bark of the Spanish Oak as can be
obtained, of which the price is one-half greater, is mixed with
that of the Loblolly Bay. This tree has the advantage of main-
taining very long the circulation of its sap, so that the bark
may be taken off during three or four months.
I can add little to this description of the Loblolly Bay : the
luxuriance of its vegetation, the beauty of its flowers, and the
richness of its evergreen foliage, place it among the Magnolias ;
PLSg.
':/.■„/, ,{■/
IVaiiklniia
C '<•/ //< '/lid l wt/'t ', i v i v
F B, A N K L I N I A. 31
and, with the other species, it contributes to the ornament of
the forest in the southern part of the United States. It is less
sensible to cold than the Large-flowered Magnolia, and with
some attention it may be brought through the winter in the
climates of Paris and London. This opinion is corroborated by
the fact that I have seen several of these trees growing in the
botanical garden founded by Dr. D. Hosack, near New York,
where no other precaution was used than slightly covering them
in the winter.
PLATE LVIII.
A branch with leaves and a flower of the natural size. Fig. 1. A seed-
vessel. Fig. 2. A seed.
FRANKLIMA.
Gordonia pubescens. G. foliis lanceolatis, subserratis, subpubescenti-
bus, fioribus subsessilibus, capsuld sphcericd.
This species of Gordonia appears to be restricted by nature
within very narrow bounds, having hitherto been found only
on the banks of the Altamaha, in the State of Georgia. It was
discovered there, in 1770, by John Bartram, who gave it the
name of Franklinia, in honor of one of the most illustrious
founders of American Independence ; a philosopher equally dis-
tinguished by his scientific acquirements and by his patriotic
virtues.
The Franklinia is much smaller than the preceding species,
and rarely exceeds thirty feet in height and six or eight inches
in diameter. The bark of the trunk presents a smooth and
angular surface, like, that of the Hornbeam. The leaves are
32 F RANKLINI A.
alternate, oblong, narrowed at the base, and toothed ; they are
annually shed in the fall.
The Franklinia blooms in Carolina about the beginning of
July, and a month later near Philadelphia. The flowers are
more than an inch in diameter, white, and of an agreeable
odor. Like those of the Loblolly Bay, they open in succession
during two or three months, and begin to appear when the tree
is only three or four feet high.
The fruit is in the form of round, ligneous capsules, which,
when ripe, open at the summit in four seams, to release the
small, angular seeds.
Although the Franklinia is only found two or three degrees
farther south than the Loblolly Bay, it appears to be far less
sensible to cold ; for I have seen several trees of this species in
the garden of J. and "W. Bartram, about four miles from Pliila-
delphia, whose growth was luxuriant, and which, during twenty-
five years, had remained uninjured by the severe winters which
occur in this part of Pennsylvania.
The Franklinia has long been cultivated in France and Eng-
land ; but, though the cold is less intense, it grows less kindly
at Paris than at Philadelphia. This tree seems to be less highly
esteemed than it deserves : it might easily be naturalized, and
its magnificent flowers, especially when rendered double, would
richly contribute to the decoration of our pleasure-grounds.
PLATE LIX.
A branch ivith leaves and a flower of the natural size. Fig. 1. The
capsule which contains the seeds. Fig. 2. A seed.
[This superb tree and the preceding belong to the order
Ternstrumiacete, and are allied to the Camellia. Near Phila-
delpbia, in high and dry situations, it is hardy ; in inferior situa-
tions, a hard winter kills it to the root, from which stools spring
apavv.
Annoim ft'ilooa.
PAPA W. 33
up in abundance ; these may be layered. A tree of this kind,
more than thirty feet high, flourishes admirably at South Laurel
Hill Cemetery, and has long been admired for its beautiful and
abundant bloom ; the fragrant flowers drop in an almost perfect
state every day for two months, and it persists in this habit till
a heavy frost. In ornamental planting, by no means neglect
this rare and valuable tree. The Loblolly Bay it is difficult to
preserve through a Philadelphia winter.]
PAPAW.
Anojja triloba. A. foliis glabriusculis, oblongd cunealo-obovalibus ; petalis
exterioribus orbiculatis ; fructibus maximis, crassius carnosis.
Polyandria polygynea. Linn. Anonas. Juss.
Although the Papaw most frequently presents itself in the
form of a shrub, it sometimes exhibits such dimensions that it
may be ranked among trees of the third order; as it is sufficiently
interesting in other respects to merit attention, I have therefore
thought proper to describe it.
By the French of Upper Louisiana and of the two Canadas,
the Anona triloba is called Assuninier, and by the Americans,
Papaw. I have not observed it north of the Schuylkill River,
and it appears to be unknown, or extremely rare, in the low and
maritime parts of the Southern States. It is not uncommon in
the bottoms which stretch along the rivers of the Middle States ;
but it is most abundant in the rich valleys intersected by the
western waters, where at intervals it forms thickets exclusively
occupying several acres. In Kentucky and in the western part
of Tennessee, it is sometimes seen also in forests where the soil
34 PAPA W.
is luxuriantly fertile; of which its presence is an infallible proof.
In these forests it attains the height of thirty feet and the dia-
meter of six or eight inches, though it generally stops short of
half this elevation.
The leaves axe borne on short petioles, and are alternate, five
or six inches in length, and of an elongated form, widening from
the base to the summit. They are of a fine texture, and the
superior surface is smooth and brilliant. The flowers, which are
attached by short peduncles, are pendent and of a purple hue.
When the fruit is ripe, which takes place toward the begin-
ning of August, it is about three inches long and an inch and a
half thick, of a yellowish color, and of an oval form, irregular
and swelling into inequalities. Its pulp is soft and of an insipid
taste, and it contains several large, triangular stones. It is never
brought into the markets, and is sought in the woods only by
children. At Pittsburg, some persons have succeeded in making
from it a spirituous liquor; but, notwithstanding this experiment,
very feeble hopes can be entertained of cultivating the tree with
profit for this purpose.
The trunk of the Papaw is covered with a silver-gray bark,
which is smooth and even polished. The wood is spongy, ex-
tremely soft, destitute of strength, and applicable to no use in
mechanical arts. I have noticed that the cellular tissue of the
bark, and particularly that of the roots, exhales in summer a
nauseous odor, so strong as to occasion sickness if it is long
respired in confined air.
This tree has bloomed in Europe for many years; but it rarely
fructifies, and is principally esteemed for the beauty of its flowers
and of its foliage.
PLATE LX.
A branch with leaves and flowers of the natural size. Fig. 1. Fruit of (he
natural size and color. Fig. 2. A stone separated from the pulp.
/>{■ 6l.
Seem M.
Poplar or Tulip Tree .
Lyruulendrum tulipifera
POPLAR OR TULIP TREE. 35
[This is the only fruit of a tropical appearance we possess in
the Middle States, and deserves more general consideration. I
have purchased the fruit recently in the markets of Cincinnati
and Pittsburg, where it is esteemed.]
POPLAR or TULIP TREE.
Liriodendron tulipifera. L. foliis trilobis ; lobo medio truneato ; ca-
lice triphyllo.
Magnoliacese. Juss.
This tree, which surpasses most others of North America in
height and in the beauty of its foliage and of its flowers, is also
one of the most interesting from the numerous and useful appli-
cations of its wood. Wherever it abounds, and throughout the
greater part of the United States, it is called Poplar. In Con-
necticut, New York, and New Jersey, it is known by the name
of White Wood, and of Canoe Wood, and, more rarely, by that
of Tulip Tree. This last denomination, which, since the intro-
duction of the tree, has been adopted in Europe, is certainly the
most proper, because the flower nearly resembles the Tulip, and
because the tree bears in none of its characters any analogy to
the Poplars, which are in every respect inferior to it. But the
name of Poplar has become so generally sanctioned by use in
the United States, that I have not felt at liherty to change it,
and have only annexed the other as a synonym, with a feeble
hope of its ultimately prevailing.
The southern extremity of Lake Champlain, in latitude 45°,
may be considered as the northern limit, and the Connecticut
River, in the longitude of 72°, as the eastern limit, of the Tulip
Tree. It is only beyond the Hudson, which flows two degrees
30 POPLAR OR TULIP TREE.
farther west, and below 43° of latitude, that it is frequently
met with and fully developed. Its expansion is not here re-
pressed, as in Vermont and the upper part of Connecticut, by
the excessive cold, and by a mountainous surface unfavorable to
its growth. It is multiplied in the Middle States, in the upper
parts of the Carolinas and of Georgia, and still more abundantly
in the western country, particularly in Kentucky. Its com-
parative rareness in the maritime parts of the Carolinas and of
Georgia,, in the Floridas and in Lower Louisiana, is owing less
to the heat of the summer than to the nature of the soil, which
in some parts is too dry, as in the pine-barrens, and in others too
wet, as in the swamps which border the rivers. Even in the
Middle and Western States, the Tulip Tree is less abundant than
the Oaks, the Walnuts, the Ashes, and the Beeches, because it
delights only in deep, loamy, and extremely fertile soils, such
as are found in the rich bottoms that lie along the rivers, and
on the borders of the great swamps that are enclosed in the
forests.
In the Atlantic States, especially at a considerable distance
from the sea, Tulip Trees are often seen seventy, eighty, and one
hundred feet in height, with a diameter from eighteen inches to
three feet. But the Western States appear to be the natural
soil of this magnificent tree, and here it displays its most power-
ful vegetation. It is commonly found mingled with other trees,
such as the Hickories, the Black Walnut and Butternut, the
Coffee Tree, and the Wild Cherry Tree; but it sometimes consti-
tutes alone pretty large tracts of the forest, as my father ol>-
served in Kentucky, on the road from Beard Stone to Louisville.
In no other part of the United States did he find the Tulip Trees
so lofty, and, of so great a diameter. He observed man}' of them
in passing which appeared to be fifteen or sixteen feet in cir-
cumference; and three and a half miles from Louisville, he
measured one which, at five feet from the ground, was twenty-
two feet and six inches in circumference, and whose elevation
POPLAR OR TULIP TREE. 37
he judged to be from 120 to 140 feet : the correctness of this
estimate I have since had an opportunity of proving. Of all
the trees of North America with deciduous leaves, the Tulip
Tree, next to the Buttonwood, attains the amplest dimensions;
while the perfect straightness and uniform diameter of its trunk
for upwards of forty feet, the more regular disposition of its
branches, and the greater richness of its foliage, give it a decided
superiority over the Buttonwood, and entitle it to be considered
as one of the most magnificent vegetables of the temperate
zone.
In the development of its leaves, the Poplar differs from most
other trees. Leaf-buds, in general, are composed of scales
closely applied one upon another, which, in the spring, are dis-
tended by the growth of the minute bundle of leaves which
they enclose, till they finally fall. On some trees, those buds are
without scales, as, for instance, on the Butternut. On the Tulip
Tree, the terminal bud of each shoot swells considerably before
it gives birth to the leaf: it forms an oval sac which contains
the young leaf, and which produces it to the light only when it
appears to have acquired sufficient force to endure the influences
of the atmosphere. Within this sac is found another, which,
after the first leaf is put forth, swells, bursts, and gives birth to
a second. On young and vigorous trees, five or six leaves issue
successively in this manner from one sac. Till the leaf has
acquired half its growth, it retains the two lobes which com-
posed its sac, and which are now called stipule.
In the spring, when the weather is warm and humid, the
growth of the leaves is very rapid: they are six or eight inches
broad, borne on long petioles, alternate, somewhat fleshy, smooth,
and of a pleasing green color. They are divided into three
lobes, of which the middle one is horizontally notched at its
summit, and the two lower ones are rounded at the base. This
conformation is peculiar to the Tulip Tree, and renders it easily
distinguishable in the summer. The flowers, which are large,
38 POPLAR OR TULIT TREE.
brilliant, and on detached trees very numerous, are variegated
•with different colors, among which yellow predominates : they
have an agreeable odor, and, surrounded by luxuriant foliage,
they produce a fine effect. In the spring, they are gathered by
■women and children in the neighborhood of New York, and sold
in the market of that city.
The fruit is composed of a great number of thin, narrow
scales, attached to a common axis, and forming a cone two or
three inches in length. Each cone consists of sixty or seventy
seeds, of which never more than a third, and some seasons not
more than seven or eight in the whole number, are productive.
It is also observed that during ten } _ ears after it begins to yield
fruit, almost all the seeds of the Tulip Tree are unproductive,
and that, on large trees, the seeds from the highest branches are
the best.
The bark, till the trunk exceeds seven or eight inches in
diameter, is smooth and even; it afterward begins to crack, and
the depth of the furrow and the thickness of the bark are pro-
j)ortioned to the size and to the age of the tree.
The heart or perfect wood of the Tulip Tree is yellow, ap-
proaching to a lemon-color, and its sap or alburnum is white.
Though this tree is classed as a light wood, it is much heavier
than the Poplars : its grain is equally fine and more compact,
and the wood is easily wrought and polishes well. It is found
strong and stiff enough for uses that require great solidity. The
heart, when separated from the sap and perfectly seasoned, long-
resists the influence of the air, and is said to be rarely attacked
by worms. Its greatest defect, when employed in wide boards
and exposed to the weather, is that it is liable to shrink and
warp by the alternations of dryness and moisture; but this de-
fect is in a great measure compensated by its other properties.
The nature of the soil has so striking an influence upon the
color and upon the quality of the Tulip wood, that the mechanics
who employ it have made the remark, and have distinguished
POPLAR OR TULIP TREE. 39
it by the names of White Poplar and Yellow Poplar. The
external a])pearances which mark these varieties are so equi-
vocal that it can be ascertained to which a tree belongs only by
cutting it. It is known in general that the White Poplar grows
in dry, gravelly, and elevated places; it is recognised, too, by its
branchy summit, and by the small proportion which the light-
yellow heart bears to the sap. The grain also is coarser and
harder, and the wood decays more speedily: hence it is always
neglected when the other variety can be obtained. The Yellow
Poplar possesses every quality requisite to fit it for so great a
variety of uses, that I shall content myself with mentioning
the most common. At New York and Philadelphia, and in the
adjacent country, the Poplar is often employed, in the construc-
tion of houses, for rafters and for the joists of the upper stories,
for which purposes it is esteemed on account of its lightness and
strength. In the other Middle States, in the upper parts of the
Carolinas, and above all in the Western States, it is more gene-
rally used in building, and is considered as the best substitute
for the Pine, the Red Cedar, and the Cypress. Wherever it
abounds it serves for the interior work of houses, and sometimes
for the exterior covering, as I observed in several small towns
situated between Laurel Hill and the Monongahela River. It
is not easy in this region to procure pine boards, which otherwise
would be preferred, as they do not, like those of Poplar, warp
when exposed to the weather. The panels of doors and of
wainscots, and the mouldings of chimney-pieces, are made of
Poplar. In the States of Ohio and Kentucky, on the banks of
the Miami River, and in the upper part of North Carolina,
Poplar shingles about fifteen inches long are preferred for cover-
ing roofs, because they are the most durable, and because they
are not liable to split by the effect either of intense frost or of
ardent sunshine.
In all the large towns in the United States, Tulip Tree or
Poplar boards., which are often two or three feet wide, are ex-
40 POPLAR OR TULIP TREE.
clusively used for the panels of coaches and chaises. When
perfectly dry they receive paint "well and admit of a brilliant
polish. The vicinity of Boston does not produce this tree, and
the coach-makers procure it from New York and Philadelphia :
it is also sent for the same use to Charleston, S.C., -where the
Tulip Trees are few in number and inferior in size. The seat
of Windsor chairs, which are fabricated at New York, Phila-
delphia, and Baltimore, and in many other towns, is always of
Poplar : a larger quantity of the wood than would be supposed
is consumed in this way, and also in the manufacture of trunks,
which are covered with skins, and of bedsteads, which are
stained in imitation of mahogany. I have remarked that the
circular board and the wings of fanning-mills are of this wood.
As it is easily wrought in the lathe, and is very light, it is much
used for wooden bowls : it is also preferred for the head of hair-
brooms or sweeping-brushes. The farmers choose it for the eat-
ing and drinking troughs of cattle : these troughs are formed
of a single piece, and exposed to the weather they last as long
as those made of Chestnut and of Butternut. In Kentucky, I
have seen the Tulip Tree employed for the rails of rural fence ;
but I must confess my inattention in not learning their dura-
tion. It is found useful also in the construction of wooden
bridges, as it unites lightness with strength and durability. I
have been assured that the heart of the Poplar might be profit-
ably employed for the fellies of large mill-wheels. The Indians
who inhabited the Middle States, and those who still remain in
the western country, preferred this tree for their canoes, which,
consisting of a single trunk, are very light and strong, and some-
times carry twenty persons. In fine, the Poplar affords excel-
lent charcoal, which is emploj-ed by smiths iu districts that
furnish no fossil coal. In the lumber-j-ards of New York,
Philadelphia, and Baltimore, a great quantity of this wood is
found in forms convenient for the uses which I have euume-
POPLAR OR TULIP TREE. 41
rated. It is very cheap, being sold at half the price of Black
Walnut, Wild Cherry, and Curled Maple.
In all the country watered by the Monongahela Eiver,
between 30° and 40° of latitude, the Tulip Tree is so abun-
dant, that large rafts, composed wholly of these logs, are made
to float down its stream. At Brownsville, they are sawn into
boards, which are used in the environs, and even at Pittsburg,
in the construction of houses, and which are sold at $10 per
1000 feet. I observed that the mean diameter of the logs was
from twelve to fifteen inches ; that of the largest from twenty
to twenty-four inches, and that of the smallest nine or ten
inches : their two extremities were of a dark-blue color. I
have also remarked that, when a Poplar is felled, the chips of
the heart which are left upon the ground, particularly those
which are half buried in the leaves, suffer at the end of three
or four weeks a remarkable change ; the lower part becomes of
a deep blue, and they exhale a fetid, ammoniacal odor.
The live part or cellular tissue of the bark which covers the
trunk of the Tulip Tree, the bark of the branches, and, still
more, that of the roots, has an agreeable smell and a very bitter
taste. In Virginia, some inhabitants of the country steep the
bark of these roots, with an ecpial portion of Dogwood bark, in
brandy during eight clays : two glasses of this tincture, taken
every day, sometimes cure intermittent fevers. Poplar bark,
reduced to powder and given in substance to horses, appears to
be a pretty certain remedy for worms.
The American Museum for December, 1792, contains circum-
stantial details concerning the valuable properties ascribed to
this bark by Dr. Young, of Philadelphia. I shall recall Avhat
he has written on this subject, though these properties have
since been denied by other physicians in the United States ;
and though the use of this bark is not general in the country,
and is unknown in the capitals, where the faculty are most en-
lightened. In Dr. Young's opinion, the most proper time to
42 POPLAR OR TULIP TREE.
gather the Poplar bark for medical use is the month of January.
He asserts that it is more bitter than the Peruvian bark, though
less astringent, and that it possesses some properties in common
with the acrid aromatics; whence he concludes that it is a
jiowerful tonic and antiseptic. The aromatic principle appears
to reside in a resinous part of its substance, which stimulates the
intestinal canal, and which operates as a gentle cathartic. In
many instances the stomach cannot support it unless each dose
is accompanied by a few drops of laudanum. In intermittent
fevers, when taken after the biliary ducts have been evacuated
by an emetic, it is often found ecpial to the Peruvian bark. In
remittent it is used with as great success as in intermittent
fevers, and in one instance it was found to operate more success-
fully than the Peruvian bark. In inflammatory disorders,
where the phlogistic diathesis is not very strongly marked, and
where a weakness of arterial action has taken place, it gives
tone and vigor to the stomach. United with laudanum, it has
frequently dissipated the alarming symptoms of pulmonary
consumption when attended with nightly sweats and diarrhoea.
A person afflicted with catarrh complicated with dyspepsia,
which had resisted the best-chosen remedies, was perfectly
cured by this bark. Dr. Young also assures us that there is not
in the whole materia medica a more certain and efficacious
remedy in hysterical affections than the bark of Poplar roots
combined with a small quantity of laudanum; that, taken after
the first passages have been evacuated, it is a specific in cholera
infantum ; and also that it is an excellent remedy for worms.
It is given in aqueous extract, either in the form of infusion or
of decoction, but it is most efficacious when taken in substance :
the dose for an adult is from one scruple to two drachms.
In Paris, a spirituous liquor is made from the fresh bark of
Poplar roots, with the addition of a sufficient quantity of sugar
to render it agreeable to the taste.
The Tulip Tree was introduced into Europe sixty years ago;
POPLAR OR TULIP TREE. 43
and many stocks of this species, more than fifty feet high, exist
in France, Germany, and England, which are annually covered
with myriads of flowers, and which yield productive seeds. It
has been so widely spread within fifteen years, that there are
few country-seats where it is not found; and, by the fine form
of its trunk, by the richness and singularity of its foliage, and
by the beauty of its flowers, it is eminently fitted to adorn
them. It is to be desired, on account of the excellent qualities
and diversified uses of its wood, that it should be multiplied
also in our forests.
PLATE LXI.
A branch with leaves and a flower of the natural size. Fig. 1. A cone of
the natural size. Fig. 2. A seed of the natural size.
[This is a difficult tree to transplant, as, like the Magnolias,
its roots have few fibres. It is therefore best grown on the spot
where it is to remain, or the plants may be kept in pots ; if in
the nursery, they should be transplanted every year. It is not
very patient of the knife.]
SWEET GUM.
Liquidambah styraciflua. L. foliis palmatis, lobis acuminaiis, dentatis;
axillis nervorum villosis.
Monceeia polyandria. Linn. Amentaceae. Juss.
No tree lias hitherto been found in North America so exten-
sively diffused as the Sweet Gum. On the sea-shore it is seen,
toward the northeast, between Portsmouth and Boston, in the
latitude of 43° 30'; and it is found as far as Old Mexico, toward
the southwest : from the coast of Virginia it extends westward
to the Illinois River, thus spreading over more than two-thirds
of the ancient territory of the United States, together with the
two Floridas, Upper and Lower Louisiana, and a great part of
New Spain.
In the United States, this tree is universally called Sweet
Gum, and by the French in Louisiana, Cojpalm. In the Middle,
Western, and Southern States, the Sweet Gum is sufficiently
multiplied to be numbered among the most common trees : it is
met with wherever the soil is fertile, cool, and exposed to tem-
porary inundations, and is usually seen in company with the
Maple, the Tupelo, the Swamp White Oak, the Shagbark
Hickory, and the Butternut. In the South, it grows also in
the great swamps which border the rivers; and here, owing-
doubtless to the mildness of the winter and to the intense heat
of the summer, it displays its amplest dimensions. The largest
Sweet Gum that I have observed was in a swamp four or five
miles from Augusta, in Georgia; at five feet from the ground, it
was fifteen feet seven inches in circumference : it ramified at the
height of fifteen or eighteen feet, and its summit was spacious in
proportion to the thickness of its trunk. The soil in which it
grew was rich and constantly moist, and abounded particularly
4-1
P.J.lU&uteJJ
-i\\ cM-i (nun
S W E E T G U M. 45
in the Chestnut White Oak, Willow Oak, Wahoo, Black Gum,
Red Maple, Red Ash, and Black Ash.
From the form of a single tree, it is not to be concluded that
the Sweet Gum generally branches at so small an elevation.
When confined amidst other trees, its trunk, like that of the
Oak, the Elm, and the Poplar, is perfectly straight and of a
uniform size to the height of thirty or forty feet, at which it
begins to divide itself into branches: in these situations it is
usually from one to two feet in diameter. As the Sweet Gum
is profusely multiplied, it is often found on soils unpropitious to
its growth. On dry and gravelly land, its height does not ex-
ceed fifteen, twenty, and thirty feet, and its secondary branches
are covered with a dry and flaky bark, of which the plates are
attached by the edge, instead of the face as on other trees.
The Sweet Gum is garnished with fine foliage, which changes
to a dull red with the first autumnal frosts, and falls soon after.
The shoots upon which the young leaves appear in the spring-
are smooth and of a yellowish-green color. The leaves vary in
size from three to six inches, according to the vigor of the tree
and to the situation of the leaf, being larger and less deeply
palmated on the lower branches: they are alternate, petiolated,
and divided into five principal lobes: in this last particular,
they bear some resemblance to the leaves of the Sugar Maple
and the Norway Maple, from which they differ in having the
lobes deeper and more regularly shaped, and in being finely
denticulated at the edge. It should be remarked also that, at
the birth of the leaves, the back of the principal rib is sur-
rounded by a small tuft of red down. In warm weather, a
viscous substance exudes from the leaves of such of these trees
as grow upon dry grounds : when bruised, they exhale a sensible
aromatic odor.
The barren and fertile flowers are borne by different branches
of the same tree. The fertile flowers are not conspicuous, and
the barren ones are in oval aments an inch and a half in length.
4G STVEET CU M.
The fruit is globular and bristling with points- when arrived at
maturity, it is about an inch and a balf in diameter, and is
suspended by a flexible pedicle, one or two incbes long: the
globes, which are green at first and afterward yellow, are com-
posed of a great number of closely-connected capsules. At tbe
beginning of autumn these capsules open and give liberty to
the seeds, which are small, blackish, oblong, compressed, and
surmounted by a wing. Each capsule contains one or two seeds
united with a great number of minute bodies incapable of
germination, resembling oaken sawdust.
The trunk of the full-grown tree is covered with a deeply-
furrowed bark, not unlike that of several species of Oak. Sweet
Gums are found, of the same size and on the same soil, some of
which have a large proportion of sap and only five or six inches
of heart, while others consist principally of perfect wood, with
only a thin layer of sap. The heart is reddish, and when sawn
into boards it is observed to be transversely marked at consider-
able distances with blackish belts. This wood is compact and
fine-grained, and is susceptible of a bright polish. Though
inferior in strength to the Oak, it suffices for many purposes
which require great toughness and solidity. At Philadelphia,
when perfectly seasoned and stripped of the sap, it is used in
building the interior of houses, and especially for the joists of
tbe upper stories: when employed with these precautions, it
lasts longer than any species of Red Oak. As it furnishes
boards of two or three feet in width, it is sometimes sawn very
thin, and employed by cabinet-makers to line the inside of cer-
tain articles of mahogany furniture: its lightness, the fineness
of its grain, and its reddish complexion, render it peculiarly
proper for this purpose.
In the country, furniture was formerly made of the Sweet
Gum, which, when preserved with care, was not destitute of
beauty, though inferior to the Black Walnut and the Wild
Cherry wood, which are harder and less easily defaced. At
SWEET G U M. 47
Philadelphia, the Sweet Gum is preferred for small oval or
round picture-frames, which are dyed black; it serves also,
though less frequently than the Wild Cherry Tree and the
Curled Maple, for bedsteads and for the balusters of staircases.
At New York, it is commonly taken for coffins. In a word, the
Sweet Gum, however inferior in cpiality to the Black Walnut,
may be usefully employed in all work that is sheltered from the
air, without which precaution it speedily decays. It is little
esteemed for fuel, and, mixed with other species of no greater
value, it forms the lowest quality of wood in the market.
In summer, upon cutting the live bark and at the same time
slightly wounding the sap of the Sweet Gum, a resinous substance
of an agreeable odor distils in small quantities: in repeated
experiments made in Carolina, I was never able to collect from a
tree of a foot in diameter more than half an ounce in a fortnight.
All that has been said of the properties and uses of the Sweet
Gum proves its inferiority to that of many other frees. Pro-
bably, when the attention of the American proprietors becomes
engaged in the composition of artificial forests, they will give
the preference to other more useful species, reserving of the
Sweet Gum only a small number of the most vigorous stocks.
In Europe, this tree has for many years grown in the open
field; but, though it exceeds the height at which it fructifies in
the United States, it has not yet yielded seed, and for this
reason it is not extensively multiplied. It deserves to be more
generally diffused in parks and gardens, on account of the
agreeable tint and singular form of its leaves.
PLATE LXII.
A branch icith a leaf of the natural size. Fig. 1. Fruit of the natural size.
Fig. 2. A seed of the natural size. Fig. 3. Barren dust which accom-
jpanies the seed.
[The round prickly catkins which contain the seeds are hard,
and not readily broken by the hand; but by exposure to the
48 BUTT ON WOOD Oil SYCAMORE.
sun, or to fire-heat, they crack and open, and the seeds may
then he easily shaken out. They may he sown and treated like
seeds of the Pine and Fir tribe; hut, unlike them, they lie a year
in the ground before coming up.]
BUTTONWOOD or SYCAMORE.
Platanus occidentalis. P. foliis lobato-angulosis, ramulis alhcntibus.
Monoeeia monandria. Linn. Amentaceje. Juss.
Among trees with deciduous leaA r es, none in the temperate
zones, either on the Old or the New Continent, equals the dimen-
sions of the Planes. The species which grows in the Western
world is not less remarkable for its amplitude and for its mag-
nificent appearance than the Plane of Asia, whose majestic form
and extraordinary size were so much celebrated by the ancients.
In the Atlantic States, this tree is commonly known by the
name of Buttonwood, and sometimes, in Virginia, by that of
Water Beech. On the banks of the Ohio, and in the States of
Kentucky and Tennessee, it is most frequently called Sycamore,
and by some persons Plane Tree. The French of Canada and of
Upper Louisiana give it the name of Cotton Tree. The first of
these denominations appears to be the most widely diffused, and
not to be entirely unknown in those districts where the others
are habitually employed; for this reason I have adopted it,
though a less appropriate appellation than that of Plane Tree.
According to my own observations, the Buttonwood does not
venture, toward the northeast, beyond Portland, in the latitude
of 40° 30'; but farther west, in 73° of longitude, it is found
two degrees farther north, at the extremity of Lake Champlain
P/. 63.
Button ^ ood .
Plattvuts i'1-t 'identaliii
fafo-iel .<v
BUTTON WOOD OR SYCAMORE. 49
and at Montreal. I have not observed it myself, in this direc-
tion, beyond Onion River in Vermont ; and I have never seen it
in the district of Maine, nor in Nova Scotia. The trees of this
species which exist at Halifax have been planted for ornament,
and, though they are forty feet in height, they do not display
the same vigor as in a more southern latitude, where the winter
is less rigorous. Proceeding from Boston and the shores of Lake
Champlain toward the west and the southwest, the Buttonwood
is continually met with over a vast tract, comprising the At-
lantic and Western States, and extending beyond the Mississippi.
The nature of the Buttonwood confines it to moist and cool
grounds, where the soil is loose, deep, and fertile : the luxuriance
of its vegetation depends upon the union of these circumstances.
It is never found upon dry lands of an irregular surface among
the White and Red Oaks and the Walnuts : it is also more rare
in all the mountainous tract of the Alleghanies than in the fiat
country. It is remarked, in that part of Virginia which lies
upon the road from Baltimore to Petersburg, that, though the
Buttonwood is multiplied in the swamps, its growth is stinted,
and that it does not in general exceed eight or ten inches in
diameter. Farther south, in the lower parts of the Carolinas
and of Georgia, it is not abundant even on the sides of the rivers,
and is not seen in the branch-swamps already mentioned, which
intersect the pine-barrens, and which are principally covered
with the Small Magnolia, the Red Bay, the Loblolly Bay, the
Red Maple, &c. The cause of the Buttonwood not being found
in these small marshes is, perhaps, that the layer of vegetable
mould, which is black and always miry, is not sufficiently thick
and substantial to support its growth, and that the heat, in this
part of the Southern States, is long continued and excessive.
The Buttonwood is in no part of North America more abundant
and more vigorous than along the great rivers of Pennsylvania
and of Virginia; though, in the more fertile valleys of the West,
its vegetation is perhaps still more luxuriant, especially on the
50 BUTTON WOOD OR SYCAMORE.
banks of the Ohio and of the rivers which empty into it, viz. :
the Great Muskingum, the Great Kanawha, the Great Scioto,
the Kentucky, the AVabash, &c. The bottoms which are watered
by these rivers are covered with dark forests, composed of trees
of an extraordinary size. The soil is very deep, loose, of a
brown color, and unctuous to the touch : it appears to have been
formed by the slime deposited in the course of ages, at the
annual overflowing of the rivers. The leaves, which every autumn
form a thick layer upon the surface, and the old trees that fall
by the weight of years and crumble into vegetable mould, give
to this soil, already so fertile, a degree of fecundity which is
without example in Europe, and which is manifested by pro-
digies of vegetation.
The margin of the great rivers of the West is occupied by
the "Willow, after which comes the White Maple, and next the
Buttonwood: but this arrangement is not uniformly observed,
and the Maple alone, or, as it more frequently happens, mingled
with the Buttonwood, sometimes grows upon the brink. Among
the trees which compose these forests, these three species are
least liable to injury from the continued presence of water, and
by their position they are exposed to have their bases every year
inundated by the swelling of the rivers. In these situations,
the Buttonwood is constantly found to be the loftiest and largest
tree of the United States. Often, with a trunk of several feet
in diameter, it begins to ramify at the height of sixtj- or seventy
feet, near the summit of the other trees ; and often the base
divides itself into several trunks, equally vigorous, and superior
in diameter to all the surrounding trees.
On a little island in the Ohio, fifteen miles above the mouth
of the Muskingum, my father measured a Buttonwood which,
at five feet from the ground, was forty feet and four inches in
circumference, and consequently more than thirteen feet in dia-
meter. Twenty years before, General Washington had mea-
sured the same tree, and found it to be of nearly the same size.
BUTTON WOOD OR SYCAMORE. 51
In 1802, in a journey through the Western States, I found on
the right bank of the Ohio, thirty-six miles from Marietta, a
Buttonwood whose base was swollen in an extraordinary man-
ner. My travelling companion and myself measured it, and at
four feet from the ground we found it to be forty-seven feet in
circumference. This tree, which still exhibited the appearance
of vigorous vegetation, ramified at twenty feet from the ground..
A Buttonwood of equal size is mentioned as existing in Genesee.
The astonishing dimensions of these trees recall the famous
Plane Tree of Lycia spoken of by Pliny, whose trunk, hollowed
by time, afforded a retreat for the night to the Roman Consul
Licinius Mutianus, with eighteen persons of his retinue. The
interior of this grotto was seventy-five feet in circumference,
and the summit of the tree resembled a small forest.
The most striking resemblance, in the majesty of their form
and in the enormous size of their trunk, thus appears to exist
between the only two species of Plane that have hitherto been
discovered. The American species is generally thought, in
Europe, to possess a richer foliage and to afford a deeper shade
than the Asiatic Plane : its leaves are of a beautiful green, alter-
nate, from five to ten inches broad, less deeply lobetl, and formed
with more open angles than those of the Plane of the Eastern
Continent. In the spring, the lower surface of these leaves is
covered with a thick down, which disappears toward summer.
In certain districts wdiere this tree is very abundant, its vicinity
is a source of alarm to the inhabitants: they believe that the
fine down from its leaves, floating in the air, produces an irri-
tation of the lungs and a disposition to consumption. This
apprehension I consider as a popular error; for the slightest
zephyr suffices to waft to a distance and to disperse in the airy
waste this light and impalpable substance.
The sexes are separate on the Buttonwood; but the male and
female flowers are attached to the same peduncle, instead of
being placed on different branches. The flowers are in the form
52 BUT TON WOOD OR SYCAMORE.
of small balls : the fertile ones grow to the diameter of an inch,
and are supported by peduncles two or three inches long.
These balls fall in the course of the autumn and winter, and, part-
ing asunder, the seeds which compose them are scattered in the
wind, by means of the plumy tuft by which they are surmounted.
The trunk and branches of the Buttonwood are covered with
a smooth, pale green bark, of which the epidermis detaches itself
every year in portions : a sufficiently obvious character is thus
afforded by which to distinguish the tree when bared of its
leaves. The roots when taken from the earth are of a beautiful
red color ; but the}^ lose this tint upon being split and exposed
to the light in a dry place. The concentric layers and the
medullary raj's are also observed to be much more distinct in the
roots than in the body of the tree. In clearing new lands, it is
sometimes difficult to eradicate the Buttonwood: the stumps,
during a long time, give birth to fresh shoots ; but when once
dead they speedily decay.
The Buttonwood, in seasoning, becomes of a dull red : its
grain is fine and close, and it is susceptible of a brighter polish
than the wood of the Beech, to which it bears some resemblance.
Its concentric circles are divided into numerous sections by fine
medullary rays extending from the centre to the circumference.
When the trunk is sawn in a direction parallel to these rays,
they appear larger than when it is cut parallel to the concentric
circles. It would seem, then, that the division should be made
in an intermediate direction, so that the spots may be of a
proper size and at equal distances, which gives an excellent
surface to the wood.
Cabinet-makers, at Philadelphia, rarely make use of the But-
tonwood : they attribute to it the defect of easily warping, which
does not belong to the Wild Cherry and to the Black Walnut.
As these species of wood are also harder and of a more durable
polish, the Buttonwood is little used except for bedsteads,
which retain the color of the wood and are coated with varnish.
BUTTONWOOD OR SYCAMORE. 53
The Buttonwood speedily decays when exposed to the atmo-
sphere; hence it is proper only for work that is sheltered from
the weather: when thoroughly seasoned, it may be usefully
employed in the interior of houses for joists, and for sheathing
the frame. It never enters into the construction of vessels.
The French of Illinois sometimes fashion it into canoes, one of
which, made a few years since on this river, of a single Button-
wood, was sixty-five feet long, and carried 9000 pounds.
It is difficult to mark the difference between the two species
of Plane in the color and organization of their wood. If the
excellencies which were ascribed by the ancients to the wood of
the Plane are not recognised in that of the Buttonwood, it is
perhaps owing to the great variety of timber proper for build-
ing which is furnished by the soil of the United States, and to
the superiority, in cabinet-making, of mahogany, which is ob-
tained with facility from the West Indies.
The Asiatic and American Planes have been many years
cultivated in Europe: the rapid growth and majestic appear-
ance of these trees render them proper for adorning extensive
parks and gardens, and for forming the avenues leading to large
towns. In the United States, where the atmosphere is more
humid than in Europe, they would perfectly fulfil this destina-
tion in all situations where the soil is not too dry. Their rich
and shady foliage is free from the inconvenience of being de-
voured by caterpillars, which in North America, still more than
in Europe, infest the Elm and the Cherry Tree.
PLATE LXIII.
A leaf of a third of the natural size. Fig. 1. Flower's. F'uj. 2. Fruit at
maturity. Fig. 3. A seed.
[Emerson thinks, with justice, that there is no propriety in
calling this tree Sycamore, as that name indicates a totally dif-
T4 BUTTON WOOD OR SYCAMORE.
ferent tree. It flourishes best in a deep, loose, rich soil, in a
cool, moist situation, and is remarkable for the rapidity of its
growth and for the ease with which it may be propagated, the
seeds taking root in any stirred ground where they alight. It
has been supposed that the speedy returns of fuel made by But-
ton wood plantations would render its cultivation for that pur-
pose more profitable than any other trees, except the Locust on
dry soils.
Sow the seeds broadcast in the spring, very thick, in a rich
seed-bed of light, fine mould, and rake them in ; the young
plants are tender and should be screened for several months
from the heat of the sun by mats or brushwood; transplant
when a year old. The disease to which the Buttonwood was
subject for many years seems to be on the decline, (1857.) See
Emerson's " Trees and Shrubs of Massachusetts."
See also Nuttall's Supplement, vol. i. p. Go, for an account of
the Californian Buttonwood, Platanus rac&mosus.l
n 64
Calalpa
Biqnonia catalpa
CATALPA.
Didynamia angiosperma. Linn. Bignonias. Juss.
Bignonia catalpa. B. foliis simpllcibus, temis, cordatis; paniculd laxis-
sintd ; fioribus diandris, intus maculis purpureas et luleis asjiersis; cap-
said gracili, longd, tcreli.
Catalpa syringaefolia. Sims.
In the Atlantic States, the Catalpa begins to be found in the
forests on the banks of the river Savannah, near Augusta in
Georgia, and, west of the Alleghanies, on those of the Cumber-
land, between the 35th and oGth degrees of latitude. Farther
south it is more common, and abounds near the borders of all
the rivers which empty into the Mississippi, or which water the
province of West Florida. I have been assured that it is par-
ticularly abundant on the Escambia or Conechu, which empties
at Pensacola. It is remarkable that the Catalpa should not
exist in the lower part of the Carolinas and of Georgia, and in
East Florida, which lie so near the country of its natural growth,
and where stocks that have been planted for ornament about the
houses shoot with extraordinary vigor.
In these southern regions it frequently exceeds fifty feet in
height, with a diameter from eighteen to twenty-four inches. It
is easily recognised by its bark, which is of a silver-gray and
but slightly furrowed, by its ample leaves, and by its wide-
spreading summit, disproportioned in size to the diameter of its
trunk. It differs from other trees also by the fewness of its
branches.
The leaves are heart-shaped, petiolated, often six or seven
inches in width, glabrous above and downy beneath, particu-
larly on the principal ribs : they are late in venturing out in the
spring, and are among the first to shrink at the approach of
56 CAT ALP A.
autumn. The flowers, which are collected in large bunches at
the extremity of the branches, are white, with violet and yellow
spots, and are beautiful and showy. The capsules are cylin-
drical and pendent, of a brown color when ripe, three or four
lines in diameter, and twelve or fifteen inches in length.
The seeds are thin, flat, and enveloped in a long, narrow,
membranous wing, terminated by a hairy tuft. Each seed,
with its wing, is about an inch long and a line and a half
broad.
That the Catalpa is a tree of rapid growth is proved by the
distance of the annual concentric circles. Its wood is of a
grayish-white color, of a fine texture, very light, and very bril-
liant when polished. It resembles the Butternut wood, with
this exception : that the Butternut wood is of a reddish hue, and
is less durable when exposed to the weather. Posts of the
Catalpa, perfectly seasoned, have recently proved to be very
lasting, by experiments made in the United States. Such is the
information which I have been able to collect concerning the
wood of this tree: I have never visited the thinly-inhabited
regions in which it abounds.
In the spring, if a bit of the cellular integument of the Ca-
talpa bark is removed, a poisonous and offensive odor is exhaled.
In a thesis supported at the Medical College of Philadelphia,
this bark is maintained to be tonic, stimulant, and more power-
fully antiseptic than the Peruvian Bark ; but this thesis appears
to be undeserving of the same confidence witli the treatise
already mentioned, concerning the Dogwood, in which the
author affords proofs of sound and various information. I have
been assured that the honey collected from the flowers of this
tree is poisonous, and that its effects, though less alarming, are
analogous to those of the honey of the Yellow Jasmine of
Carolina.
In the Carolinas and in Georgia, the Catalpa is called Catawba
Tree, after the name of an Indian tribe that formerly inhabited
C A T A L P A. 57
a large part of these States, and from whose territory the tree
was probably first procured ; the name of Catalpa, adopted in
the middle section of the United States, and in Europe, is per-
haps a corruption of this original. The French of Upper Loui-
siana call it Bois Shavanon, from the Shavanon or Shawnee
nation, which once existed in West Tennessee, on the borders
of the river of this name, called by the English the Cumber-
land. The Catalpa has long been cultivated with success in
Europe, though in the climate of Paris its young shoots some-
times suffer by the late frosts. Its rapid growth, the remark-
able size of its leaves, and the beauty of its numerous bunches
of flowers, entitle the Catalpa to a distinguished place among
ornamental trees : but it has ceased to be rare, and is less highly
esteemed than while it was less common.
PLATE LXIV.
A leaf and a bunch of flowers of the natural size. Fig. 1. A pod. Fig. 2.
A seed.
II.— 4*
CRAB APPLE.
Icosandria pentagynia. LlNN. Eosacese. Juss.
Malus coronaria. 31. foliis lato-ovalibus, basi rotundatis, sub-angulatis,
serratis, nitide glabris ; pedunculis corymbosis ; fructu parvo, odorato.
Pyrus coi'onaria. Linn. The Garland-flowering Apple Tree.
A species of Wild Apple Tree is found in North America,
whose nature has not yet been modified by cultivation. Tbe
Wild Apple Tree of Europe, in a long series of years, has yielded
a great number of species and varieties of fruit, wbich, in France
alone, amount to nearly three hundred. Except the district of
Maine, the State of Vermont, and the upper part of New Hamp-
shire, the Crab Apple is found, on both sides of the mountains,
throughout the United States ; but it appears to be most multi-
plied in the Middle States, and especially in the back-parts of
Pennsylvania and of Virginia. It abounds, above all, in the
Glades, which is the name given to a tract fifteen or eighteen
miles wide, on the summit of the Alleghanies, along the road
from Philadelphia to Pittsburg.
The ordinary height of the Crab Apple Tree is fifteen or
eighteen feet, with a diameter of five or six inches ; but it is
sometimes found twenty-five or thirty feet high, and twelve or
fifteen inches in diameter. The two stocks which I found by
measurement to be of this size stood in a field which had long
been under cultivation, and this circumstance may have con-
tributed to their extraordinary growth. They were insulated
trees that in appearance exactly resembled the common Apple
Tree. I have universally remarked, that the Crab Apple
grows most favorably in cool and moist places, and on fertile
soils.
58
PI. 63,
Crab Apple
\falu<f coronafM
CRAB APPLE. 59
The leaves of this tree are oval, smooth on the upper surface,
and, when fully developed, very distinctly toothed; some of
them are imperfectly three-lobed. While young they have a
bitter and slightly-aromatic taste, which leads me to believe
that, with the addition of sugar, they would make an agreeable
tea. Like the common Apple Tree, this species blooms very
early in the spring. Its flowers are white, mingled with rose-
color, and are collected in corymbs; they produce a beautiful
effect, and diffuse a delicious odor, by which, in the Glades
where the tree is abundant, the air is perfumed to a great dis-
tance. The apples, which are suspended by short peduncles,
are small, green, intensely acid, and very odoriferous. Some
farmers make cider of them, which is said to be excellent ; they
make very fine sweetmeats also, by the addition of a large
quantity of sugar.
No attempts have been made in the United States to improve
the fruit of the Crab Apple Tree, nor any experiments of uniting
it, by grafting, with the species imported from Europe. These
species succeed so perfectly, and furnish such excellent new va-
rieties, that much time would be spent upon the Crab Apple,
without bringing it to as high a state of improvement. Per-
haps it might be cultivated with advantage for cider ; but, aside
from its utility in this way, it must be regarded only as a tree
highly agreeable for the beauty of its flowers and for the sweet-
ness of its perfume.
PLATE LXV.
A branch with, leaves and fruit of the natural size. Fig. 1. A bunch of
flowers.
JUNE BERRY.
Icosandria pentagynia. Linn. Rosaceas. Juss.
Mespilus arborea. M. foliis sub-ovalibus, acuUssime scrratis, sub-acu-
minatis; adultis glabris ; racemo simplici, elongato; fiorifero lamdoso ;
fructifero glabra ; petalis oblongis ; fructibus alro-purpureis, edulibus.
Mespilus Canadensis. A. Mich. Flor. Bor. Am.
With the exception of the maritime parts of the Carolinas
and of Georgia, this tree is spread over the whole extent of the
United States and of Canada; but it is most multiplied upon
the Alleghany Mountains, and upon the elevated banks of the
rivers which flow from them. In the northern section of the
Union, it is called Wild Pear Tree, and in the Middle States,
June Berry ; which latter name I have adopted, because it is
universally employed in the regions where the tree is most
abundant, because it indicates that in maturing its fruit it is
among the earliest trees, and because the Mespilus arborea is
remote from all resemblance to the Wild Pear Tree.
In the vicinity of New York and Philadelphia, the June
Berry appears to grow of preference in moist and shady situa-
tions, and along the margin of brooks and rivulets. In the
Western country, it is found in the midst of the forest among
the Oaks, the Walnuts, the Maples, &c. Here, also, it reaches
its greatest height, which does not exceed thirty-five or forty
feet, with a diameter of ten or twelve inches.
The leaves of the June Berry are two or three inches long,
and alternately arranged. When beginning to open, they are
covered with a thick, silvery down, which disappears with their
growth and leaves them perfectly smooth on both sides. They
are of an elongated, oval shape, of a delicate texture, and finely
CO
June Berry.
JUNE BEER Y. Gl
denticulated. The flowers, which are white and pretty large,
are disposed in long panicles at the summit of the branches:
they blow in the beginning of April, and are succeeded by small
fruit of a purplish color, and of an agreeable, sweet taste. This
fruit, of which the largest tree rarely yields more than half a
pound, is ripe in the beginning of June, before that of any other
tree or shrub. It is sometimes brought to the market of Phila-
delphia, where it is bought only by children : I have also seen
small quantities of it exposed in the market of Pittsburg.
The trunk of the June Berry is covered with a bark resem-
bling that of the Cherry Tree. Its wood is of a pure white,
and exhibits no difference between the heart and the sap ; it is
longitudinally traversed by small, bright, red vessels, which in-
tersect each other and run together. This peculiarity, which
deserves the attention of vegetable physiologists, is also observ-
able in the Red Birch.
The fruit of this tree is, in my opinion, too small and too
scanty to reward the pains of improving its taste and of in-
creasing its volume by long-continued cultivation ; but its early
and beautiful flowers entitle it to notice as an ornamental vege-
table.
PLATE LXVI.
A branch icith leaves and fruit of the natural size. Fig. 1. Flowers of the
natural size.
[Dr. Darlington says that the fruit is considerably improved
in size and quality by long culture. It is sometimes called the
Shad-flower.]
MOUNTAIN LAUREL,
DWARF ROSE BAY.
Ehododendrum maximum. J?, arborescens; foliis subcuneato-oblongis,
abrupte-acumbiatis, crassis, coriaceis, glabris ; calicibus laciniis, ovalibus,
obtusis ; corolla subcampanulala.
Decandria monogynia. Linn. Rosacea;. Juss.
The Mountain Laurel generally presents itself in the form of
a shrub, of less than ten feet in height; but, as it sometimes
rises to the height of twenty or twenty-five feet, with a diameter
of four or five inches, its diffusion throughout a large part of
the United States, and the remarkable beauty of its flowers,
have induced me to describe it.
The west end of Long Island, and the river Hudson below
the Highlands, may be considered as the limit, far beyond which
the Mountain Laurel ceases to be found in the forests. It is
abundant, on the contrary, in the Middle States, and in the
upper pails, particularly in the mountainous tracts of the south-
ern section. It is almost exclusively seen on the borders of
creeks and rivers, and is observed to be more multiplied in ap-
proaching the Alleghanies, till, in the midst of these ranges,
especially in Virginia, it becomes so abundant on the sides of
the torrents as to form impenetrable thickets, in which the bear
finds a secure retreat from the pursuit of the dogs and of the
hunters.
Deeply-shaded situations, in the vicinity of cool and crystal
waters flowing among rocks, where the atmosphere is laden with
vapor, are the most congenial to the Mountain Laurel and
Dwarf Rose Bay .
MOUNTAIN LAUREL. G3
Kalmia. Shade and humidity seem to be indispensable; for it
flourishes among the White Cedars in the gloomy swamps of
Lower Jersey, where the surface of the miry soil is carpeted
with moss constantly surcharged with moisture.
When fully expanded, the leaves are smooth, five or six inches
long, of an elongated oval form, and of a thick, coriaceous tex-
ture. They are evergreen, and are partially renewed, once in
three or four years.
The flowers are commonly rose-colored, with yellow dots on the
inside ; and sometimes they are perfectly white. They are always
collected at the extremity of the branches in beautiful groups,
which derive additional lustre from the foliage which surrounds
them.
The seeds are extremely minute, and are contained in cap-
sules, that open in the fall for their escape.
The wood of the Mountain Laurel is hai'd, compact, and fine-
grained; but it is inferior in these respects to that of the Kalmia
Latifolia. I do not know that it is appropriated to any use.
This shrub has long existed in Europe; but, as it requires a
cooler and more shady exposure and more assiduous culture
than the BJtododendrum ponticum, which is a native of the Alps
and of the Pyrenees, it is less extensively multiplied.
PLATE LXVII.
A branch with leaves and flowers of the natural size. Fig. 1. A seed-vessel.
Fi<j. 2. Seeds.
BROAD-LEAVED KALMIA.
Kalmia latifolia. Laiifolia Ij. K. arborescens ; foliis petiolatis ovali-
bus, coriaceis, glabris ; corymbis termhialibas, viscklo-puberulis.
Decandria monogynia. Linn. Kosaeeaj. Juss.
The Broad-leaved Kalmia is a large shrub, which, if its height
alone is considered, appears, like the preceding species, to be
excluded from the class of vegetables which I have assumed the
province of describing more particularly than has been done by
preceding authors; but the uses which are beginning to be made
of its wood entitle it to our notice. It bears indifferently the
names of Kalmia, Laurel, and Calico Tree.
The west end of Long Island and the vicinity of Pough-
keepsie, which lies on the river Hudson, between 42° and
43° of latitude, may be considered as nearly the northern limit
of the Kalmia. I have never seen it on the shores of Lake
Champlain, nor on the banks of the river Mohawk, where, in
situations otherwise congenial, its growth is probably forbidden
by the severity of the winter. It abounds in New Jersey, and
covers AVeehock Hill, nearly opposite to the city of New York.
It grows also near the Schuylkill, in the immediate neighbor-
hood of Philadelphia. Proceeding thence toward the southwest,
it is found along the steep banks of all the rivers which rise in the
Alleghany Mountains; but it is observed to become less common
in following these streams from their source, toward the Ohio
and Mississippi on one side, and toward the ocean on the other.
It is rare in Kentucky and in West Tennessee ; and in the South-
ern States it disappears entirely when the rivers enter the low
country, where the pine-barrens commence.
Although this Kalmia abounds along the rivers of the Middle
G-i
•I o'.v
Mountain Laurel
Aa //run lati/blia
BROAD-LEAVED KALMIA. 65
and Southern States, it is proportionally less common than upon
the Alleghany Mountains from Pennsylvania to the termination
of the chain in Georgia. I have nowhere seen it more profusely
multiplied, nor of a greater height and more luxuriant vege-
tation, than in North Carolina, on the loftiest part of the Alle-
ghanies. It occupies tracts of more than one hundred acres, and
forms upon the summit, and for a third of the distance down
the sides, thickets eighteen or twenty feet in height, which are
rendered nearly impenetrable by the crooked and unyielding
trunks crossed and locked with each other. As the shrubs
which compose these copses are of a uniform height and richly
laden with evergreen foliage, they present, at a distance, the
appearance of verdant meadows surrounded by tall trees.
The leaves are of a coriaceous texture, oval-acuminate, entire,
and about three inches long. The flowers, which are destitute
of odor, are disposed in corymbs at the extremity of the
branches: in general they are of a beautiful rose-color, and
sometimes of a pure white. They are always numerous, and
their brilliant effect is heightened by the richness of the sur-
rounding foliage; hence this shrub is in great request for the
embellishment of gardens. The minute seeds are contained in
small globular capsules.
On the declivities of the Alleghanies in North Carolina,
where I have observed the largest Kalmias, the trunk is gene-
rally three inches in diameter. The wood, particularly that of
the roots, is compact, fine-grained, and marked with red lines.
When dry, it is very hard, and it turns and polishes well. At
Philadelphia, it is selected for the handles of light tools, for
small screws, boxes, &c. : it is said also to make good clarionets.
Probably the Kalmia will hereafter be more extensively em-
ployed, as, of all American shrubs, its wood most nearly
resembles the Boxwood, and is most fitted to supply its place.
I have been assured that its leaves are narcotic, and that they
are poisonous to cattle.
6Q BROAD-LEAVED KALMIA.
This Laurel was long since introduced into Europe, where it
is multiplied for the beauty of its flowers and of its foliage; but
many years are necessary to obtain it from the seed in a con-
dition to bloom. A soft, loose and cool soil, and a shady northern
exposure, appear to be the most congenial to its growth.
PLATE LXYIIL
A branch with leaves andfloicers of the natural size. Fig. 1. A seed-vessel.
Fig. 2. Seeds.
[Rhododendrons and Kalmias are rapidly becoming favorites
with ornamental planters. It is found to be cheaper to import
the former from England or France, where it is raised in great
quantities, than to attempt to rear it here. In selecting a situa-
tion for a bed of either, partial or complete shade is the best;
as on the north side of a house, in secluded or neglected situa-
tions, where the hand of the gardener seldom- reaches, will be
found their favorite localities. Barren sites, where nothing else
Avill grow, may be transformed into delicious bowers, affording,
during the intense heat of summer, a delightful and shady
retreat. In planting them, great care must be taken not to
place them too deep : it has been found advisable to loosen the
ground beneath, and, setting the plant on the surface and tying
it to a stake, to sift leaf-mould and earth on the root, and there
to leave it,]
BIRCHES.
The northern extremity of the Old and New Continents is
the native climate of the Birch, if we may judge from the num-
ber of species which is found there, and which diminishes in
descending toward the south. To the inhabitants of regions
destitute of most of the larger vegetables, which flourish in
more temperate climates, the trees of this genus are highly in-
teresting, and are applied by them, with wonderful ingenuity,
to the necessities of life : they employ the wood in the construc-
tion of houses and of vessels, and in the works of the wheel-
wright and cabinet-maker; of the bark, which is nearly incor-
ruptible, they make canoes, boxes, and a more secure covering
for their habitations; with the leaves they dye their nets; and
from the sap they procure a mild and sugary beverage.
From the researches of botanists, it results that as many
species of Birch are found in the northern part of the United
States as in Europe; and, from my own observations on the
comparative properties of their wood, the advantage appears to
lie wholly on the side of the American species. Thus, the Canoe
Birch equals the White Birch, which grows in Sweden and in
Russia; and the Cherry Birch and Yellow Birch far exceed it
in the strength and beauty of their wood, as is proved by the
uses to which they are applied in Canada and in the northern
and middle sections of the United States.
Of the seven species of Birch which have been discovered in
North America, five may be ranked among tall trees. The two
remaining species, of which, for that reason, no mention will be
made, are classed with the shrubs.
67
G8 B I E C II E S.
I have observed, in the form and disposition of the aments
of the different species of American Birch, a distinction in my
opinion sufficiently marked to authorize the division of them
into two sections : the first section consists of the species which
have long, flexible, and pendulous aments, and comprises the
Canoe Birch and the White Birch, to which is added the Com-
mon European Birch; the second section is composed of the
species whose aments are short and straight, — namely, the Bed
Birch, the Black Birch, and the Yellow Birch.
I have been led to this division by the external appearance,
rather than by a minute physiological examination of the sexual
parts of the different species, leaving more accomplished botanists
to decide upon its adoption.
[Soil, Propagation, &c. Tbe Birch has been called an am-
phibious plant by the Earl of Haddington, as it grows on rich
or poor, wet or dry, sandy or rocky, situations, nor refuses any
soil or climate whatever; it, however, luxuriates most in deep
loams lying on a porous subsoil, or in alluvial soil, by the sides
of rivers or smaller streams. Plants are not readily produced
otherwise than by seed, which ripens in September and October,
and may be either gathered and sown immediately, or preserved
in a dry loft and sown in spring; if immediately, the catkins
may be gathered wet, but, if to be kept, they ought to be
gathered quite dry. Cover the seeds very lightly, and your
plants will appear in March or April from the autumn-sowing,
but not till May or June if sown in the spring. See the account
of the Common European Birch for the method of making
plantations.
Emerson remarks, that no trees are more distinguished for
their light and feathery foliage, and the graceful sweep of their
limbs, than the Birches: no family affords such a variety of
aspect.
See Nuttali's Supplement, vol. i. p. 42, &c, and vol. ii. p. G4.]
METHODICAL DISPOSITION
BIRCHES.
BetulacevE. Richard.
Moucecia polyandria. Linn. Arnentacece. Juss.
First Section.
Fertile amcnis, pedunculated and pendulous.
1. Canoe Birch Betula papyracea.
2. Common European Birch .... Betula alba.
3. White Birch Betula populi/olia.
Second Section.
Faiile aments, sessile and erect.
4. Bed Birch Betula rubra.
5. Yellow Birch Betula lufea.
6. Black Birch Betula lenta.
CANOE BIRCH.
Betula paptracea. B. foliis ovalibus, acuminatis, subccqualltcr serratis ;
peliolo gldbro ; veiiis subtus hirsuiis.
Betula papyrifera. A. Mich. Flor. Bor. Am.
By the French Canadians this tree is called Bouleau Blanc,
White Birch, and Bouleau a Canot, Canoe Birch: it is known to
the Americans also by these denominations, and sometimes by
that of Paper Birch. The name of Canoe Birch appears to be
the most proper, as it indicates an important use which is made
of its bark.
The Canoe Birch is most multiplied in the forests in the
country lying north of 43° of latitude, and between 75° of
west longitude and the Atlantic Ocean, comprising Lower
Canada, New Brunswick, the district of Maine, and the States
of New Hampshire and Vermont. It ceases below 43° of
latitude, and is not found in the southern part of Connecticut,
nor below Albany in the State of New York.
The surface of these regions, in general very irregular and
diversified in every direction with hills and valleys, is occupied
by thick and gloomy forests, of which the soil is fertile and
principally covered with large stones overgrown with moss.
Tins part of North America, though situated ten degrees farther
south, very nearly resembles Sweden and the eastern part of
Prussia, not only in the face of the soil, but in the severity of
the climate.
The Canoe Birch attains its largest size, which is about
seventy feet in height and three feet in diameter, on the decli-
vity of hills and in the bottom of fertile valleys. Its branches
Til
/Yjn,
Canoe Bivcli
Be/itld pcwyracei
'ht&rul t'ctt/r
CANOE BIRCH. 71
are slender, flexible, and covered with a shining, brown bark,
dotted with white. The leaves are borne by petioles four or
live lines long, and are of a middling size, oval, unequally den-
ticulated, smooth, and of a dark-green color. The aments are
pendulous, and about an inch in length: the seeds are ripe
toward the middle of July.
The heart or perfect wood of this tree, when first laid open, is
of a reddish blue, and the sap is perfectly white. It has a fine,
glossy grain, with a considerable share of strength : that it is
but little employed is attributable partly to its speedy decay
when exposed to the succession of dryness and moisture, and
partly to the existence, in the countries which produce it, of
several species of wood, such as the Maples, the Beech, and even
the Yellow Birch, which are far preferable for the uses of the
joiner and the wheelwright. It is fully equal, however, to the
White Birch which grows in Sweden and Norway, and which,
for many purposes, is advantageously substituted for the Oak;
but these countries are destitute of trees analogous to those
which have just been mentioned as enriching the native soil of
the Canoe Birch. In the district of Maine, tables are frequently
made of it, and stained in imitation of mahogany.
A section of the trunk of this tree, one or two feet in length,
immediately below the first ramification, exhibits very elegant
undulations of the fibre, representing bunches of feathers or
sheaves of corn : these pieces are divided into thin plates for
inlaying mahogany, and in Boston and the towns situated
farther north, they are generally employed by cabinet-makers
to embellish their work.
The Canoe Birch affords excellent fuel, and is exported in
great quantities from the district of Maine to Boston.
On trees not' exceeding eight inches in diameter, the bark is
of a brilliant white, like that of the White Birch of Sweden;
and, like that, too, it is almost indestructible. Trees long since
prostrated by time are often met with in the forests, whose
72 C A N E B I R C II.
trunk appears sound, while the hark contains only a friable
substance, like vegetable mould. This bark, like that of the
European species, is devoted to many uses: in Canada and in
the district of Maine, the country-people place large pieces of it
immediately below the shingles of the roof, to form a more im-
penetrable covering for their houses; baskets, boxes, and port-
folios are made of it, which are sometimes embroidered with
silk of different colors; divided into very thin sheets, it forms a
substitute for paper ; and placed between the soles of the shoes
and in the crown of the hat, it is a defence against humidity.
But the most important purpose to which it is applied, and one
in which it is replaced by the bark of no other tree, is the con-
struction of canoes. To procure proper pieces, the largest and
smoothest trunks are selected : in the spring two circular in-
cisions are made several feet apart, and two longitudinal ones
on opposite sides of the tree; after which, by introducing a
wooden wedge, the bark is easily detached. These plates are
usually ten or twelve feet long, and two feet nine inches broad.
To form the canoe, they are stitched together with fibrous roots
of the White Spruce, about the size of a quill, which are de-
prived of the bark, split, and suppled in water. The seams are
coated with resin of the Balm of Gilead. Great use is made of
these canoes by the savages and by the French Canadians in
their long journeys into the interior of the country: they are
very light, and are easily transported on the shoulders from one
lake or river to another, which is called the portage. A canoe
calculated for four persons with their baggage weighs from forty
to fifty pounds; some of them are made to carry fifteen pas-
sengers. Such are the ordinary uses of the bark and of the
wood of this tree.
The Canoe Birch flourishes in the vicinity of Paris, where it
is known in the nurseries by the name of Bctula nigra, Black
Birch. If it is found to grow with success upon poor lands, it
ri„W/„-
Common European VN luU- Birch..
Bc/u/a aU>a.
COMMON EUROPEAN BIRCH. 73
will prove a valuable acquisition to the European forests, as it
surpasses our native Birch in stature and in the quality of its
wood.
PLATE LXIX.
A branch with leaves and fertile aments of the natural size. Fig. 1. A seed.
Fig. 2. The scale which covers the seeds.
[See Nuttall's Supplement, vol. i. p. 42.
COMMON EUROPEAN BIRCH.
Betula alba. B. foliis deltoid 'ibus, acutis, duplicato-serra.tis, glabris ; stro-
bilorum squamis lobis lateralibus rotandatis; petiolis glabris, peduncnlis
longioribus.
Of all the leafy trees of the Old Continent, the Birch is found
in the highest latitude; it grows as far north as the 70th degree,
though in vegetation it is so much repressed by the excessive
cold of the winter, that it is reduced to the size of a shrub. A
few degrees farther south, it attains its fullest development, and
it is the most common, the tallest, and most robust of the leafy
trees which compose the forests between the 65th and 55th
degrees of latitude; in which interval are comprised Lapland,
Norway, Sweden, and a great part of Russia. Proceeding still
farther south, the Birch is observed to become less common in the
forests in proportion as the Maples, the Beeches, the Elms, and the
Oaks become more abundant. In France, between the 48th and
45th degrees, it appears to suffer from the influence of too dry
and too warm an atmosphere; for it is inferioi*, in size and in the
quality of its wood, to the same species in the north of Europe.
II.— 5*
74 COMMON EUROPEAN BIRCH.
The 45th parallel may be assumed as the limit below which the
Birch is only accidentally found in the forests, if we except
lofty mountains, whose elevation tempers the atmosphere with
perennial coolness.
In Germany, Sweden, and Russia, the Birch is seventy or
eighty feet high, and about two feet in diameter ; but in France
it rarely exceeds two-thirds of this height. The trunk and
limbs of the large trees are covered with a thick bark, whose
epidermis is white and perfectly similar to that of the White
Birch and the Canoe Birch. The small branches likewise re-
semble those of the species just mentioned, being slender, flexi-
ble, and of a brown color spotted with white.
The Birch blooms early in the spring ; the fertile and barren
flowers are borne by different branches of the same tree. The
barren flowers are disposed in pendulous aments about an inch
long; the fertile flowers are greenish, small, and not conspicu-
ous. The seeds also are very small, and- are collected round a
common stem, in the form of aments : each of them is covered
with a scale, and furnished with two membranous wings. The
leaves are alternate, nearly triangular, acuminate, and irregu-
larly toothed ; they vary in size according to the age of the
tree and to the nature of the soil on which it grows ; in very
dry lands they are not more than an inch in length.
In the north of Europe, the Birch affords a singular variety
of resources to the inhabitants, who make use, with admirable
ingenuity, of its wood, bark, and leaves. But the expedients
to which they are obliged to have recourse, for defence against
the extreme intensity of the cold, prove how little these regions
have been favored by the Creator. In Sweden, Norway, and
Finland, this wood is most commonly employed by the wheel-
wright, and serves for the manufacture of almost all the imple-
ments of husbandry. It is used by turners for bowls, plates,
spoons, chairs, &c. The trunk, like that of the Canoe Birch,
affords pieces immediately below the first ramification, which,
COMMON EUROPEAN BIRCH. 75
when polished, present beautiful wavings of the grain, and form
elegant articles of furniture.
The bark is also subservient to a great variety of economical
uses : boxes, baskets, and sandals are made of it ; it is placed
between the soles of the shoes, or in the crown of the hat, as a
defence against humidity ; and sometimes it is wrapped around
the lower part of posts to preserve them from decay. It endures
many years uninjured, even when exposed to the vicissitudes
of the atmosphere. To prepare the skin of the reindeer, the
Laplanders cut this bark into small pieces, which they mace-
rate, and afterward boil in water, with the addition of a little
salt. The skins are plunged repeatedly into this decoction
warmed, and are allowed to remain in it several days ; when
taken out, they are vigorously curried to render them pliable
and soft; thus prepared, they are hardly permeable by water.
In Russia, by slowly burning the bark of large Birches in kilns
or furnaces, an empyreumatic oil is obtained, with which a lea-
ther is prepared highly esteemed for durability.
The leaves of the Birch, both green and dry, are given to
cattle. When young, they are used by the inhabitants as a
substitute for tea; they are also employed to dye wool of a
yellowish color.
The sap of the Birch is very abundant in the spring, and, by
evaporation, it affords a syrup rich and sugary, but incapable
of crystallization. By the addition of fermenting matter, this
sap is converted into beer, into a species of wine, or into vinegar.
Such are the principal uses of the European Birch, all the valu-
able properties of which are completely united in the Canoe
Birch of North America.
England and the south of Germany, being favored with a
milder climate, and, consequently, with a greater variety of
trees, than the more northern countries, are not dependent upon
the Birch for so great a variety of uses ; but even here it is a
valuable possession, as it is proved, by the experience of upward
7G COMMON EUROPEAN BIRCH.
of two centuries, to grow more rapidly than any other tree in
barren soils. Hence, in Europe, all dry, meagre, gravelly lands,
analogous to those which, in the centre and in the north of the
United States, produce the Black Jack Oak, the Bear Oak, and
the Scrub Oak, are found to be more profitably devoted to plan-
tations of Birch than to any other species of culture. In this
manner, also, they are gradually prepared for the growth of
more valuable trees, such as the Oaks, the Chestnuts. &c.
Plantations of Birch are formed by sowing the seed, or by
setting out young plants collected in the woods, or, which is far
preferable, procured from a nursery. "When the first method is
employed, the ground should be turned with an iron-toothed
harrow, in damp weather in the month of November. Fifteen
pounds of seed, including the scales, should be sown upon an
acre, and afterward covered by drawing over it a harrow made
of brushwood.
Nothing contributes more to the success of the seeds than pre-
viously burning the noxious herbs and bushes growing upon the
ground. It is observed in the north of Europe and of the
United States, that the Birch reappears, as if by enchantment,
in forests that have been destroyed by fire. The Birch seed is
sometimes mixed with rye, which, springing with the young
plants, protects them during the first summer from the sun. and
which, by the profit of the crop, indemnifies the husbandman
for a part of the expense of forming his plantation. If the
ground is burdened with the young plants, a part of them may
be taken up the third year to fill the vacant spaces in woods
composed of Oaks, of Pines, &c. They may be sold also to per-
sons who prefer forming their coppices by transplantation, which
is the mode generally employed in Europe. In the month of
November, holes are formed five feet distant, in a straight line,
to which the young plants are committed, in moist weather
which promises rain. In the course of the summer, a day is
chosen for bestowing a light tillage upon the land, to clear it of
COMMON EUROPEAN BIRCH. 77
the noxious herbs, as is practised for Indian Corn. This is all
the labor required to insure the success of the plantation.
These coppices may be cut every five years, if they are
destined for making brooms, or every eight or nine years for
hoops, which are substituted for those of Oak and of Chestnut ;
at twelve years of age, they afford excellent fuel for baking,
brick-making, and for all manufactures which require a brisk
and clear fire.
I have entered into these details concerning the propagation
of the Birch, because, among the trees of the Old Continent, it
is one of the most profitable for cultivation upon poor lands.
Proprietors in the United States, who read the works which
have been published in Germany, France, and England, on the
management of forests, will be able to appreciate, in this respect,
the importance of the Birch.
The European Birch is so nearly related in its bark, its
foliage, the quality of its wood, and in other properties, to the
White Birch and to the Canoe Birch, that it appears to occupy
a middle place between these two species. Its principal resem-
blance to the White Birch is seen in its leaves, and in its favor-
able growth upon the most sterile soils, upon those even which
are at the same time meagre and humid. The most remarkable
difference consists in the larger size of the European species,
and in the superior quality of its wood. The inferiority of the
White Birch is not attributable to the climate, for it exhibits
the same dimensions in the district of Maine, and in Penn-
sylvania and Maryland. The White Birch of Europe and the
Canoe Birch resemble each other in their wood, their bark, and
their ample proportions, which are perhaps superior in the
American species. They differ in the form of their leaves, and
they grow on very different soils : the Canoe Birch is exclusively
attached to rich lands constantly cool, and capable of yielding
an abundant harvest of corn or of clover, and it propagates
itself naturally only in that part of North America which cor-
78 WHITE BIRCH.
responds in climate to the 54th and 55th degrees of latitude in
Europe. Between the White Birch of Europe and the Red
Birch, I have observed no resemblance, except in the suppleness
of their twigs; which is more remarkable in the Red Birch.
The length of this description will not be deemed superfluous
by persons who justly appreciate the importance of precise ideas
on subjects like the present.
PLATE LXX.
A branch with leaves and aments of the natural size. Fig. 1. ^1 seed. Fig. 2.
A scale which covers lite seed.
WHITE BIRCH.
Betula populifolia. JB. foliis longh acuminatis, incequaliter serratis,
glabcrrimis.
Tins species, like the Canoe Birch, grows in Canada and in
the northern extremity of the United States : it is found also in
the lower parts of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
In Virginia it is more rare, and I venture to assert that it does
not exist in the remaining Southern States. In the environs of
New York and of Philadelphia it is called White Birch, and
this name is habitually used in the district of Maine, where
that of Old Field Birch is also frequently employed, to distin-
guish the White Birch from the Canoe Birch.
The White Birch is most frequently found in places scantily
furnished with woods, where the soil is dry and meagre; in
these situations it commonly rises to the height of twenty
or twenty-five feet. Single trees, which grow accidentally in
White Bir< h.
Betula pouuli/ofia
WHITE BIRCH. 79
moist i)laces, expand to an ampler size, and are sometimes thirty
or thirty-five feet high and eight or nine inches in diameter.
The White Birch appears to be less multiplied than the other
trees of this genus : it is rarely found in groups, and single trees
are met with only at considerable intervals. It is more com-
mon in the district of Maine; but, even here, it is seen only by
the side of the highways, and in sandy soils that have been
exhausted by cultivation.
On trees that are fully grown, the branches are numerous,
slender, and generally drooping. The leaves are smooth on both
surfaces, heart-shaped at the base, very acuminate, and doubly
and irregularly toothed. The petioles are slightly twisted, and
the leaves are thus rendered more tremulous than those of trees
on which this disposition is not observed. I have also remarked
that the buds, a few days after their development, are slightly
coated with a yellowish, odoriferous substance. The trunk of
this species is clad in a bark of as pure white as that of the
Canoe Birch and of the European Birch: but its epidermis,
when separated from the cellular tissue, is incapable of being
divided, like that of the two preceding species, into thin sheets ;
which constitutes an essential difference.
The wood of the White Birch is very soft, brilliant when
polished, and perfectly white. From its speedy decay, and from
the inferior size of the tree, it is employed for no use, not even
for fuel.* The twigs are too brittle for common brooms.
This tree can boast of no utility which should entitle it to be
introduced into the forests of Europe or to be preserved in those
of America.
TLATE LXXI.
A branch with leaves and aments of the natural size. Fig. 1. A seed.
Fig. 2. A scale.
[See Nuttall's Supplement, vol. i. p. 42.]
[It is now much used for shoe-pegs.]
RED BIRCH.
Betula rubra. -B. foliis rhombeo-ovatis, acuminatis, duplicaio-serraiis ;
jictiolo brevi.
Betula nigra. WlLLD. Betula lanulosa. A. Mich. Flor. Bor. Am.
The banks of a small river near Kouacknack, in New Jersey,
about ten miles from New York, may be assumed as tbe most
nortbern point at wbicb this species of Birch is found. I have
never seen it in the Eastern, but it is abundant in the Middle
and Southern States, particularly in Maryland, Virginia, and
the upper part of the Carolinas and of Georgia.
In Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the name of Red Birch is
given to the Betula rubra, to distinguish it from the White
Birch ; but farther south, where the White Birch does not exist,
or is comparatively rare, this species is simply called Birch.
The Red Birch is not, like the other species of this genus,
seen growing in the midst of the forest, but is found only on
tbe banks of rivers, accompanied by the Buttonwood, the "White
Maple, and the Willow. It expands with the greatest luxu-
riance on the sides of limpid streams which have a gravelly bed,
and whose banks are not marshy, like those of the rivers in tbe
maritime parts of the Carolinas and of Georgia. On the Dela-
ware, thirty miles from Philadelphia, along the i~oad that leads
to New York by New Hope and Somerset, I have seen several
Red Birches which were seventy feet in height and two or
three feet in diameter. They rarely exceed these dimensions
in Virginia and North Carolina, where, from the milder tem-
perature of the climate, they are more abundant.
On the trunk and on the largest limbs of a lofty Red Birch,
the bark is thick, deeply furrowed, and of a greenish color. On
SO
heu I HI'i'll
R E D B I R C II. 81
trees not exceeding eight or ten inches in diameter, the epider-
mis is reddish or cinnamon-colored ; whence probably is derived
the appropriate denomination of Red Birch. The epidermis of
this species, like that of the Canoe Birch, divides itself trans-
versely into thin, transparent sheets, which appear to be com-
posed of a mixed substance, instead of presenting a pure, homo-
geneous texture ; hence they have not a uniform transparency
nor a perfectly even surface : compared with the bark of the
Canoe Birch, they are like coarse paper compared with fine.
When this tree is fully expanded, its summit is ample, but the
uncommon thickness of its branches prevents it from appearing
tufted. The twigs which form the extremity of the tree are
long, flexible, and pendulous, and the limbs are of a brown com-
plexion spotted with white ; their bark is slightly uneven, while
on the other branches it is smooth and glossy.
The petioles of the Red Birch are short and downy; the
leaves are about three inches long and two inches broad, of a
light green on the upper surface and whitish beneath : they
are doubly denticulated at the edge, very acuminate at the sum-
mit, and terminated at the base in an acute angle, more regular
than is seen in the leaf of any other tree. The fertile aments
are five or six inches long, straight, and nearly cylindrical.
The seeds are ripe in the beginning of June.
The wood of the Red Birch is sufficiently compact and nearly
white : very little difference in color is observed between the
sap and the heart. This wood offers the same singularity with
that of the June Berry, being longitudinally marked by red
vessels, which intersect each other in different directions. In
some parts of Virginia and North Carolina, the negroes make
bowls and trays of Red Birch when they cannot procure Poplar.
When saplings of Hickory or White Oak are not to be found,
hoops, particularly those of rice-casks, are made of the young
stocks and of branches not exceeding an inch in diameter. In
Philadelphia its twigs are exclusively chosen for the brooms
Vol. II.—
82 YELLOW BIRCH.
"with which the streets and court-yards are swept, which are
similar to those employed for the same purpose in Paris. The
twigs of the other species of Birch, being less supple and more
brittle, are not proper for this use.
Though the Red Birch is constantly found on the borders of
rivers, it is not naturally confined to them : a nourishing stock,
more than thirty feet in height, exists in the garden of the
State-house at Philadelphia. Among all the Birches, the vege-
tation of this species only is invigorated by intense heat : this
consideration suffices to recommend its propagation in Italy,
and in the southern parts of France and of the United States ;
for it has been judiciously observed by authors who have written
on this genus of trees, that, if the good properties of the Birch
are not brilliant, they are at least numerous and useful.
PLATE LXXII.
A branch with leaves and a barren anient of the natural size. Fig. 1. A
seed. Fig. 2. A scale.
YELLOW BIRCH.
Betula lutea. B. foliis oralis, aculis, serratis ; pctiolis pubescentibus.
Betula excclsa. Aiton.
This species, like the Canoe Birch, belongs only to the
northern regions of the New World. It abounds especially
in the forests of Nova Scotia, of New Brunswick, and of the
district of Maine, where it is designated by no other name than
Yellow Birch. On the western bank of the Hudson it is rare;
and in New Jersey and Pennsylvania only a few individuals of
/'/. -'I
■'II mv HiiyI,
73 / ■:.■ /„/<><!
YELLOW BIRCH. 83
the species are met with, in moist and shady situations. It is
confounded by the inhabitants of these States with the Black
Birch, which is very abundant, and to which it bears a striking
resemblance.
In the district of Maine, the Yellow Birch is always found on
cool and rich soils, among the Ashes, the Hemlock Spruce,
and the Black Spruce. In these situations it exhibits its
amplest dimensions, which are sixty or seventy feet in height
and more than two feet in diameter. The specific name of
excelsa, which has been given to it, is injudicious, as it leads to
an erroneous opinion that it surpasses every other species in
height. It is a beautiful tree, and its trunk is of nearly a uni-
form diameter, straight, and destitute of branches for thirty or
forty feet. It is particularly remarkable for the color and
arrangement of its epidermis, which is of a brilliant golden-
yellow, and which frequently divides itself into very fine strips,
rolled backward at the ends and attached in the middle.
The young shoots, and the leaves at their unfolding, are
downy; toward the middle of summer, when fully expanded,
the leaves are perfectly smooth, except the petiole, which
remains covered with a fine, short hair: they are about three
and a half inches long and two and a half inches broad,
oval-acuminate, and bordered with sharp and irregular teeth.
The leaves, the bark, and the young shoots have an agreeable
taste and smell, similar to those of the Black Birch, though less
sensible, which they lose in drying.
In its fructification, this species nearly resembles the Black
Birch. The fertile amcnts are borne on short peduncles, and
are twelve or fifteen lines long, five or six lines in diameter,
straight, of an oval shape, and nearly cylindrical. The scales
which compose them are trifid, pointed, and about three lines
in length: viewed through the lens, they are seen to be down v.
Beneath these scales are the small winged seeds, which are ripe
about the first of October.
84 YELLOW BIRC II.
The wood of the Yellow Birch is inferior in quality and in
appearance to that of the Black Birch, and never assumes as deep
a shade; but it is strong, and, when well polished, makes hand-
some furniture. In Nova Scotia, and in the district of Maine, it
is found by experience to be everyway proper for that part of the
frame of vessels which remains always in water. In the district
of Maine it is preferred for the yokes of cattle and for the
frames of sledges; and in Nova Scotia the young saplings are
almost exclusively employed for the hoops of casks.
The Yellow Birch is an excellent combustible, and it is
annually transported in great quantities from the district of
Maine to Boston. Its bark is highly esteemed in tanning; but
in Maine it is employed in a very small proportion, and only
for what is called, by the curriers, fair leather.
Oddy, in his Treatise on European Commerce, affirms that
great quantities of Yellow Birch boards are imported into Scot-
land and Ireland, and that they are highly esteemed in joinery.
The Birch mentioned by Oddy is doubtless the species which I
am describing.
Such are the observations concerning this tree which I col-
lected in my travels through the United States : they lead me
to believe that the soil and climate of Germany would be more
favorable to its multiplication than those of France, where the
preference should be given to the Black Birch, which requires
less humidity.
PLATE LXXIII.
A branch with leaves and fertile aments of the natural sue. Fig. 1. A
seed. Fig. 2. The scale which covers the seed.
[The Yellow Birch is a highly-ornamental tree, and deserves
attention from the planter of taste.]
PI-+
Black Birch
BLACK BIRCH.
Betula lenta. B. foliis cordatis-ovatis, argute serratis, acuminatis, glabris.
Betula carpiuifolia. A. Micii. Flor. Bor. Am.
The agreeable foliage of this species, and the valuable pro-
perties of its wood, render it the most interesting of the Ame-
rican Birches. Wherever it grows in the United States, it is
known by the name of Black Birch: its secondary denomina-
tions are Mountain Mahogany in Virginia, and Sweet Birch and
Cherry Birch in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and farther north.
In Canada, it is universally called Cherry Birch.
I have observed the Cherry Birch in Nova Scotia, in the
district of Maine, and in the State of Vermont, though more
rarely than the Yellow Birch. It abounds in the Middle States,
particularly in New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland; farther
south it is confined to the summit of the Alleghanies, on which
it is found to their termination in Georgia, and to the steep and
shady banks of the rivers which issue from these mountains.
According to my own researches, it is a stranger to the lower
part of Virginia and to the southern and maritime parts of the
Carolinas and of Georgia; nor do I remember to have seen it in
Kentucky, nor in the western part of Tennessee.
In New Jersey, and upon the banks of the North Biver,
where I have most attentively observed the Black Birch, I have
uniformly remarked that it grew of preference in deep, loose,
and cool soils, and that in these situations it attained its greatest
expansion, which sometimes exceeds seventy feet in height and
two or three feet in diameter.
In the neighborhood of New York, the Black Birch is one of
the earliest trees to renew its foliage. At the close of winter,
85
8G BLACK BIECH.
the leaves, during a fortnight after their birth, are covered with
a thick, silvery down, which disappears soon after. They are
about two inches long, serrate, cordiform at the base, acuminate
at the summit, of a pleasing tint and fine texture, and not un-
like the leaves of the Cherry Tree. The young shoots are
brown, smooth, and dotted with white, as are also the leaves.
When bruised, the leaves diffuse a very sweet odor; and, as they
retain this property when dried and carefully preserved, they
afford an agreeable infusion, with the addition of sugar and
milk.
The barren flowers of the Black Birch are disposed in flexible
aments about four inches long. The fertile aments, which are
commonly situated at the extremity of the young branches, are
ten or twelve lines long and five or six lines in diameter,
straight, cylindrical, and nearly sessile at the season of the
maturity of the seed, which is about the first of November.
The bark, upon the trunk of trees less than eight inches in
diameter, is smooth, grayish, and perfectly similar in its color
and organization to that of the Cherry Tree. On old trees, the
epidermis detaches itself transversely, at intervals, in hard
ligneous plates, six or eigbt inches broad.
The wood of the Black Birch, when freshly cut, is of a rosy
hue, which deepens by exposure to the light. Its grain is fine
and close, whence it is susceptible of a brilliant polish ; it pos-
sesses also a considerable share of strength. The union of these
properties renders it superior to the other species of American
Birch; and in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York, it is
next in esteem to the Wild Cherry Tree, among cabinet-makers
in the country. Tables and bedsteads of this wood, when care-
fully preserved, acquire with time the appearance of Mahogany;
hence it is employed in Boston for the frames of arm-chairs and
of sofas : coach-makers also use it for the frames of their panels.
Shoe-lasts are made of Black Birch; but they are less esteemed
than those of Beech. Such are the principal uses of this wood,
B L A C K B I R C II. 87
from which it may easily be gathered to what subsidiary pur-
poses it is applicable.
The vegetation of the Black Birch is beautiful, and, in a
genial soil, its growth is rapid. A proof of this last assertion is
found in the " Annals of the Arts," where a stock of this species
is reported to have attained the height of forty-five feet eight
inches in nineteen years.
These considerations should induce the Americans to bestow
great care on the preservation of the Black Birch, and the
inhabitants of the Old World to introduce it into their forests.
The attempts upon a great scale would be more successful in
the north of France, in England, and in Germany, on account
of the greater humidity of the climate, than in more southern
countries.
I shall terminate this description of one of my favorite trees,
by recommending it to the lovers of foreign vegetables, as
eminently adapted, by the beauty of its foliage and by the
agreeable odor of its flowers, to figure in their parks and
gardens.
PLATE LXXIV.
A branch with leaves and fertile aments of (he natural size. Fig. 1. A seed.
Fig. 2. A scale which covers the seed.
[A tree of this species in Massachusetts measured, in 1839,
nine feet five inches in girth at three feet from the ground.
The Bartram specimen is fifty feet high, says Mr. Meehan, and
three feet ten inches in circumference.]
ALDERS.
VmentaceoB.
COMMON ALDER.
Alnus serbolata. A. slipuUs ovalibiis, obtusis ; folds dwplieato-serratis,
ovalibus, aculis.
Tins species of Alder is found in the Northern, Middle, and
Western States, and is everywhere designated by the name of
Common Alder. It frequently grows along the sides of brooks,
and abounds still more in places covered with stagnant water.
Its ordinary size is eight or ten feet in height and about two
inches in diameter, though often it is less. Its leaves are of a
beautiful green, about two inches long, oval, distinctly sulcated
on the surface, and doubly denticulated at the edge.
This shrub blooms in January : the sexes are separate upon
the same stock. The barren flowers are disposed, like those of
the Birch, around a common axis, in flexible pendulous aments
about two inches long. The fertile flowers are in the form of
small, oval bodies, garnished with a dull-red fringe : they are
converted into small, scaly cones, which open when arrived at
maturity, to release the minute, flat seeds.
The wood of the Common Alder, when first laid open, is white,
and it becomes reddish by contact with the air : its resemblance
in this respect to the analogous European species, Alnus gluti-
nosa, leads me to believe that they are alike also in the proper-
ties of their bark.
88
m. 70
■ Common .Villi
. I lnu.? JHf/'itlattt
2. Black Alder
Al/lltf (fI<7ltC<7 .
BLACK ALDER. 89
The Common Alder is too small to be applicable to any use
in the arts : from its inferiority of size, it will probably one
day give place to the European Alder.
PLATE LXXV.
Common Alder, loith a leaf of the natural size. Fig. 1. A fertile and a
barren anient. Fig. 2. A cone at maturity. Fig. 3. Seeds.
BLACK ALDER.
Alnus glauca. A. foliis sabrotundo-ellipiieis, duplicato-serraiis, subtus
glaucis.
Alnus incana. Willd.
This species of Alder, which is unknown in the Southern
and rare in the Middle States, is not uncommon in Massachu-
setts, New Hampshire, and Vermont; but even here it is less
multiplied than the Common Alder, which abounds throughout
the United States. The Black Alder is a third taller than the
preceding species, being sometimes eighteen or twenty feet in
height and about three inches in diameter. Its leaves are similar
in shape, but are easily distinguishable by their different tint
and superior size : they are of a pale bluish-green, and a third
larger than those of the Common Alder. Both species grow in
cool, moist places, and upon the margin of rivulets.
The bark of the trunk and of the secondary branches is
smooth, glossy, and of a deep brown color sprinkled with white.
It is employed by hatters, if I have been correctly informed, for
dyeing black. The diminutive size of this tree excludes it
entirely from use; but to recommend it to the notice of amateurs
90 COMMON EUROPEAN ALDER.
it is only necessary to observe that it is one of the most beauti-
ful species of the genus.
The dwarfish stature of all the species of Alder that have
hitherto been discovered in North America excludes them from
that class of vegetables to the description of 'which I have
restricted my labors ; but I could not forbear mentioning the
two most remarkable species, of which one merits attention on
account of its abundant diffusion, and the other on account of
a striking peculiarity in the color of its leaves.
PLATE LXXVI.
Black Alder, with a leaf of the natural size.
COMMON EUROPEAN ALDER.
Alnus glutinosa. A. foliis subrolundo-euneatis, obtusis, subretusis,
glviinosis; axillis venarum subtiis vUlosis.
The Common European Alder bears so near a resemblance to
the Common American Alder, in its flowers, its seeds, its leaves,
its wood, and its bark, as to render a separate figure unnecessary :
the only difference observable between them is that the Euro-
pean species is larger and has smaller leaves.
The Common European Alder is a fine tree of more than fifty
feet in height; its trunk is generally straight, tapering gradually
from the base to the summit, and garnished with numerous
branches, tending rather to close round the stock than to diffuse
themselves widely: hence the Alder, like the Lombardy Poplar,
grows in great numbers in a small space, without impediment
from the proximity of the stocks.
COMMON EUROPEAN ALDER. 91
The wood of this tree is fine-grained, compact, susceptible of
a fine polish, and not destitute of strength. When perfectly
dry, it is light and easily wrought; hence it is in request with
manufacturers of wooden-ware. In France, immense quantities
of wooden shoes are made of it, which are seasoned by fire
before they are sold. The Alder takes a better black than any
other wood, and when polished and varnished it affords a good
imitation of ebony. With sulphate of iron, the bark forms a
black dye for coloring wool; and, as it is procured at a very low
price, it is extensively substituted for gall-nuts by hatters and
dyers. The wood of the Alder, when deeply buried in earth
that is constantly humid, is found to endure a great length of
time; it is therefore used for the pipes of conduits. In Flanders
and Holland, it serves for the piles upon which buildings are
erected in marshy places.
In France, England, and Germany, the Alder is considered as
a valuable tree, on account of its rapid growth in wet grounds.
It is frequently observed on the sides of streams flowing through
meadows ; and, as its roots penetrate to a great distance, it con-
tributes more effectually than most other trees to support the
banks at the season of the overflowing of the waters.
The European Alder shoots with such vigor, that copses
formed of it may be cut every seven years, and at the end of
eighteen years they furnish trees exceeding thirty-five feet in
height, whose wood is far superior to that of the Lombardy
Poplar. It is obtained from the seed, or from cuttings of a
proper length, buried in very moist ground, except a few inches
that appear above the surface. The young plants should be cut
the second year, to invigorate their roots. The seeds of the
Alder are very small, and are in danger of perishing if they are
not very lightly covered with earth.
This tree, to which so much importance is attached in Europe,
will probably at a future period be considered as a valuable acqui-
sition in America, especially in the States east of the river Hudson.
LOCUST.
Diadelphia decandria. Linn. Leguminosae. Juss.
Robinia pseudo-acacia. _R. stipidls sjrinosis ; foffis impari-pinnatis ;
race.mis eernuis seu pendulis ; calicis dcnlibiis muticis.
Obs. Flores albi.
One of the first trees introduced into Europe from the forests
of North America east of the Mississippi, was the Locust. For
the acquisition of this tree, still more interesting for the excel-
lent properties of its wood than for the beauty of its foliage and
of its flowers, we are indebted to J. Robin, a French botanist,
who received it from Canada, and cultivated it on a large scale,
in the reign of Henry IV., about the year 1601. Since that
period, it has been so extensively propagated that it has become
universally known in France, England, and Germany. To com-
memorate the introduction of so valuable a tree, and to express
the acknowledgments due to the person who had conferred this
benefit upon the Old Continent, Linnaeus gave the genus to
which it belongs the name of Robinia.
In the Atlantic States, the Locust begins to grow naturally in
Pennsylvania, between Lancaster and Harrisburg, in the latitude
of 40° 20'. West of the mountains, it is found two or three
degrees farther north ; which is explained by an observation
already repeated, that, in proceeding toward the west, the cli-
mate becomes milder and the soil more fertile. But the Locust
is most multiplied in the Southwest, and abounds iu all the
valleys between the chains in the Alleghany Mountains, particu-
larly in Limestone Valley. It is also common in all the
Western States, and in the territory comprised between the
Ohio, the Illinois, the Lakes, and the Mississippi. It is not
ti-a:
Brssa del.
\ ,ocn st
A'l >/>/// fit l>.i\'lt(/t> (ICdCKf
LOCUST. 93
found in the States east of the river Delaware, nor does it grow
spontaneously in the maritime parts of the Middle and Southern
States, to the distance of from fifty to one hundred miles from
the sea, all the stocks that are seen in these parts having been
planted at different jjeriods.
The dimensions of the Locust vary with the soil and climate.
Thus, in Pennsylvania, between Harrisburg and Carlisle, where
it begins to appear, it is much smaller than in Virginia, and
particularly in Kentucky and West Tennessee, which are
situated three or four degrees farther south, and where the soil
is more fertile. In these States, it sometimes exceeds four feet in
diameter and seventy or eighty feet in height ; which is twice
the size it attains east of the mountains.
The foliage of the Locust is light and agreeable to the eye.
Each leaf is composed of opposite leaflets, eight, ten, twelve,
and sometimes more, in number, surmounted by an odd one.
The leaflets are nearly sessile, oval, thin, of a fine texture, and
of so smooth a surface that the dust is blown off from them as
it alights. These leaves are rarely injured by insects.
The flowers are disposed in numerous pendulous bunches :
they are perfectly white, and diffuse the most delicious odor.
Their fine effect, heightened by the fresh tint of the light-green
foliage, renders the Locust one of the most admired in Europe
among ornamental trees. In passing through Harrisburg, on
the 4th of June, 1808, I saw the Locust in full bloom : it was
in flower at the same season of the year 1812, at Paris, in the
latitude of 48° 50'. To the flowers succeeds a narrow, flat pod,
about three inches long, containing five or six small seeds,
which are commonly brown, and sometimes black.
On the trunk and large limbs of the old Locust, the bark is
very thick and deeply furrowed. The young tree, till it attains
the diameter of two or three inches, is armed with formidable
thorns, which disappear in its maturer age. The wood, which
is commonly of a greenish-yellow color, marked with brown
(14 LOCUST.
veins, is hard, compact, and susceptible of a bright polish; it
has a good deal of strength, with but little elasticity. Its prin-
cipal value in the United States, where the greater part of the
houses and of the fences of cultivated grounds are of wood, is its
power of resisting decay longer than almost any other species
of wood.
Though the Locust is multiplied east of the mountains, in the
upper part of Virginia and of the two Carolinas, it forms a much
smaller proportion of the forests than the Oaks and Walnuts,
and is nowhere found occupying exclusively tracts even of a
few acres. For this reason it is the only tree, besides the Black
Walnut, that is left standing in the clearing of new lands:
hence these two species, Avhich are not sufficiently multiplied to
supply the demand for their wood, are frequently seen growing
in the midst of cultivated fields.
The greatest consumption of Locust wood is for posts, which
are preferred for enclosing court-yards, gardens, and farms, in
the districts where the tree abounds, and in the circumjacent
country. They are transported for the same use to Lancaster,
Baltimore, Washington, Alexandria, and the vicinity. When
the trees are felled in the winter, while the circulation of the
sap is suspended, and the posts allowed to become perfectly dry
before they are set, they are estimated to last forty years. Ex-
perience has shown that their duration varies according to certain
differences in the trees from which they are formed : thus, about
Lancaster and at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where a considerable
trade is carried on in wood that is brought down the river, those
trees are reputed the best whose heart is red; the next in esteem
are those with a greenish-yellow heart ; and the least valuable
are those with a white heart. From this variety in the color
of the wood, which probably arises from a difference of soil, are
dei'ived the names of Bed, Green, and White Locust. In the
Western States, there is a variety which is sometimes called
Black Locust.
LOCUST. 95
Great quantities of Locust posts are sold at Harrisburg; they
are seven or eight feet long, and the price is eighteen cents each
in the rough state, or twenty-five cents when hewn and mortised.
They are made from stocks less than a foot in diameter, split
into two pieces. I have remarked that when the trunk of the
Locust exceeds fifteen inches in diameter, it is frequently decayed
at the heart; but I presume this defect is not found in trees
that grow farther south. Posts of Locust and of Red Cedar of
the same dimensions are sold in the lumber-yards of Baltimore ;
those of Locust at forty cents, and those of Ked Cedar at thirty.
This difference is probably attributable to the great strength of
the Locust. In the Western States also, where this tree is larger
and more abundant than in the country east of the mountains,
it is the most esteemed and the most generally employed for
posts.
In naval architecture, the shipwrights use as much Locust
wood as they can procure. It is as durable as the Live Oak and
the Red Cedar, with the advantage of being stronger than the
one and lighter than the other. It enters, with the Live Oak,
the White Oak, and the Red Cedar, into the upper and lower
parts of the frame, though in a very small proportion; for in the
interior of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, where, as I
have observed, it grows naturally and whence it is procured,
nine-tenths of the Locusts do not exceed a foot in diameter and
from thirty-six to forty feet in height : it thus becomes difficult
to procure timber of the requisite size. Another very important
use of the Locust in ship-building is for the tree-nails, or the
pins destined to attach the side-planks to the frame. Instead
of decaying, they acquire with time an extreme hardness ; and
they are used, to the exclusion of all others, in the ports of the
Middle States. The mean price at Philadelphia, whither they
are brought from the river Susquehanna, is ten dollars a thou-
sand. From fifty to a hundred thousand of these pins are
annually exported to England.
96 LOCUST.
In the construction of bouses, even of such as are wholly of
wood, the Locust is not extensively emploj'ed in the countries
where it is most multiplied : the use to which it is more particu-
larly applied is to support the sills, or the beams on which the
frame reposes. These sills are of Oak, and, if they were placed
immediately on the ground, they would decay more rapidly
than the Locust. This invaluable property of durability, which
is possessed by the Locust in a degree far superior to that of any
other tree except the Red Mulberry, sufficiently indicates the
purposes to which it may be advantageously applied ; but in the
United States its use is limited to the objects which I have
enumerated, and it is through mistake that it has been said to
be employed for staves and hoops, and for forming hedges.
From the hardness of the Locust wood when seasoned, and
the fineness of its grain and its lustre when polished, it has
been, for several years, extensively substituted by turners for
the Box in many species of light work, such as saltcellars,
sugar-bowls, candlesticks, spoons, and forks for salad, boxes,
and many other trifling objects which are carefully wrought
into pleasing shapes, and are sold at low prices.
The rapid growth of the Locust was early remarked by the
inhabitants of the United States; for this is an inestimable
quality in a tree whose wood unites so many excellencies. This
consideration has induced many persons to plant it in those
parts of the country where it does not naturally grow, particu-
larly in the lower part of the States lying east of the river
Delaware. Thus, between New York and Boston, a distance of
nearly three hundred miles, it is seen at intervals growing
before the farm-houses, and sometimes by the sides of fences :
but perhaps not one proprietor in a hundred has adopted this
useful measure. On Long Island, near the west end of which
lies the city of New York, the forests were in a great measure
destroyed in the war of Independence, and many persons have
successfully adopted the cultivation of the Locust on an exten-
LOCUST. 97
sive scale ; but those plantations are still very much circum-
scribed, and, except the larger trees which are cut into tree-
nails, and which serve to supply in part the demand of the
shipwrights of New York, the whole growth is consumed by
the cultivators. Regular plantations of Locust, of twenty or
thirty acres, have not been formed in any part of the United
States, though several agricultural societies have offered pre-
miums for their encouragement.
Within eighteen or twenty years, an obstacle has unhappily
appeared, which will contribute greatly to prevent the multipli-
cation of the Locust in all the anciently-settled parts of the
United States : this is a winged insect which attacks the living
tree, penetrates through the bark into the centre of the trunk,
and, for a space of a foot, mines it in every direction, so that it
is easily broken by the wind. This inconvenience is already so
serious as to induce many people to forego all attempts to form
plantations of Locust. In Virginia, I have not learned that
trees of the natural growth have been visited by this destroyer,
but those that have been reared about the plantations have
already felt its ravages. This evil, which it appears difficult to
remedy, will be more sensibly felt when the destruction of the
forests now on foot — an inevitable consecmence of the increase of
population and of the neglect of all measures of preservation —
shall force the inhabitants to have recourse to plantations, which
they will wish to form in a certain proportion of the Locust.
Hence it may result that, disappearing successively from the
American forests by constant consumption, and not being repro-
duced on account of this insect, the Locusts will become ex-
tremely rare in their native country, and abundant in Europe,
where no similar catastrophe forbids their propagation.*
* [The following important information is taken from Emerson's " Trees and
Shrubs of Massachusetts," p. 463 : —
"The practice of planting this tree by roadsides, and along the enclosures o:
98 LOCUST.
Though I have asserted that I have seen Locusts in America
seventy or eighty feet high, it must he observed that this luxu-
riant growth is confined to the most fertile districts of Ken-
tucky and "West Tennessee, where the newly-cleared lands yield
for several years in succession, without manure, from thirty to
sixty bushels of maize or Indian corn to the acre. In general,
this tree does not exceed forty or forty-five feet in height on
lands of middling quality, that produce the Oaks and the Hicko-
ries, compared with which the Locust is a tree only of secondary
size, affording timber of inconsiderable dimensions. For this
reason it should not be substituted for the Oak, the Beech, the
Chestnut, and the Elm, in soils where these species already
flourish.
In Europe, the greatest share of attention has been bestowed
upon the Locust, and the most extended observations have been
published on its culture in countries lying north of 48° of lati-
tude : but, notwithstanding the success which is said to have
been obtained in cultivating it, I cannot think that this is its
proper climate. I have observed, as well as many other per-
sons, that its vegetation is accelerated by the warmth of a more
southern sun : the effect is visible even at Orleans, where,
though the difference of latitude is only one degree, the Locusts
are larger than in the vicinity of Paris. Italy and the southern
pasture-lauds, has much iuoreased of late years, hut has been checked by the fact
that, in such situations, it is exposed to the inroads of an insect, whose -worm
penetrates to the heart of the tree and destroys its life. An unexpected remedy
has, however, been suggested by the success of Joseph Cogswell, Esq., in the
cultivation, some years ago, of a large plantation of the Locust. He found that
when it forms a wood, those trees only are attacked by the worm which form the
outskirts exposed to the sun and free air. Whether it is that the insect parent
of the worm delights, as many do, in the sunlight, and avoids the shade of the
woods, or from whatever cause, it was found that all the interior of the plantation
was free from its attacks."
The great destruction by thoughtless sportsmen of the woodpecker is probably
the reason why the Locusts are now infested with worms more than formerly.]
LOCUST. 99
departments of France are the countries of Europe where the
greatest advantages may be expected from the rapid growth of
the Locust. Individuals, who are more in haste than govern-
ments to realize their gains, may obtain from it, at the end of
twenty or twenty-five years, a mass of wood twice as great as
from any other species of tree : and it might be formed in this
country, as in America, into tree-nails, for the purposes of ship-
building, and sold at a high price in the seaports. Raised upon
uncultivated and open grounds, the quality of the wood would
be superior to that of trees growing in the primitive forests of
the New World, where it is injured by the humidity of the
atmosphere.
It appears from the authors who at different periods have
written on the Locusts, that about a hundred years- since it was
in great request in Europe on account of the beauty of its foliage
and of its fragrant flowers. It was afterward found to have
defects, and declined so far in public favor, that during half a
century it fell into entire neglect. Within ten or fifteen years,
several agriculturists have given it fresh celebrity, by represent-
ing it as a useful rather than an ornamental tree ; though its
merit in this last respect is undeniable.
In France, and still more in Germany, much has been pub-
lished in favor of the Locust, and very little has been written
against it; but the greater part of those who are engaged in
forming plantations oppose its propagation. It appears to have
been too much praised on the one hand, and too much decried
on the other, and not to have been justly appreciated in those
respects in which it has an incontestable superiority over most
other trees of the temperate zones.
If I may be allowed to give an opinion, I should say that its
principal advantages consist in the rapidity of its growth, and
in the excellent qualities by which its wood is fitted for the
most important uses. To these must be added another property
by which it is distinguished from other trees of rapid growth,
100 LOCUST.
and which has not been placed in a sufficiently striking light by
the authors who have treated of the Locust: it is that of begin-
ning from the third year to convert its sap into perfect wood;
which is not done by the Oak, the Chestnut, the Beech, and the
Elm, till after the tenth or the fifteenth year. Hence, if all
these species were planted at the same time upon good land, in
twenty-five or thirty years the Locusts, already one-third larger
in general than the others, and often twice as large, would be
found almost wholly composed of heart, and would be of suffi-
cient dimensions for the various uses to which their wood is
adapted; while the others, besides being too small at this age to
be employed with advantage, would have only half the diameter
of the trunk converted into perfect wood. This is a most im-
portant consideration; for it is well known that every species of
wood must be deprived of the sap before it is used, as this part
is subject to become worm-eaten if it is sheltered, and to decay
if it is exposed to the air.
But these prominent excellencies are balanced by defects
which seem difficult to remedy. When standing alone, the
branches of the Locust are easily broken by the wind : if left
to itself, its trunk, after attaining a certain height, rarely pre-
serves its shape; and the limbs, ill arranged, of unecpial size
and very divergent, give to its summit an uncouth and disagree-
able form. Its thin and restless foliage yields also a scanty
shade : hence this tree is not proper for the avenues and alleys
of extensive gardens, nor for bordering public roads. For these
purposes the Elm is infinitely superior; for, besides the facility
with which it is fashioned by the pruning-hook, its tufted foliage
casts a denser shade, and its wood is of great value to the
wheelwright.
It is observed also that, in plantations of Locusts whose
verdure announces the most vigorous vegetation, there are some
trees which languish and turn yellow : the cause of this malady
it is difficult to assign.
LOCUST. 101
For several years past, the proprietors of the department of the
Gironde and of the neighboring country have taken advantage
of the rapid growth of the Locust by cultivating it in copses,
which are cut at the age of four }ears. The young stocks are
then large enough to be split into props for vines, which are
found to last more than twenty years. Old trees are also
lopped, and the suckers cut every third year for the same pur-
poses. This vigorous vegetation is doubtless attributable to the
warmth of the climate.
The greatest inconvenience attending these copses is the
thorns with which the young plants are armed, and by which
their preparation for use is rendered more difficult and expen-
sive than that of any other species. This disadvantage, how-
ever, is compensated by a double product obtained in half the
time.
I must not omit to mention a new variety of Locusts, called
Robinia iiseudo-acacia speciabilis, which in its early age is en-
tirely destitute of thorns. This valuable variety is distinguished
by the superior size of its leaves and by the greater rapidity of its
growth. Though its seeds produce stocks with thorns, it is still
probable that they will disappear from the future generations of
the tree : in the mean while, it may be multiplied by layers, or
by forming small trenches in which the roots will send up shoots
that may be afterward separated from the parent tree.
I need not say how much this variety is preferable for copses :
the twigs, with their leaves, may also be safely given to cattle,
who eat them with avidity. For the production of this variety,
which gives a new value to the Locust, particularly in the south
of France, we are indebted to Mr. Descemet, a gentleman dis-
tinguished by his theoretical and practical knowledge of agri-
culture.
It has been asserted that the most profitable manner of dis-
posing of poor lands, too much exhausted to produce the Oak
and other species of hard wood, is to cover them with copses of
102 LOCUS T.
Locust; but about Paris, and farther north, the experiment has
not uniformly succeeded. During three or four years, the
Locusts surpass the Birches planted at the same time, and
give the most nattering promise; but by the seventh or eighth
year their voracious roots appear to exhaust the soil, the
branches about the middle of the young tree perish, and its
short and languishing shoots announce its decay; while, on the
other hand, the young Birches continue healthful and vigorous,
and some of them already equal the Locust in height. Perhaps
the Locusts require lopping the third or fourth year.
Such is the fruit of my inquiries concerning this tree in Ame-
rica, and my observation of its culture in Europe. Its propa-
gation is attended with advantages and disadvantages : on
weighing them together, I am of opinion that, as an ornamental
and as a useful tree, it merits a place — particularly the variety
without thorns — both in gardens and plantations.
PLATE LXXVI.
A branch with a bunch of flowers. Fig. 1. A pod. Fig. 2. A seed.
[Few trees arc less injurious to pastures, and its droppings
and flowers are thought to have a favorable effect on the growth
of grass. Its bright and velvety foliage, it has been remarked,
is too smooth to retain the dust, and is often seen bright and
clean on the side of a dusty road. Where resistance to a strain
is required, the Locust is considered superior to any other wood.
As an ornamental tree, it is not now much employed in this
region, on account of its frailness and injuries from insects; but
its pendent racemes of fragrant flowers must be admitted to be
extremely beautiful.
Soil, Propagation, &c. The Locust may be propagated by
cuttings of the branches, but with greater facility by cuttings
of the roots, and also by large truncheons, and by suckers; but
LOCUST. 103
the simplest and best mode is by seed; if not sown immediately
on gathering, it should be kept in pods till the following spring :
when sown in the autumn or spring, it comes up the following
summer, and the plants, at the end of the season, will be fit for
transplanting where they are finally to remain, or into nursery-
lines. Pouring hot water on the seeds, (and even boiling,) as
recommended by Cobbet, should be cautiously done.
The seeds should be sown in good free soil, rich rather than
otherwise, and covered with light earth from a quarter to half
an inch deep. In fine seasons, the plants will be from two to
four feet high by the ensuing autumn. The Locust will trans-
plant at almost any age, and with fewer roots than almost any
other tree. Though it grows on poor land better than almost
any other species of hard wood, on such land sound timber of
Locust cannot be produced, and it will always be good economy
to fell it within thirty or forty years, or, at least, not allow it
to grow, for timber, to a great age. The various kinds of Pine
are better adapted to the poorest soils. As this tree is so ex-
tremely useful in the foundations of railroads, large numbers
have been planted along their borders, particularly in the West,
where they will form a most valuable product for repairs in
future years. In regions where it is not infested by the worm,
it should be generally employed in this way.]
ROSE-FLOWERING LOCUST.
Robinia viscosa. JR. foliis imparl pinnatis ; ramis viseoso glandulosis.
Obs. Flores roseo-albi.
This species of Locust is found only on that part of the Alle-
ghanies which traverses Georgia and the Carolinas, and in the
territory of the Cherokee Indians, situated west of the moun-
tains. My father discovered it in the summer of 1790; and his
subsequent researches, as well as my own, confirm the opinion
that it does not exist north of the 35th degree of latitude, nor
in all the lower part of the Southern States : thus it appears to
be confined to a very small tract.
The Rose-flowering Locust is not as large as the preceding
species : its ordinary stature does not exceed forty feet, with a
diameter of ten or twelve inches. Its branches, like those of
the Locust, are garnished with thorns, which, however, are
smaller and less numerous. The annual shoots are of a dull-
red color, and are covered with a viscid, adhesive humor. M.
Vauquelin, of the French Institute, has analyzed this substance,
and found it to be a new vegetable matter.
The foliage of the Rose-flowering Locust is thick and of a
dusky green. The leaves are five or six inches long, and are
composed of opposite leaflets, ten, twelve, or fourteen in number,
with a terminal odd one. The leaflets are about an inch in
length, oval, nearly sessile, smooth, and of a fine texture.
The flowers are in oval bunches four or five inches long.
They are numerous and of a beautiful rose-color, but destitute
of fragrance. This tree not unfrequently blooms twice in the
year, and it forms one of the most brilliant ornaments of the
park and the garden. The seeds are small, and contained in
104
I \ o s<> 1 lower in »' I .o c u si
ROSE-FLOWERING LOCUST. 105
hairy pods two or three inches long and three or four lines
broad.
Well-informed and unprejudiced cultivators, employed in the
raising of exotic trees and plants, assure us that seeds of the
Rose-flowering Locust, which they have themselves collected and
sown, have produced the Locust. The difference between the
two species is, however, so distinctly characterized, that this
metamorphosis is hardly credible.
The wood of the Rose-flowering Locust is of a greenish color,
like that of the common species, which it resembles also in its
other properties; but the inferior size of the tree, notwithstand-
ing its surprisingly rapid growth, renders it less interesting to
the arts.
This species easily supports the rigorous winters of New
York and Pennsylvania, where it succeeds perfectly well;
several stocks sent b}^ my father to his friends residing in those
capitals bloom luxuriantly every year: but it is liable to the
ravages of the same insect which destroys the Locust.
This beautiful tree was introduced into Europe in 1791: my
father, who had transported it from the mountains to his garden
near Charleston, S.C., sent me a stock, which arrived in July of
that year. I presented it to M. Lemonnier, chief physician of
Louis XVI., who planted it in his garden at Petit Montreuil,
near Versailles, where it is still standing. From this stock are
derived, by sjtrouts or by grafting, all the trees of the species
which at present adorn the pleasure-grounds throughout Europe.
PLATE LXXVII.
A branch with flowers of the natural size. Fig. 1. A pod. Fiij. 2. A seed.
II.— 7*
YELLOW WOOD.
Virgilia lutea. V. foliis, impari-pinnatis, foliolis ovato-acuminatis ;
racemis pendulis ; gemmis indusis.
Obs. Flores albi.
The Yellow Wood is confined to that part of West Tennessee
which lies between the 35th and 37th degrees of latitude,
where it is commonly designated by the name which I have
adopted.
This tree grows of preference on gentle declivities, in a loose,
deep, and fertile soil, and is usually accompanied by the Red
Mulberry, Coffee Tree, Sweet Locust, Black Walnut, and other
species whose presence evinces the richness of the land. It
rarely exceeds forty feet in height and one foot in diameter,
and in general it does not attain even these dimensions. Its
trunk is covered with a greenish bark, which is smooth, instead
of being furrowed like that of most other trees.
The leaves of the Yellow Wood are six or eight inches long
on old trees, and of twice this size on young and thriving stocks.
They are composed of two rows of leaflets, smooth, entire,
nearly round, and about an inch and a half in diameter. The
leaflets are three, four, or five on each side, borne by short
petioles, and surmounted by an odd one, which is supported by
the common footstock. As in the Buttonwood, the lower part
of the footstock contains the bud, which becomes visible on
plucking the leaf.
The flowers form elegant, white, pendulous bunches, a little
larger than those of the Locust, but less odoriferous.
The seeds of the Yellow Wood also nearly resemble those of
the Locust, and are contained in pods that differ only in being a
106
H .' /.:•./.„/. SV
Yellow Wood
YELLOW WOOD. 107
little narrower.* The seeds are ripe in the vicinity of Nashville
about the 15th of August, at which season, in the year 1812, 1
collected a quantity and afterward distributed them in France to
nurserymen and amateurs of foreign plants. From these seeds
have sprung the trees which we see growing with so much vigor
in Europe, and mocking the rigor of our winters: several of
them bloomed in the year 1813.
From the form and foliage of this tree, my father was of
opinion that it belonged to the genus of Sophora : the affinity is
proved by the fact that it is grafted with success into that genus
only. It was hastily ranged as a new genus, by the name of
Yirgilia, before its flowers had been examined ; though without
the inspection of this part of a vegetable no certain opinion can
be formed of its affinities.
To procure the seeds from which have sprung the beautiful
trees that are seen in the gardens of Paris, I felled several
stocks, and thus had an opportunity of examining the quality
of the wood. Its grain is fine and soft; it is principally re-
markable for the yellow color of the heart, which speedily
imparts this hue to cold water; but the color is fugitive, even
where the wood is boiled with alum. The inhabitants of the
country were very desirous of finding some method of rendering-
it permanent.
Aside from the fine vegetation of the Yellow Wood, the bril-
liant color of its heart appears to me to be a sufficient motive
for multiplying it till we become able to appreciate its import-
ance in dyeing.
PLATE LXXVIII.
A leaf of half the natural size. A bunch of flowers of the natural size.
Fig. 1. A pod. Fig. 2. A seed.
* [Gardeners and others should endeavor to procure the seeds from this tree,
which is destined to be one of the most popular, as it is one of the most orna-
mental, of our native productions.]
108 SWEET LOCUST.
[The blossoms, resembling the Locust, the foliage, and the
smooth, greenish-gray bark of this rare tree, are all beautiful,
and it deserves to be more extensively introduced. The wood
is so brittle, that in removing specimens the limbs, unless care-
fully handled, are liable to break. In the autumn, the beau-
tiful yellow of the leaves of the Virgilia is unrivalled by any
other tree. There is a very noble specimen in the grounds of
Mrs. Price, near German town, Pennsylvania; its height is nearly
fifty feet, with a stem measuring six feet ten inches in girth at
the ground, and over four feet at six inches from the ground.
Torrey and Gray have named this tree Cladmtrus tinctorial]
SWEET LOCUST.
Gleditschia triacanthos. G. ramis spinosis; spinis crassis; foliis
lineari-oblongis ; Icguminibus longis, compressis, polyspermia.
Polyganiia dioecia. Linn. Leguuiinosa3. Juss.
The Sweet Locust belongs peculiarly to the country west of
the Alleghany Mountains, and it is scarcely found in any part
of the Atlantic States, except in Limestone Valley and its
branches, which lie between the first and second ranges of the
Alleghanies, beginning near Harrisburg in Pennsylvania, in the
latitude of 40° 42', and extending from northeast to southwest
into the State of Virginia. The soil in this valley is generally
very substantial. In the fertile bottoms which are watered by
the rivers emptying into the Mississippi, in the Illinois country,
and, still more, in the southern part of Kentucky and Tennes-
see, the Sweet Locust is abundant. It commonly grows with
the Black Walnut, Shellbark Hickory, Eed Elm, Blue Ash,
Pfjp.
Sweet Locust.
(r/<'(/l/,\'Kr //■/ttC<!/t//lO,i
SWEET LOCUST. 100
Locust, Box Elder, and Coffee Tree, and forms a part of the
forests that cover the most fertile soils. In different parts of
the United States, this species is called indifferently Sweet
Locust and Honey Locust; the French of Illinois call it Fevier.
In situations most favorable to its growth, such as I have
observed on the banks of the Ohio, between Gallipolis and
Limestone, the Sweet Locust attains a very ample size. I have
measured several stocks which were three or four feet in dia-
meter, and which appeared to equal in height the loftiest trees
of these time-honored forests. Some of them had the trunk
undivided for forty feet.
The Sweet Locust is easily known by its bark, which, at
intervals of a few inches, detaches itself laterally in plates three
or four inches wide and two or three inches thick, and by the
form of its trunk, which appears to be twisted, and presents
three or four crevices of inconsiderable depth, opening irregu-
larly from the bottom toward the top. The large thorns which
cover the branches and frequently the trunk of young trees
afford another very distinct character. These thorns are some-
times several inches long, ligneous, of a reddish color, and
armed, at some distance from the base, with two secondary
thorns about half the size of the first.
The leaves of the Sweet Locust are pinnated and composed
of small, oval, serrate, sessile leaflets. This foliage is elegant
and of an agreeable tint; but it is thin, and scarcely obstructs
the passage of the sunbeams. It is shed annually at the ap-
proach of winter.
The flowers are small, not very conspicuous, and disposed in
bunches. The fruit is in the form of flat, crooked, pendulous
pods, from twelve to eighteen inches long, and of a reddish-brown
color. The pods contain brown, smooth, hard seeds, enveloped
in a pulpy substance, which, for a month after their maturity, is
very sweet, and which then becomes extremely sour. Beer is
sometimes made by fermenting this pulp when fresh; but the
110 SWEET LOCUST.
practice is not general, as the Apple and Peach Tree, particu-
larly the last, have become common in the Western country,
and afford a much superior beverage.
The perfect wood or heart of the Sweet Locust nearly resem-
bles that of the Locust, but its grain is coarser, and its pores
more open : in these respects it is more strikingly characterized
even than the wood of the Red Oak. When perfectly seasoned,
it is extremely hard. It is little esteemed in Kentucky, where
it is more employed, and consequently can be better appreciated,
than elsewhere. It is used neither by the carpenter nor the
wheelwright : it is sometimes taken by the farmers for rails to
fence their fields, but only when they are unable to procure
better wood. It is found by experience to be far inferior to the
Wild Cherry and Black Walnut for cabinet-making. The only
destination for which it appears to be peculiarly adapted is the
forming of hedges, which its long thorns would render im-
penetrable.
The Sweet Locust has been cultivated for many years in
Europe. It flourishes, blooms, and yields seed in the climates
of London and Paris ; but its vegetation is less active than in
the south of France.
PLATE LXXIX.
A branch with leaves and a thorn of the natural size. Fig. 1. A pod of
the natural size. Fig. 2. A seed.
Pl.flo.
3^W7 .£/.
Water locust .
(r/iu//-i-/fii nwnoo'oer/na .
(rahis! L-'.-v/r
WATER LOCUST.
Gleditschia monosperma. G. rands subspinosis; foliolis ovato-oblongis ;
leguminibus ovalibus, rmwronatis, monospermis.
Tins species is plainly distinct from the preceding, especially
in the form of its fruit, and belongs to a more southern climate ;
in the Atlantic States, it is first seen in the lower part of South
Carolina. The point at which it is found nearest to Charleston
is about two miles beyond Slanbridge, at the distance of thirty-
two miles. In South Carolina, as well as in Georgia and East
Florida, where I have myself observed it, this tree, though not
very rare, is not common, and the traveller sometimes loses
sight of it for whole days, in tracts that seem peculiarly favor-
able to its growth. In the Western country it is found three or
four degrees farther north, near Kaskaskias in the Illinois
country.
In the southern and maritime part of the United States, this
tree is designated by no other name than that of Water Locust,
and grows only in the large swamps that border the rivers,
where the soil is constantly wet and often inundated at the sea-
son of the rising of the waters. It is commonly associated with
the Cypress, Large Tupelo, Red-flowering Maple, Overcup Oak,
Plane Tree, and Nutmeg Hickory. It is probably found, also,
united with the same trees, in the impenetrable forests which
cover the swamps on the banks of the Mississippi.
The Water Locust is fifty or sixty feet high and from one to
two feet in diameter. The bark upon the trunk of the young
trees is smooth ; on old stocks it is cracked, but less deeply than
that of the Oaks and the Walnuts. The branches, like those
of the Sweet Locust, are armed with thorns, which are less
111
112 WATER LOCUST.
numerous, smaller, and more pointed; they are often simple, or
accompanied near the base with a single secondary thorn.
The leaves nearly resemble those of the Sweet Locust, from
which they differ in being a little smaller in all their propor-
tions.
The flowers, which are not conspicuous, are of a greenish
color and destitute of odor. The pods are ripe at the beginning
of November. They are reddish, about an inch in diameter,
and united in bunches of three or four, each of which contains
a single naked seed.
The wood of the Water Locust resembles that of the Sweet
Locust in its loose texture and yellow color; but, as it grows in
wet grounds, it is consequently inferior in quality. In Carolina
and Georgia, it is wholly neglected in use.
I believe there exists in the Western States another species
of Prickly Locust, wdiose pods are narrow and only four inches
in length ; but my information is not sufficiently accurate to
allow me to describe it.
PLATE LXXX.
A branch with leaves and a thorn of the natural size. Fig. 1. A pod of
the natural size. Fig. 2. A seed.
[We are accustomed to consider some of the forest trees of
this country — the Sycamore of the Ohio, or the giant Pines of
Oregon — as at least respectable specimens of size and longevity;
but they seem saplings of yesterday, when compared with some
of the enormous leguminous trees of the forests of Brazil. Dr.
Martius, a careful and accurate scientific traveller, speaking of
Locust Trees in South America, represents a scene in Brazil,
where some trees of this kind occur of such enormous dimen-
sions that fifteen Indians, with outstretched arms, could only
just embrace one of them. At the bottom they were eighty-
I'l ;;,
i)!lSSilll'!lS
/.diiiii.r ,i'<i,i\rtr/nhf
SASSAFRAS. 113
two feet in circumference, and sixty feet where the trunks
became cylindrical. By counting the concentric rings of such
parts as were accessible, he arrived at the conclusion that they
were of the age of Homer, and 332 years old in the age of
Pythagoras; he argues that the trees cannot but date far beyond
the time of our Saviour.]
SASSAFRAS.
Laurus sassafras. L. folds deciduis, integris; floribus dioieis.
Enneandria inonogynia. Linn. Laurineaj. Juss.
The Sassafras, on account of its medicinal virtues, was among
the first trees of America which became known to the Europeans.
Mouardes, in 1549, and, after him, Clusius, who have written
on the foreign vegetables employed in medicine, treat at length
of the uses of its wood in certain diseases. Hernandes, in his
"History of the Plants of New Mexico," published in 1638, men-
tions the Sassafras among the trees of the province of Mechoacan ;
but I doubt whether it is as common in that part of North
America as in the regions which he east of the Mississippi.
In the United States, the neighborhood of Portsmouth in
New Hampshire, in the latitude of 43°, may be assumed as one
of the extreme points at which it is found toward the north-
east : in the Western country, it is met with one degree farther
north. But in these latitudes it is only a tall shrub, rarely
exceeding fifteen or twenty feet in height. A few degrees
farther south, in the neighborhood of New York and Phila-
delphia, it grows to the height of forty or fifty feet, and attains
a still loftier stature in some parts of Virginia, the Carolinas,
114 SASSAFRAS.
and the Floridas, as well as in the Western States and in Upper
and Lower Louisiana. It is abundant throughout these coun-
tries, except in the mountainous districts of the Alleghanies, by
which they are divided, where it appears to be comparatively
rare. Li fine, from Boston to the banks of the Mississippi, and
from the shores of the ocean in Virginia to the remotest wilds
of Upper Louisiana beyond the Missouri, comprising an extent
in each direction of more than 1800 miles, the Sassafras is suffi-
ciently multiplied to be ranked among the most common trees.
It is seen growing on lands of every description, from the dry
and gravelly to the moist and fertile, with the exception of such
as are arid and sandy to excess, like the pine-barrens of the
Southern States ; neither is it found in the swamps that border
the rivers by which these States are watered.
In the low, maritime parts of Virginia, of the two Carolinas,
and of Georgia, the Sassafras is observed to prefer plantations
and soils which have been exhausted by cultivation and aban-
doned. The old trees give birth to hundreds of shoots, which
spring from the earth at little distances, but which rarely rise
higher than six or eight feet. Though this tree is common on
poor lands, and blooms and matures its seed at the height of
fifteen or twenty feet, yet it is never of very ample dimensions,
except in fertile soils, such as form the declivities which skirt
the swamps and sustain the luxuriant forests of Kentucky and
West Tennessee.
The leaves are four or five inches in length, alternate, and
petiolated. At their unfolding in the spring, they are downy
and of a tender texture. They are of different shapes upon the
same tree, being sometimes oval and entire, and sometimes
divided into lobes, which are generally three in number and
rounded at the summit. The lobed leaves are the most nume-
rous, and are situated on the upper part of the tree.
About New York and Philadelphia, the Sassafras is in full
bloom in the beginning of May, and six weeks earlier in South
SASSAFRAS. 115
Carolina. The flowers unfold themselves before the leaves, and
appear in small clusters at the end of the last year's shoots.
They are of a greenish-yellow hue, and are but slightly odori-
ferous. In this species of Laurel the sexes are confined to
different stocks. The fruit or seed is of an oval form and of a
deep blue color, and is contained in small, bright red cups, sup-
ported by peduncles from one to two inches in length. These
seeds, when ripe, are eagerly devoured by the birds, and soon
disappear from the tree.
The bark which covers the trunk of an old Sassafras is of a
grayish color and is chapped into deep cracks. On cutting into
it, it exhibits a dark, dull red, a good deal resembling the color
of the Peruvian bark. The bark of the young branches and
suckers is smooth and of a beautiful green color. The wood of
this tree is not strong, and branches of considerable size may be
broken with a slight effort. In the young tree, the wood is white ;
in those which exceed fifteen or eighteen inches in diameter, it
is reddish and of a closer grain. It is not, however, in these
respects to be compared with the Oak and Hickory. Expe-
rience shows that this wood, stripped of its bark, resists, for a
considerable period, the progress of decay; and it is on this
account employed for the posts and rails of rural fence. It is
also sometimes used in the country for joists and rafters in
houses built of wood. I have been informed that it is secure
from the attacks of worms: this advantage is attributed to its
odor, which it preserves as long as it is sheltered from the sun
aud the rain. Bedsteads made of it are never infested by
insects. But for these purposes the Sassafras wood is not in
habitual use, and is only occasionally employed in this country :
it is never seen exposed to sale in the lumber-yards of the large
towns, and it appears incapable of ever becoming an article of
great interest in the mechanical arts. For fuel, also, it is held
in little esteem, and it is only in the cities of the Southern
States, which are not, like those of the North, abundantly fur-
116 SASSAFRAS.
nislied with fuel, that it is brought into the market as wood of
the third quality. Its bark contains a great deal of air, and
snaps while burning like that of the Chestnut.
The medicinal properties of the Sassafras are so well proved,
that during more than two hundred years, since its first intro-
duction into the materia medica, it has maintained the reputa-
tion of an excellent sudorific, which may be advantageously
employed in cutaneous affections, in chronic rheumatisms, and
in syphilitic diseases of long standing. In the last case, it is
always joined with lignum-vitae and sarsaparilla. The wood is
slightly aromatic, but the smell and taste which are peculiar to
the vegetable are more ' sensible in the young branches, and
incomparably more so in the bark of the roots; this part of the
tree, therefore, should always be preferred, for the wood appears
to me to contain but a small degree of the qualities assigned to
it, and even this it loses after being long kept. From the thick
and, as it were, sanguinolent bark of the roots, a large quantity
of essential oil is extracted, which, Like the other essential oils,
after a long repose, deposits very beautiful crystals.
The flowers of the Sassafras, when fresh, have likewise a
weak, aromatic odor. A great number of people in the United
States, in the country and even in the cities, consider them as
stomachic and efficacious in purifying the blood; and for this
purpose, during a fortnight in the spring, they drink an infusion
of them with a little sugar. They are carried to market in the
cities, and sold at seven or eight cents a pint. To gather the
flowers, the branches are lopped, and often the whole tree is cut
down : great havoc is in this way made of the species.
The dried leaves and the young branches of the Sassafras
contain a mucilaginous principle nearly resembling that of the
Ocra. In Louisiana, the leaves are used by the inhabitants to
thicken their pottage.
In Virginia, and in the more southern States, the country-
people make a beer by boiling the young shoots of the Sassafras
SASSAFRAS. 117
in water, to which a certain quantity of molasses is added, and
the whole is left to ferment : this beer is considered as a very
salutary drink during the summer.
Such is the result of my observations on the Sassafras, a tree
highly interesting from its uses in medicine. It is, in my
opinion, sufficiently valuable in this respect to merit propaga-
tion in Europe : in the south of France and in Italy it would
undoubtedly thrive, since it succeeds in the climate of Paris
and London.
PLATE LXXXI.
A branch ivith fruit and leaves of the natural size. Fig. 1. Male flowers.
Fig. 2. Female flowers.
[As an ornamental tree, the Sassafras has not taken the rank
it deserves in America. The spray is long and irregular, form-
ing a short angle with the branches, and curving upward;
when a group of three or four is formed, their umbrella-shaped
united tops are very beautiful, and the spray divested of its
summer garb will always be admired by those who have studied
the subject.
Soil, Propagation, &c. Any free soil, rather moist than dry,
will suit this species. The seeds should be placed in a rot-heap,
as they remain a year, and sometimes two or three, before they
come up. It is also propagated by cuttings of the root, or by-
suckers.
See Nuttall's Supplement, vol. i. p. 104.]
RED BAY.
Laurus Caroliniensis. L. foliis perennanlibus, ovato-acuminatis, subtus
subglaucis, baccis cccruleis.
Tins species of Laurel is first observed in the lower part of
Virginia, and it continues to be seen uninterruptedly throughout
the maritime districts of the Carohnas and of Georgia, in the
two Floridas, and in Lower Louisiana. It is confined, as well
as several other trees which I have described, precisely within
the limits which I have assigned to the 2)ine-barrens.
This tree is known only by the name of Red Bay. It is
profusely multiplied, and, with the Sweet Bay, Tupelo, Bed-
flowering Maple, Water Oak, &c, it fills the branch-swamps
which intersect the pine-barrens. It is seen on the skirts of the
great swamps which border the rivers, and around the ponds
covered with the Lauras aestivalis, (Pond-bush,) that are met
with in the barrens. A cool and humid soil appears to be
essential to its growth, for it is never found in dry or sand}-
lands. It is also remarked that the farther south it grows the
more vigorous and beautiful is its vegetation : thus, in the south-
ern part of Georgia and in the Floridas, it is often sixty or
seventy feet high and from fifteen to twenty inches in diameter;
dimensions which it more rarely attains in the Carolinas.
Perhaps, also, as the Carolinas have been longer inhabited
and are more fully peopled, the largest stocks have been
felled for certain uses to which they are found perfectly
adapted.
Where the Bed Bay arrives at a lofty stature, it rarely ex-
hibits a regular form : its trunk is generally crooked, and divided
into several thick limbs at eight, ten, or twelve feet from
US
PI .■'.■
RED BAY. 119
the ground. It differs in this respect from the Loblolly Bay,,
the Sweet Gum, the Tupelo, and the Oaks, whose trunks are
straight and of nearly a uniform size for twenty or thirty
feet.
Upon old trunks the bark is thick and deeply furrowed ; that
of the young branches, on the contrary, is smooth and of a beau-
tiful green color. The leaves are about six inches long, alter-
nate, oval-acuminate, whitish or glaucous on the lower surface,
and evergreen. When bruised, they diffuse a strong odor
resembling that of the Sweet Bay, Laurus nobllis, and may be
employed in cookery. The flowers are disposed in small, axil-
lary bunches, springing between the leaf and the twig, and are
supported by slightly-downy peduncles. The fruit, or seed, is
oval, and very similar to that of the Sassafras. The seeds ger-
minate with ease, and the old trees are surrounded by hundreds
of young plants.
The wood of the Red Bay is of a beautiful rose-color : it is
strong, has a fine, compact grain, and is susceptible of a bril-
liant polish. Before mahogany became the reigning fashion in
cabinet-making, this wood was commonly employed in the
Southern States, and afforded articles of furniture of the high-
est beauty. That it is no longer used is attributable to the
difficulty of finding trees of sufficient diameter, and to the
facility of obtaining mahogany, which is imported in large
blocks from St. Domingo, at a moderate price.
It has lately been discovered that the Red Bay, like the Red
Cedar, may be usefully employed in ship-building, as it unites
the properties of strength and durability. In the southern part
of Georgia, and in East Florida, when stocks are met with of
considerable dimensions, they are sent, in the form of square
timber, to New York and Philadelphia, with the Live Oak and
the Red Cedar.
In fine, the Red Bay is a handsome tree, whose wood is ele-
gant and of a superior quality, but which rarely attains such
120 CAMPHOR TREE.
dimensions as to afford important resources to the arts; such,
at least, appears to be the result of experience as far as it has
gone.
PLATE LXXXII.
A branch with leaves and seeds of the natural size.
CAMPHOR TREE.
Laurus camphora. L. foliis ovatis, utrinque acuminaiis, trinerviis, niti-
dis ; petiolis laxis ; fructibus atropurpureis.
Amoistg the vegetables of the Old Continent which jiossess a
high degree of interest for the United States, the Camphor
Tree holds an eminent place. It especially deserves attention
from the inhabitants of the Floridas, of the lower part of the
Carolinas, and of Lower Louisiana. Its multiplication in these
climates would be so easy, that after a few years it might be
abandoned to nature.
The Camphor Tree in its general character is nearly related
to the Ked Bay, so common throughout the regions which I
have just mentioned : they are of the same height, are both
evergreen, and so similar in appearance that at a little distance
they are easily confounded.
The Camphor Tree grows in China, Japan, and some other
parts of the East Indies. It often exceeds forty or fifty feet in
height, with a proportional diameter. The leaves are supported
by long petioles, and are alternate, shining on both sides, two
or three inches long, an inch broad, and acuminate at both
extremities, with distinct longitudinal ribs. The young branches
are <rreen.
PL 80
Campliire Tree.
Gairict ,:«lp
CAMPHOR TREE. 121
The flowers, like those of the Red Bay, are diminutive,
-whitish, and united in small axillary bunches. The seeds
resemble those of the Eed Bay in size and form, but are of a
dark purple color. The leaves, the bark, the wood, and the
roots are strongly impregnated with the odor of Camphor : from
the roots especially, this substance, so useful in medicine, is ex-
tracted.
In China and Japan, the unrefined Camphor is obtained in
the following manner : the roots are cut into small pieces and
boiled with water in large iron retorts, of which the cover is
made of earth and provided with cords of rice-straw. When
the ebullition commences, the Camphor rises with the vapor
and attaches itself to these cords in the form of grayish dust,
in which state it is brought to Europe. The greater part of the
Camphor of commerce comes from the province of Sotsoanna,
and from the Isles of Gotha.
Till within a few years, the Dutch have exclusively possessed
the secret of refining the Camphor, and of bringing it into a
state proper for medical use. But chemistry has made such
rapid progress in France since the Revolution, that this process,
among others, has become known; and it is now extensively
practised in the laboratories of Paris.* We are informed, in
general, that the distillation is effected without water in glass
retorts, with the addition of one-sixteenth part of quicklime.
The Camphor thus refined is a whitish, transparent resin,
highly volatile and inflammable, and of a very penetrating odor.
It is so light that it floats upon water, and so inflammable that
it may be entirely consumed upon the surface of that fluid.
Camphor is regarded as one of the most powerful remedies in
the art of medicine : it is sedative, antiseptic, and diaphoretic;
but it is considered as injurious in inflammatory complaints :
the ablest physicians unite sulphate of potash or nitre with it
as a corrective.
* [And of the United States.]
122 AMERICAN HOLLY.
From its powerful antiseptic properties, it is frequently em-
ployed in the preservation of animal substances, and always
forms a part of the composition destined to secure the skins
of birds and quadrupeds from decay, in collections of natural
history.
Another tree, which is also natural to the East Indies, and
which, according to M. Corea de Serra, has a great affinity to
the Shorea robusta of Dr. Roxburg, furnishes Camphor of an
excellent quality. This substance is obtained likewise from
certain plants of the class of Labia}, such as Lavender and
Mint, but not in sufficient quantities to form an article of
commerce.
PLATE LXXXIII.
A branch with leaves and fruit of the natural size. Fig. 1. Floicers.
AMERICAN HOLLY.
Ilex opaca. I. folds ovalibus, rigide patuleque dentalo-spinosis ; fructibus
ovoideis, rubris.
Dioecia tetrandria. Linn. RhamnoicUe. Juss.
Amoxg the Hollies of North America, I shall confine myself
to the description of this single species, which sometimes grows
to a great height, and of which the wood is employed in the
arts. It is designated in all parts of the United States where
it grows by the name of American Holly.
I am unable to mark the northern limit of this tree with as
much precision as that of many others ; but I believe it does
not extend far beyond Long Island, though it is already com-
mon in Lower Jersey. It is found in all the more southern
/'/./o
//■' /I, ,/,•„/,-' ,/,/'
American HolK
AMERICAN HOLLY. 123
States, in the Floridas, in Lower Louisiana, and in West Ten-
nessee; but it is observed to become more rare in approaching
the mountains. On the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and in
certain parts of Virginia, for instance near Richmond, where
it particularly abounds, it grows almost exclusively on open
grounds and in dry and gravelly soils : while in South Carolina,
Georgia, and Lower Louisiana, it is seen only in shady places,
on the edges of swamps, where the soil is cool and fertile. Its
vegetation in these situations is so vigorous that it equals forty
feet in height and twelve or fifteen inches in diameter.
The American Holly, in its pyramidical shape and in its
brilliant evergreen foliage, bears a striking resemblance to the
European species, Ilex aqui/olium. Its leaves present a slight
difference, being less twisted, less acuminate, and of a lighter
green. Its flowers are white and not conspicuous. They are
succeeded by numerous red berries, which remain long attached
to the branches. Upon the trunk of old trees the bark is smooth
and of a whitish-gray color ; on the young branches it is green
and shining.
The wood of the American Holly is very similar to that of
the European species ; they are both very heavy and compact,
with a white alburnum and brown heart. Its grain is fine and
compact; hence it is very brilliant when polished. Its prin-
cipal use is for inlaying mahogany furniture : the black lines
with which cabinet-makers sometimes adorn their work are of
Holly dyed in the coppers of the hatter. As it turns well, it is
chosen for light screws and for the small boxes in which apothe-
caries put their opiates. When perfectly dry, this wood is very
hard and unyielding; hence it is excellently adapted for the
pulleys which are used in ships ; but the Lignum- Vita?, which
is cheap and easily procured from the West Indies, is preferred.
The best bird-lime employed in Europe is made of the Holly.
The inner bark is pounded into a paste, which is put into pots
and left to ferment in the cellar. When the process has pro-
124 AMERICAN HOLLY.
ceeded far enough, the paste is washed, to separate the ligneous
fibres, and preserved in close vases with the addition of a little
oil. This substance is green, soft, and very viscid. It is con-
densed by cold and softened by heat.
The attempt has been successfully made of employing the
Holly for hedges, which are very dense, and which have the
recommendation of preserving their foliage through the year :
but it is found in Europe that the Thorn and the Locust possess
superior advantages ; especially where it is necessary, as in the
United States, to enclose large tracts of arable land. The seeds
of the Holly, of the Thorn, and of the Dogwood, do not spring
before the second or third year ; but I have been told that they
may be caused to shoot the first year by the following very
simple method. After gathering the seeds, which are ripe to-
ward the close of autumn, they must be cleared of the pulpy
envelop by rubbing them in water; they are afterward slightly
covered with earth in a box, and deposited during the winter
in the cellar. Care must be taken to keep the earth moist by
watering it from time to time, for the purpose of swelling tbe
seeds. When the warm season commences, they are committed
to the earth in the spot where they are to remain. The berries
of the Holly are purgative, and, taken to the number of fifteen
or twenty, they excite vomiting ; but there are so many reme-
dies whose operation is better understood and more certain,
that the best treatises on materia medica attach little im-
portance to this vegetable.
My inquiries concerning tbe American Holly have not yet led
to an acquaintance with any property which should entitle it to
a preference in Europe over our native species, Bex aquifolium.
PLATE LXXXIV.
A branch with leaves and fruit of the natural size.
AMERICAN HOLLY. 125
[Soil, Propagation, &c. The Holly attains the largest size in
a rich, sandy loam ; but it will grow, and even thrive, on almost
any soil, provided it is not overcharged with moisture; it suc-
ceeds better beneath the shade and drip of other trees than any
other evergreen shrub or tree, except the Box. If young plants
suffer from moving, cut them down close to the ground, and they
will frequently recover.
In addition to the advice respecting the seeds given by Michaux,
I would observe that a covering of half-rotten leaves, or litter
of straw, placed over the seed-beds, will protect the ground
from extreme heat and drought, and will greatly facilitate the
progress of germination, which is often attended, however, with
disappointment. After remaining a year, they may be placed in
pots for a twelvemonth, previous to removal to their final place
of growth.
Cleft-grafting does not succeed so well with the Holly as whip-
grafting or budding. Cuttings made in autumn, of the ripened
summer shoots, and planted in a sandy soil in a shady border,
and covered with hand-glasses, will put forth roots in the follow-
ing spring. When planted for a hedge, for which I strongly
recommend it, the soil ought to be trenched to the depth of
three or four feet, and filled up with good soil from the adjoining-
surface.
The permanence and beauty of a holly hedge should stimu-
late the gardener and amateur to overcome the difficulties which
undoubtedly attend its pi'opagation and transplantation.]
SOREL TREE.
Andromeda arborea. A. foliis oblongo-ovalibus, acuminaiis, deniicidalis ;
paniculis terminalibus ; corollis subpubescentibas.
Decaudria monogynia. Linn. Erioece. Jess.
This is the only species of Andromeda which rises to a suffi-
cient height to be ranked among forest trees. It begins to appear
on the Alleghanies in Virginia, and is found to their termination
in Georgia. It grows also in the Southern States on the steep
banks of the rivers that flow from the mountains; but it becomes
more rare in following them from their source, whether eastward
or westward, and ceases entirely in the maritime parts of the
Carolinas and of Georgia.
I have nowhere seen the Sorel Tree of ampler dimensions
than in the fertile valleys at the foot of the lofty mountains of
North Carolina, particularly in those whose waters unite in the
northern branch of the river Catawba, about thirty miles from
Morgantown and 300 miles from Charleston. In these valleys
I have measured Sorel Trees which were fifty feet high and
twelve or fifteen inches in diameter. This is an extraordinary
size for a tree of this genus, which is very numerous in the At-
lantic States, and three-fourths of whose species, for the number
of eight or ten, rarely exceed six feet in height and an inch in
diameter. The growth of the Sorel Tree is observed to be
stinted in dry and gravelly lands, so that it presents itself in
the form of a bush ; as I have particularly remarked about
Knoxville, where it is most abundant.
The leaves of the Sorel Tree are downy in the spring, but
they become smooth in acquiring their growth. They are alter-
nate, oval-acuminate, finely denticulated, and from four to five
inches long.
126
PI. Si
Sore! Tree
SOREL TREE. 127
The flowers are small, white, arid formed into spikes five or
six inches long. United in groups, they have a fine effect, and
render this tree very proper for the embellishment of gardens.
The seeds are exceedingly minute, and are contained in small
capsules.
On the trunk of the Sorel Tree the bark is thick and deeply
furrowed. The wood is of a pale rose-color and very soft. It
burns with difficulty, and is wholly rejected in the arts.
From the acidity of the leaves is derived the appropriate
name of Sorel Tree. In drying, they become black; and, when
Sumac is not to be obtained, they are used to impart this color
to wool.
The Sorel Tree endures an intenser degree of cold than that
of its native climate. I have seen a stock eighteen feet high
flourishing at New York, where the winter is more severe than
in any part of France or England. This fact should induce
amateurs to multiply it on account of its beautiful flowers,
which it begins to display at the height of five or six feet.
PLATE LXXXV.
A branch with leaves and flowers of the natural size. Fi<j. 1. Capsules
which contain the seed. Fig. 2. Seeds.
DEVIL WOOD.
Olea Americana. 0. fuliis latl oblanccolatis, coriaceis, lucidis, integer-
rimis; drupa globosa.
Dicecia diandria. LlNN. Jasminese. Juss.
This tree belongs exclusively to the Southern States, the
Floridas, and Lower Louisiana ; toward the north it is not found
beyond Norfolk in Virginia, and, like the Live Oak and the
Cabbage Tree, is confined to the sea-shore, being rarely found
even at a small distance within the country. It is so little
multiplied, that it has hitherto received no name from the
inhabitants of the country, except on the banks of the river
Savannah, where it is called Devil Wood.
This tree grows in soils and exposures extremely different. On
the sea-shore, it springs with the Live Oak in the most barren
and sultry spots; and in other places, it is seen with the Big
Laurel, the Umbrella Tree, the Sweet Leaves, &c, in cool,
fertile, and shaded situations.
This tree — or, to speak more accurately, this large shrub — is
sometimes thirty or forty feet high and ten or twelve inches in
diameter: but this size is extraordinary; it commonly fructifies
at the height of eight, ten, or twelve feet. The leaves are four
or five inches long, opposite and lanceolate, entire at the edge,
smooth and brilliant on the upper surface, and of an agreeable,
light green. They are evergreen, or, at least, are partially
renewed only once in four or five years. The fertile and barren
flowers are on separate trees : they are very small, strongly
scented, of a pale yellow, and axillary, or situated between the
petiole of the leaves and the branches. The season of flower-
ing, in the neighborhood of Charleston, is about the end of
128
// .'/,'.;/. •„/.■ ././.
DcA ll W OOll
('tea tf/nwiearta
DEVIL WOOD. 129
April. The fruit is round, and about twice as large as a com-
mon pea. When ripe, it is of a purple color, approaching to
blue, and consists of a hard stone thinly coated with pulp. As
it remains attached to the branches during a part of the winter,
its color forms, at this season, an agreeable contrast with the
foliage.
The bark which covers the trunk of the Devil Wood is
smooth and grayish. The wood has a fine and compact grain,
and when perfectly dry it is excessively hard and very difficult
to cut or split; hence is derived the name of Devil Wood. It
is, notwithstanding, neglected in use. On laying bare the
cellular tissue of the bark, its natural yellow hue changes in-
stantaneously to a deep red, and the wood, by contact with the
air, assumes a rosy complexion. Experiments should be made
to detect the nature of this active principle in the bark, which
causes it to change color so suddenly by exposure to the air.
From the temperature of the native skies of this tree, we
may conclude that it is capable of resisting a greater degree of
cold than the Common Olive ; it becomes then, on account of its
beautiful foliage, its odoriferous flowers, and its showy fruit, a
valuable acquisition to Italy and the south of France.
PLATE LXXXVI.
A branch with leaves and fruit of the natural size. Fig. 1. Flowers.
OLIVE TREE.
Olea EuROPiEA. 0. foliis lanceolatis, integerrimis racemis paniculatis.
Since tlie introduction of the Vine, the Olive seems prin-
cipally wanting to complete the vegetable riches of the United
States; and probably it might be cultivated with success on
some portions of their soil.
The genus of the Olives, of which one species only is found
in North America, is more diversified in the Eastern hemisphere :
nine species are mentioned by botanical writers, which are
natives of remote extremities of the Old World. The Olea
fragrans grows in China and Japan ; its flowers are impregnated
with the sweetest odor, and are employed by the Chinese to
perfume their tea.
But none of these species form an object of great importance
in the rural economy of the regions to which they are indigenous,
nor does their introduction promise very beneficial fruits to the
agriculture of other countries. It is far otherwise with the
European Olive. This ornament of the vegetable kingdom,
which is called by Columella the first among trees, has consti-
tuted, from the remotest antiquity, the pride of some of the
most celebrated regions of the globe ; and, aside from the
commercial value of its products, it is invested, both by sacred
and profane history, with a thousand interesting associations.
The beauty of the Olive is far from corresponding to its
intrinsic value. It varies in size according to the soil and
climate in which it grows; and in France the temperature is
not warm enough for its perfect development. Pliny says that
in Spain it was one of the largest trees : — Non alia major in Boc-
tica arbor. On Mount Atlas, Desfontaines saw Wild Olives from
forty-five to sixty feet in height ; and Beaujour compares the
130
PI. 87.
Olive Tree
Olea Eurovoea.
OLIVE TREE. 131
Olives of the plains of Marathon to the finest Walnuts for sta-
ture and expansion. Lofty Olives are still seen in the island
of Corfu, shading the spot where they once enriched the gardens
of Alcinous.
In the Olive-yards of France, these trees are generally from
eighteen to twenty feet in height and from six inches to two
feet in diameter. About Aix, Montpellier, &c, they are kept
low partly by the disasters to which they are exposed from the
cold, and partly by the care of the cultivator to facilitate the
gathering of the fruit. They ramify at a small height, and
form a compact and rounded summit. The open, coriaceous
foliage is of a pale, impoverished verdure, and the general ap-
pearance of the tree is not unlike that of a Common Willow
which has been lopped, and which has acquired a new summit
of three or four years' growth.
Indeed, the Olive possesses neither the majesty of forest trees
nor the gracefulness of shrubbery. It clothes the hills without
adorning them, and, considered as an accident of the landscape,
it does not charge the picture sufficiently to contribute greatly
to its beauty. The rich culture for which the southern pro-
vinces of France are celebrated is less conducive to rural beauty
than some of the humbler species of husbandry. The richest
country is not always the most lovely; a country of mines, for
example, is usually ungracious to the eye, and the Olive is called,
by an Italian writer, a mine upon the surface of the earth.
This tree is remarkable for its longevity: the ancients limited
its existence to two hundred years, but modern authors assert
that, in climates suited to its constitution, it survives its fifth
century. Relations are made of the bulk of some of these
patriarchal trees, too surprising to be repeated unless they were
perfectly authenticated; but in France there are Olive Trees
which two men can hardly compass in their arms.
The main limbs of the Olive are numerously divided : the
branches are opposite, and the pairs are alternately placed upon
132 OLIVE TREE.
conjugate axes of the limb. The foliage is evergreen, but a part
of it turns yellow and falls in the summer, and in three years it
is completely renewed. In the spring or early autumn, the
seasons when vegetation is in its greatest activity, the young
leaves come out immediately above the cicatrix of the former
petioles, and are distinguished by their suppleness and by the
freshness of their tint.
The color of the leaves varies in the different varieties of the
Olive, but they are generally smooth and of a light green above,
whitish and somewhat downy, with a prominent rib beneath.
On most of the cultivated varieties they are from fifteen lines to
two inches long and from six to twelve lines broad, lanceolate,
entire, nearly sessile, opposite and alternate in the manner of
the branches.
The Olive is slow in blooming as well as in every function of
vegetable life. The buds begin to appear about the middle of
April, and the bloom is not full before the end of Ma}' or the
beginning of June. The flowers are small, white, slightly odori-
ferous, and disposed in axillary racemes or clusters. A pedun-
cle about as long as the leaf issues from its base, upon which
the flowers are supported by secundary pedicles like those of the
Common Currant. Sometimes the clusters are almost as nume-
rous as the leaves, and garnish the tree with wanton luxuriance;
at others, they are thinly scattei-ed over the branches, or seen
only at their extremity. It is essential to remark that they are
borne by the shoots of the preceding year. Each flower is com-
plete in itself, consisting of a calyx, a monopetalous corolla
divided into four lobes, and of the organs of reproduction,
namely, two stamina and one pistil.
A week after the expanding of the flower, the corolla fades
and falls. If the calyx remains behind, a favorable presage is
formed of the fruitfulness of the season : but the hopes of the
husbandman are liable to be blasted at this period by the
slightest intemperateness of the elements, which causes the
OLIVE TREE. 133
germ to fall with the flower. Warm weather, accompanied by
gentle breezes tbat agitate the tree and facilitate the fecunda-
tion, is the most favorable to his hopes.
The fruit of the Olive is called by botanists a drupe: it is
composed of pulpy matter enveloping a stone, or ligneous shell,
containing a kernel. The olive is ovate, pointed at the
extremity, from six to ten lines in diameter in one direction
and from ten to fifteen lines in the other : on the wild, it hardly
exceeds the size of the red currant. The skin is smooth, and,
when ripe, of a violet color; but in certain varieties it is
yellowish or red. The pulp is greenish, and the stone is oblong,
pointed, and divided into two cells, one of which is usually void.
The oil of the olive is furnished by the pulp, which is a cha-
racteristic almost peculiar to this fruit; in other oleaginous vege-
tables, it is extracted from the seed. The young olive sets in
June, increases in size and remains green through the summer,
begins to change color early in October, and is ripe at the end
of November or in the beginning of December. On the Wild
Olive, five or six drupes are ripened upon each peduncle ; but on
the cultivated tree a great part of the flowers are abortive, and
the green fruit is cast at every stage of its growth, so that rarely
more than one or two germs upon a cluster arrive at maturity.
It has been observed from early antiquity that the produce of
the Olive is alternate; and in France it is proverbially said to
labor one year for itself and one year for its owner. The cause
of this phenomenon will be mentioned hereafter. It is asserted
that the Wild Olives are sometimes barren; but these must be
trees that have sprung from stones dropped upon arid rocks, in
whose crevices the roots barely find nourishment enough to
sustain the abject existence of the plant.
On the branches of the Olive, and on the trunk of the young
tree, the bark is smooth and of an asby hue. When the
epidermis is removed, the cellular tissue ajipears of a light
green. On old trees, the bark upon the trunk and upon the
104 OLIVE TREE.
base of the principal limbs is brown, rough, and deeply furrowed.
In the spring and autumn, when the sap is in motion, the bark
is easily detached from the body of the tree.
The wood is heavy, compact, fine-grained, and brilliant. The
alburnum is white and soft, and the perfect wood is hard, brittle,
and of a reddish tint, with the pith nearly effaced, as in the Box.
It is employed by cabinet-makers to inlay the finer species of
wood which are contrasted with it in color, and to form light
ornamental articles, such as dressing-cases, tobacco-boxes, etc.
The wood of the roots, which is more agreeably marbled, is
preferred.
The Olive accommodates itself to almost every variety of soil ;
but it shuns a redundancy of moisture, and prefers loose, calca-
reous, fertile lands mingled with stone, such as the territory of
Attica and of the south of France. The quality of its fruit is
essentially affected by that of the soil; it succeeds in good loams
which are capable of bearing corn, but on fat lands it yields oil
of an inferior flavor, and becomes laden with a barren exube-
rance of leaves and branches. The temperature of the climate
is a consideration of more importance than the nature of the
soil, as all the varieties of the Olive dread the extremes both of
heat and cold. Neither do they delight in very low or in very
elevated situations, but rather in gentle declivities with an ex-
posure adapted to the climate, where the fresh breezes, playing
among the branches, may contribute to the health of the tree
and to the fineness of the fruit.
Notwithstanding the delicacy of its complexion, the Olive is
extremely tenacious of life. When the trunk has perished by
frost or by fire, it sjirouts anew; and we are assured that if a bit
of the bark, with a thin layer of wood, is buried in the earth, it
becomes a perfect plant.
In this respect the Olive is the polypus of vegetables. It is
multiplied by all the modes that are in use for the propagation
of trees: — by sowing the seed, by layers, by slips, by cuttings of
OLIVE TREE. 135
the root, and by sprouts separated from the trunk or from the
roots of the parent stock. The most obvious method — that of
forming nurseries from the seed — is generally censured in books
and rejected in practice: the difficulty of obtaining the young
plants, and the length of time which must elapse before they
begin to reward the labor of the husbandman, have discouraged
its adoption. But, if these objections could be obviated, this is
doubtless the most eligible practice. As the plants thus reared
begin a new life, they are more vigorous and of longer duration
than offsets from an old tree; they form also a perpendicular
root, which penetrates deeply and secures them from the danger
of suffering by drought.
In most of the experiments that have been made of this
method, the fruit has been sown entire; and this is even en-
joined as a necessary precaution. But, however it may seem
to be indicated by nature, such is not her own process. The
stones which produce the Wild Olives are deposited by animals
that digest the pulp, or by birds that carry away the fruit in
their beaks, devour the pulp, and leave the stones to take their
chance with the elements. The principles of vegetable physio-
logy, also, support the conclusions derived from these observa-
tions. The pulp not only invites the depredations of animals,
such as field-mice, pies, &c, but this oily envelop, by pre-
serving the shell from moisture, prevents its decaying in season
for the germination of the kernel, which, in the mean time,
becomes rancid and loses its fecundity.
Ripe fruit of the finest variety is selected ; that of the Gros
Bibes is the best; and the stones, after being separated from the
pulp, are cleansed in an alkaline solution. A sheltered situa-
tion is chosen, where the earth is thoroughly loosened to the
depth of three feet and enriched with the warmest manures.
In the month of March the stones are sown, at a small distance
apart, in trenches two or three inches deep, and covered with
earth. The soil should be kept free from herbage, and occasion-
136 OLIVE TREE.
ally watered during the summer. The young plants appear in
October, and continue to vegetate through the winter; by the
following spring, the most thriving among them will have at-
tained the height of thirty inches. The feebler stocks should
now be eradicated. With proper attention and a favorable soil,
the remainder will be four or five feet high and six or seven
lines in diameter in the course of the third spring, with a per-
pendicular root of thirty inches. This is the season for trans-
planting them. Great care should be bestowed upon the pre-
paration of the ground, and the young plants should be placed
three feet apart. After two 3'ears they will be sufficiently
advanced to be grafted, and at the end of five years they may
be transplanted to the Olive-yard.
To accelerate the germination, the stones may be kept in fine
mould during the summer and autumn, and sown, in the begin-
ning of January. They soon begin to vegetate, and before the
following winter the young stocks acquire strength enough to
support its rigors, while the tender plant that comes up in
October is in danger of suffering by the slightest hoarfrost.
Perhaps some advantage would be found in reducing the thick-
ness of the shell before it is committed to the ground, in order
to expose the germ more speedily to the influence of those
agents which are necessary to its expansion.
Every mode of grafting is successfully practised on the Olive :
the most common and the most proper for young stocks is that
of inoculation. The operation should be performed in May,
while tbe juices are in active circulation. Different opinions
prevail respecting the insertion of the graft above or below the
surface of the ground: grafting below the surface is attended
with this advantage : — that, when the trunk is destroyed, a gene-
rous progeny springs from its base.
A few stocks should be left to form new varieties. Fruit
trees and flowers lose, in reproduction, the properties which
they had acquired by culture, and tend anew to the state of
OLIVE TREE. 137
nature. But, in a great number of plants reared from the seed,
a few are found that equal or excel the parent : florists consider
themselves as fortunate, if, among a thousand Hyacinths or
Tulips, they obtain three or four deserving of notice.
The young Olives begin to yield fruit the tenth or twelfth
year, and are fully productive about the twenty-fifth or thir-
tieth : thus Hesoid's observation, that no man gathers fruit from
an Olive of his own planting, must be admitted with the abate-
ments of poetry.
A second method of forming a nursery, which has been
successfully adopted near Toulon, is by transplanting the young
Wild Olives.
The ancients relied principally upon propagation by slips; and
this easy and expeditious mode is still generally followed in
Spain. A smooth, thriving sprout, or branch, one or two inches
in diameter, is cut into pieces twelve or fifteen inches long,
which are carefully set, without wounding the bark, in ground
prepared as for the seed. They are placed at the distance of
three feet, and at such a depth that three inches only appear
above the surface. To encourage the formation of roots, the
larger end, which is committed to the earth, should be smeared
with a composition of mould and animal manure, and the end
which is exposed to the air should be protected by a covering
of clay. Cuttings of the roots, also, buried in an inclined posi-
tion in trenches four inches deep, will sprout in the course of the
year. A few months later, the feebler stocks are plucked up,
and the more vigorous ones are left at the distance of three feet.
Another easy resource is found in the shoots that spring up
round the base of an old Olive, or from roots laid bare and
wounded for this purpose.
It is necessary, in every case, to ascertain the point at which
the original stock was grafted. The offspring is invariably
identical in its nature with that part of the parent tree from
which it was separated; it recpures grafting, therefore, if it was
138 L I V E T R E E.
detached from a point below the insertion of the graft, or from
a tree which had not submitted to this process.
All these operations are performed at the close of winter or
the opening of spring. The length of time which the young
plants should remain in the nursery varies with their size and
strength; but it rarely exceeds four or five years. During this
period the ground should be kept mellow and clean, and
occasionally watered in the summer, if the season is dry. But
this indulgence should not be prodigally bestowed. Vegetable
as well as animal and moral life is susceptible of habitude.
For this reason, it is also an important precept, in the formation
of nurseries, to select a soil analogous to that in which the trees
are to reside. If the young plant is lavishly supplied with
nutritious juices, its pores become distended, its fibre gross, and
its vegetation luxuriant. Superfluous enjoyments easily become
necessaries of life: hence, when it is removed to a different
scene, and condemned to struggle for existence in an ungrateful
soil, it loses heart, and perishes where it might have been long-
lived and fruitful if its temperament had been hardened by
early privation.
When the nurslings have arrived at a proper age, the next
step is to transj^lant them to the Olive-yard. The task of pre-
paring the ground for their reception should be begun imme-
diately after the harvest. Holes or trenches, at least three feet
in width, are dug and left mouldering till the close of winter,
which is the season for transplanting the Olive. The stock and
principal branches are lopped, and the wounds are covered with
clay. As much of the roots as possible should be preserved,
with the earth adhering to them. When the trees are carried
to a distance, which may be done with the precautions that are
used for other fruit trees, they should be set during several
hours in water before they are replaced in the gi-ound. Mellow,
fertile mould should be spread upon the bottom of the holes and
thrown first upon the roots ; among which the earth should be
OLIVE TREE. 139
lightly forced, though it is not useful to render it compact nor
to heap it about the trunk. A copious watering follows, which
is repeated in the course of the season, as the weather and the
health of the plant may require.
The Olive arrived at an advanced age may be transplanted
in the same manner as the young tree. In general, whatever
vegetable is to support this trial, the most important precept is
that the earth be widely broken up and minutely subdivided, so
that the roots may be placed in their natural position, and that
their first efforts to extend themselves may not be embarrassed
by compact masses, which they penetrate with difficulty, and
from which they derive scanty subsistence.
The Olives should be planted at such a distance that they
may not interfere with each other, and that every portion of the
soil may contribute to their nourishment. In meagre lands,
from which no other produce is exacted, eighteen or twenty feet
are enough ; but in vineyards or corn-lands they may be thirty-
five or forty feet apart. Cato assigns twenty-five or thirty feet,
which, as mean term, is sufficiently exact. In warmer climates,
certain varieties attain such dimensions as to require a space of
sixty or seventy feet.
The Olive does not become barren when totally abandoned ;
but, like other vegetables, it repays the neglect of the husband-
man with a diminished produce, and his care with larger and
more abundant fruit.
In Provence it is customary to turn the soil in the spring and
in the fall. Besides the tillage of the plough, the ground should
be cai'efully dressed with the spade about the foot of each tree.
More labor is recpiired by some soils than by others : a compact,
argillaceous loam must be more frequently turned than a light,
calcareous mould.
The Olive-yard should be manured at least once in thi'ee or
four years; but it would be more beneficial to sustain its strength
by moderate annual supplies. Most species of manure, while
140 OLIVE TREE.
they increase the produce of the Olive, impair the quality of its
fruit : the finest oil is made from wild trees growing in calcareous
land of moderate fertility. Vegetable substances are preferable
to animal manures for fruit trees in general, and especially for
the Olive and the Vine. "When animal matter is employed, it
should be tempered with marl, sea-weeds, leaves, &c, and applied
only when the whole is reduced to mould. To soils deficient
in this ingredient, calcareous matter is of the utmost utility.
Great benefit is said to be found in Spain from sea-water poured
upon the roots of the Olive. But the finest manure is the offals
of the fruit that has been pressed, and the washings of the
utensils and of the oil-vessels.
The manure is spread in the fall, in the winter, or before the
tillage in the spring. Its effects are most sensible when it is
applied at the beginning of winter, as, during this season, its
virtues are imbibed by the soil and communicated to every fibre
of the roots; through the spring and summer, on the contrary,
it sometimes remains nearly inert beneath the surface. But in
climates where the Olive is liable to injury from cold, the most
serious accidents are to be feared from keeping its roots too warm
in the winter. Its vegetation being in this manner quickened,
so that the sap is set in motion by every genial sun, it is exposed
to the most imminent danger from the returning frost. The
fatal effects of cold are frequently less attributable to its intensity
than to its suddenness : a plant which has become relaxed by a
tepid breath of a deceitful zephyr is surprised and killed by the
frozen blast of the north wind. To maintain an even tempera-
ture at the roots during the winter, earth should be heaped
about the base of the trees, and the manure should be spread
early enough in the fall to assist them in ripening their fruit
and preparing the bloom of the succeeding year, or late enough
in the spring to avoid the accidents of frost. The Greeks do
not make use of manure, except when chance conducts a flock
of sheep to the foot of an Olive, which immediately becomes
L I V E T R E E. 141
conspicuous by a richer vegetation. "When substances proper
for manure cannot be obtained in the requisite abundance, the
deficiency may be supplied by sowing grasses or cereal plants,
and ploughing in the green herb.
The pruning of the Olive is subject to the general principles
of the art, modified by the peculiar nature of the tree. A part
of its branches should be curtailed, every year, and the number
of bearing shoots determined, so that it may not be exhausted
by its fruit. After twelve or fifteen years, one or two of the
principal limbs may be lopped, and at intervals, which must
depend upon the condition of each tree, the whole summit may
be retrenched. The most favorable season for pruning the
Olive is in March.
More than thirty varieties of the Olive are known in France, :i:
which are distinguished by their size, by their temperament as
* The most exact and extensive catalogue of the Olives is found in the New
Duhamel. The following are some of the most esteemed varieties: —
1. The Olivier pleureur, Olea craniomorpha, 14th variety in the New Du-
hamel, is one of the largest and finest trees. Its branches are redundantly nume-
rous, and pendent like those of the Weeping Willow. Its fruit is good for the
table and yields a pure and abundant oil. It should be placed in valleys rather
than on elevated grounds, as it has more to apprehend from drought than from
cold : there are individuals of this variety in Languedoc that have three times
survived the general destruction of the Olives by frost.
2. The Olivier d fruit arroncU, Olea sphcerica, 26th variety, N. D., is also
among the least sensible to cold. It requires moisture, a good soil, and abundant
manure. Its oil is of a superior quality.
3. The Olivier de Lucque, Olea minor Lucensis, 9th variety, N. D., is hardy,
and yields a fruit proper for preserving.
4 and 5. The Aglandaou, Olivier d petit fruit rond, Olea fructu minore et
rotundoire, 3d variety, N. D., and the Olivier de Salon, Olea media fructu sub-
rotundo, 19th variety, N. D., are good for oil, and prefer dry and elevated grounds.
6. The Olivier amygdalin, Olea amygdalina, 25th variety, N. D., is much
esteemed about Montpcllier for its fine and abundant oil.
7. The Picholine, Olea oblonga, 11th variety, N. D., yields the most celebrated
pickled olives. This variety is not delicate in the choice of soil and climate.
142 OLIVET R E E.
to soil and climate, and the qualities of their fruit. Some of
these varieties, like those of the Vine, owe their characteristic
properties to the spot in which they are reared.
The principal product of the Olive is oil, but the pickled
fruit is also a valuable article of commerce. The simplest
manner of preserving the green olives is by covering them with
a solution of common salt impregnated with fennel, cumin,
coriander-seed, and rosewood : the most perfect method is that
employed for the picholines of Provence, which are so called
from Plcciolini, by whom the process was invented. They are
gathered in the beginning of October, and the finest of them
are selected and thrown into a weak solution of soda or potash
rendered caustic with lime. In this solution they remain eight
or ten hours, till the pulp ceases to adhere to the stone ; they
are then steeped, during a week, in pure, cold water, daily
renewed, and are afterward transferred to an aromatic brine.
Such of them as are destined for the tables of the luxurious are
taken out after a certain time, deprived of the stone, in place
of which is substituted a caper or bit of truffle, and closed up
in bottles of the finest oil. In this manner they are kept pala-
table for two or three years. The sweet olive of the ancients,
which was eaten without preparation, is said to exist in the
kingdom of Naples.
The proper season for gathering the olives for the press is the
eve of their maturity, which varies in different climates and in
different varieties of the Olive, but which is easily distinguished
by the color of their fruit. Two powerful considerations should
engage the cultivator not to delay the olive harvest. "We have
already observed that the produce of this tree is alternate. The
phenomenon, it is true, is more uniformly witnessed in some
varieties than in others; but it might be assumed as a constant
character, if it was not proved by experience to depend upon
accidental causes. It has been attributed to the injury sus-
tained by the trees in beating off their fruit ; but it is not ob-
L I V E T R E E. 143
served in some places where this practice prevails, and is con-
stant in others where it is discarded. It has also been ascribed
to injudicious pruning ; but it is witnessed alike in Olive-yards
pruned in the most opposite modes, and in those that are uncon-
scious of the knife. The little fruit that is borne in the year
of repose is also of an inferior quality. Some other explana-
tion must therefore be sought for; and a satisfactory one is indi-
cated, by Pliny, in the continuance of the fruit upon the
branches after its maturity : — Hoerendo, enim, ultra mum tern/pus,
absumunt venientibus alimentum. This cause, which is generally
admitted by vegetable physiologists in France, has been de-
veloped by Olivier in a Memoir presented to the Economical
Society of Paris. Evergreen trees, and among them the Olive,
put forth the young shoots that are to bloom the succeeding
year, not in the spring, like trees with deciduous leaves, but at
the close of summer; and the buds are prepared during the
autumn and the beginning of winter. If, then, the tree is over-
laden with fruit, this second growth is prevented, and the hopes
of the following season are precluded ; or, if the fruit is left too
long upon the branches, it diverts the juices which should be
employed in the preparation of the flower-buds. At Aix, where
the olive harvest takes place early in November, it is annual
and uniform ; in Languedoc, Spain, Italy, &c, where it is de-
layed till December or January, it is alternate. The quality
of the oil, also, depends upon gathering the fruit in the first
stage of its maturity. It should be carefully plucked by hand,
and the whole harvest completed, if possible, in a single day.
To concoct the mucilage and to allow a part of the water to
evaporate, it is spread out, during two or three days, in beds
three inches deep.
The oil-mill retains nearly its primitive form : it consists of a
basin, raised two feet from the ground, with an upright beam in
the middle, around which a massive mill-stone is turned by
water or by a beast of burden. The press is solidly constructed
144 OLIVE TREE.
of wood or of cast-iron, and is moved by a compound lever.
The fruit, after being crushed to a paste, is put into sacks of
coarse linen or of feather-grass, and submitted to the press.
The virgin oil, which is first discharged, is the purest, and
retains most sensibly the taste of the fruit. It is received in
vessels half filled with water, from which it is taken off and set
apart in earthen jars : to separate the vegetable fibres and other
impurities, it is repeatedly decanted. "When the oil ceases to
flow, the paste is taken out and broken up. As the sacks are
returned to the press, boiling water is poured over them, and
the pressure is renewed with redoubled force till every particle
of the oil and water is extracted.
The mixture is left in a vat, from which the oil is taken off
as it rises to the surface. This oil, though less highly perfumed
than the first, is nearly as fine, and is usually mingled with it.
The offals of this fruit are sometimes submitted to a third pro-
cess : in a basin into which a rill of pure water is admitted,
thej* are ground anew, the skins and mucilaginous particles
floating on the surface are drawn off into reservoirs, and the
shells are preserved for fuel. The utmost cleanliness is neces-
sary in making the oil, Avhich is finished in a day: with the
nicest economy in the process, it amounts in weight to nearly
one-third of the fruit. The mean produce of a tree may be
assumed, in France, at ten pounds, and in Italy, at fifteen ; but
single trees have been known in the productive season to yield
three hundred pounds.
The kernel of the Olive affords an oil the mixture of which
with that of the pulp is said to injure its flavor and to hasten
its rancidity. A machine has, in consequence, been invented
for bruising the pulp without crushing the stone : that the argu-
ments for its adoption have not prevailed over the established
usage is no proof of their unsoundness ; more convincing evi-
dence is found in the exejuisite quality of the oil of Aix.
But there are abuses which experience has demonstrated
L I V E T R E E. 145
without being able to correct them : the fruit, after hanging
too long upon the trees, is kept fermenting in heaps, to in-
crease the quantity of oil, while the only effect is to vitiate its
quality.
Besides the finest oil which is used upon the table, im-
mense quantities are employed in the making of soap and for
mechanical purposes. A part of the oil consumed in this way
at Marseilles is imported from Greece and the Mediterranean
Isles.
The Olive requires a climate whose mean temperature is
equal to 57° 17', and that of the coldest month to 41° 5'. In
the United States, where the mean temperature of the year is
57° 17', that of the coldest month is only 0° 5', with some da}'s
far more intense. The capriciousness of our climate is still
more dangerous to delicate vegetables than its inclemency : the
difference of temperature in a single day is sometimes almost
equal to that of the whole year in the south of Italy. The
Olives near Charleston were rendered barren by the vernal
frosts which congealed the young shoots. In a more southern
latitude, they would be secure in the winter, but they would
languish through a sultry summer, unrefreshed by the healthful
breezes which they respire on the shores of the Mediterranean
Sea ; they would, besides, find a silicious instead of a calcareous
soil.
While the Floridas were held by the English, an adventurer
of that nation led a colony of Greeks into the eastern province,
and founded the settlement of New Smyrna : the principal trea-
sure which they brought from their native climate was the
Olive. Bartram, who visited this settlement in 1775, describes
it as a flourishing town. Its prosperity, however, was of mo-
mentary duration : driven to despair by hardship and oppres-
sion, and precluded from escape by land, where they were in-
tercepted by the wandering savages, a part of these unhappy
exiles conceived the hardy enterprise of flying to Havana in an
146 OLIVE TREE.
open boat; the rest removed to St, Augustine when the Span-
iards resumed possession of the country. In 17S3, a few de-
caying huts and several large Olives were the only remaining
traces of their industry.
Louisiana, the Floridas, the islands of Georgia, and chosen
exposures in the interior of the State, will be the scene of this
culture. Perhaps it will be extended to some parts of the
Western States. It has been hastily concluded that the Olive
can exist only in the vicinity of the sea ; yet it is found in the
centre of Spain, and in Mesopotamia, at the distance of a
hundred leagues from the shore. The trial should be made
in every place where its failure is not certain, and for this
purpose young grafted trees should be obtained from Europe,
and the formation of nurseries from the seed immediately
begun.
The Olive is perhaps the most valuable, but it is not the only,
accession that might be made to our vegetable kingdom, if a
more enterprising spirit prevailed in our husbandry, and if esta-
blishments were formed for the reception of exotic plants.
This important subject claims the attention of Government;
amid its labors for the promotion of commerce and manufac-
tures, why should not its fostering care be extended to agri-
culture ?
PLATE LXXXVII.
A branch with fruit and leaves of the natural size. Fig. 1. Flcnccrs of the
natural size. Fig. 2. A flower magnified. Fig. 3. A drupe with the
stone exposed.
Note. — The preceding article was written at the request of
Mr. Michaux, for whom I seize with pleasure an opportunity
of expressing my esteem. Justice obliges me to avow that it
has not had the benefit of his revision.
I have consulted the most judicious ancient and modern
PI. 86
Wild Cherry.
(e/'<t, r/<,s lurginuina .
WILD CHERRY TREE. 147
works, — Columella, Pliny, the New Duhamel, the Memoirs of
the Academy of Marseilles, &c, and have myself observed the
Olive in Provence.
Augustus L. Hillhouse,
Citizen of the United States.
[See Nuttall's Supplement, vol. ii. p. 132, where it is said that
the " cultivation of the Olive has been attended with the great-
est success in Upper California, and the olives produced are of
an excellent quality. It might also, no doubt, be cultivated in
the southeni part of the Oregon Territory. Around Santa Bar-
bara, the Olive Trees were in full flower in the latter end of
March and beginning of April, and put on the appearance of a
Willow grove. Forty barrels of these pickled olives were
shipped from St. Diego to Boston in the Alert, the vessel in
which I returned to the United States in 183G."]
WILD CHERRY TREE.
Cerasus Virginiana. C.foliis dcciduis, ovati-oblongis, acuminatis, serratis,
nitidis; racemis terminalibus, doagatis; fruciibiis globosis, nigris.
Icosandria lnonogynia. Linn. Rosacea). Juss.
The Wild Cherry Tree is one of the largest productions of
the American forests. Its wood is of an excellent quality and
elegant appearance, and is usefully employed in the arts. In
the Atlantic as well as in the Western States, this tree is known
only by the name which I have adopted. It is more or less
abundant as the soil and climate are more or less favorable to
its growth, to which the extremes of heat and cold in the
148 WILD CHERRY TREE.
seasons, and of dryness and humidity in the soil, are alike un-
propitious. Tims, in the district of Maine, where the winter is
long and intense, it hardly exceeds thirty or forty feet in height
and from eight to twelve inches in diameter; in the southern
and maritime parts of the Carolinas and of Georgia, where the
summer is intemperately hot, and where the soil is generally
arid and sandy, it is rarely seen, and, on the banks of rivers
where the ground is too wet, its dimensions are stinted ; but in
the upper part of these States, where the climate is milder and
the soil more fertile, it is sufficiently common, though less multi-
plied than in Virginia and Pennsylvania. It abounds also in
the Illinois country, in Genesee, and in Upper Canada, and
unites with the Overcup White Oak, the Black Walnut, the
Honey Locust, the Eed Elm, and the Coffee Tree, in the forests
which cover these fertile regions. But it is nowhere more pro-
fusely multiplied, nor more fully developed, than beyond the
mountains in the States of Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
On the banks of the Ohio, I have measured stocks which were
from twelve to sixteen feet in circumference and from eighty to
one hundred feet in stature, with the trunk of a uniform size
and undivided to the height of twenty-five or thirty feet.
The leaves of the Wild Cherry Tree are five or six inches
long, oval-acuminate, denticulated, of a beautiful, brilliant green,
and furnished at the base with two reddish glands. It is
remarked, in the neighborhood of inhabited places, that they are
peculiarly liable to be attacked by caterpillars.
The flowers are white, and collected in spikes, which have a
beautiful effect. The fruit is about the size of a pea, disposed
in the same manner as the flowers, and nearly black at its
maturity, soon after which, notwithstanding its bitterness, it is
devoured by the birds. It is sold in the markets of New York
and Philadelphia, and is employed to make a cordial, by infusion
in rum or brandy with the addition of a certain quantity of
siurar.
WILD CHERRY TREE. 149
The bark of this tree is so peculiar as to render it distinguish-
able at first sight, when from its height the form of its leaves
cannot be discerned. The trunk is regularly shaped, but the
bark is blackish and rough, and detaches itself semicircularly
in thick, narrow plates, which are renewed after a considerable
lapse of time.
The perfect wood is of a dull, light-red tint, which deepens
with age. It is compact, fine-grained, and brilliant, and not
liable to warp when perfectly seasoned. It is extensively em-
ployed in the small towns of the Middle and Western States
for every species of furniture ; and when chosen near the rami-
fication of the trunk it rivals mahogany in beauty. The Wild
Cherry Tree is generally preferred to the Black Walnut, whose
dun complexion with time becomes nearly black. Among the
trees that grow east of the Mississippi, it is the most eligible
substitute for mahogany. On the banks of the Ohio, at Pitts-
burg, Marietta, and Louisville, it is employed in ship-building;
and the French of Illinois are said to use it for the fellies of
wheels.
In the lumber-yards of New York and Philadelphia, Wild
Cherry wood is sold in planks of different thicknesses, which
are employed for bedsteads and other articles of furniture.
Planks are sent from Kentucky to New Orleans, where they are
also employed in cabinet-making.
The Wild Cherry Tree deserves a place in the forests of
Europe; and it is especially adapted to the northern depart-
ments of France, and to the country along the Ehine, which
are the most analogous to its native regions. To recommend its
propagation to the foresters of Europe is at the same time to
invite those of America to preserve it with care and to favor its
reproduction: they should leave on foot the old stocks of the
natural growth for the purpose of furnishing seed, and favor the
increase of the young trees by destroying those of other species
by which it might be impeded.
1G0 WILD ORANGE TREE.
PLATE LXXXVIII.
A branch with leaves and/mil of (he natural size.
[The bark is bitter and aromatic, its taste being strong, pene-
trating, and not disagreeable. It is undoubtedly a useful tonic,
and appears to possess, in some degree, narcotic and anti-
spasmodic properties. The latter quality is strongest in the
recent state of the bark, and in the distilled water. In Europe,
G. Virginiana is planted solely as an ornamental tree, and, as
such, deserves a place in every collection; and it should be
planted in every shrubbery where it is desirable to attract
frugivorous singing-birds.
Soil, Propagation, &c. It prefers a dry soil, but will grow in
almost any situation. The species is propagated by seeds.]
WILD ORANGE TREE.
Cerasus Caroliniaxa. C. foliis perennantibus, breviter petiohMs, laneco-
lato-oblongis, rnucronatis, lecvigalis, subcoriaceis, integris; raccmis axilla-
ribus, brcvibus ; fruclu subgloboso, acido, sub-exsuco.
Oris. Arbor forniosa, fastigiata ; ramis strictis; fructibus lucmc pcrsistcntibus.
Tins beautiful species of Cherry Tree was observed in the
Bahama Isles by Catesby, and subsequently by my father. On
the continent of North America it appears to be nearly confined
to the islands on the coast of the Carolinas, of Georgia, and of
the Floridas. Except the margin of the sea, it is rarely found
on the mainland, even at the distance of eight or ten miles from
the shore, where the temperature is five or six degrees colder
in the winter and proportionally milder in the summer.
PL A,
Wild Oi'.'uio'c.
( ('/tr.ru, i- t vr/'o/t'/iM/H
WILD ORANGE TREE. 151
This tree is known only by the name of Wild Orange Tree.
Its leaves are oval-acuminate, evergreen, smooth, and shining
on the upper surface, and about three inches in length. The
flowers are numerous, white, and arranged in little bunches an
inch or an inch and a half long, which spring at the base of the
leaf. The fruit is small, oval, and nearly black : it consists of a
soft stone surrounded with a small quantity of green, pulpy sub-
stance, which is not eatable. This fruit persists through a great
part of the following year, so that in the spring the tree is laden
at once with fruit and with flowers. The Wild Orange Tree
may be considered as one of the most beautiful vegetable pro-
ductions of this part of the United States, and it is selected
with the more reason by the inhabitants to plant about their
houses, as it grows with rapidity and affords an impenetrable
shade.
I have remarked that, of all the trees which grow naturally
in the Carolinas and in Georgia, the flowers of the Wild Orange
are preferred by bees.
It ramifies at a small height, and forms a spacious and tufted
summit, which is owing, perhaps, to its growing upon open
ground instead of being compressed in the forest and forced to
shoot upward in order to enjoy the light. The bark of the
trunk is of a dun complexion, and is commonly without
cracks.
The perfect wood is rose-colored and very fine-grained; but,
as this species is not extensively multiplied, I do not know
that it is appropriated to any use: there is the less occasion
for it, as other wood, in no respect inferior, is procured with
facility.
I have remarked in the bark of the roots a strong odor, re-
sembling that of the Wild Cherry stone : hence I presume tiiat
it would afford a fragrant spirituous liquor.
The only merit of this tree is its brilliant vegetation, which
renders it, when in bloom, one of the most beautiful productions
1.52 RED CHERRY TREE.
of the southern part of the United States. Too delicate to
support the winter of Paris, it would flourish in the open field
only in the southern departments of France and in Italy.
PLATE LXXXIX.
.1 brunch with leaves and flowers of the natural size, and fruit of the pre-
ceding year.
[The name of "Wild Orange Tree" would appear to he a
misnomer. It is called, in Loudon's "Arboretum," the Carolina
Bird Cherry.]
RED CHERRY TREE.
Cerasus eorealis. C. foliis ovcdi-oblongis, acuminatis, glabris; floribus
subcorymbosis ; fructibus nibris.
The Red Cherry is common only in the Northern States, and
in Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. It is rarely met
with in New Jersey and Pennsvlvania, and is wholly unknown
in the Southern States. In the district of Maine and in Ver-
mont, it is called Small Cherry and Red Cherry, — the last of
which denominations I have preferred.
The size of the Red Cherry places it among trees of the third
order : it rarely exceeds, and often does not equal, twenty-five or
thirty feet in height and six or eight inches in diameter. Its
leaves are five or six inches long, oval, denticulated, and very
acuminate. The flowers are collected in small, white bunches,
and give birth to a red fruit of inconsiderable size, which is ripe
H.J. ReJvufe J.J .
lied Cherrv.
luicls. C\ <\
LARGE BUCKEYE. 153
in the month of July. This fruit is intensely acid, and is not
abundant even on the largest trees.
The trunk is covered with a smooth, brown bark, which de-
taches itself laterally. The wood is fine-grained and of a reddish
hue; but the inferior size of the tree forbids its use in the
mechanical arts.
This species of Cherry Tree offers the same remarkable pecu-
liarity with the Canoe Birch, — of reproducing itself spontaneously
in cleared grounds, and in such parts of the forests as have been
burnt; which is observable in spots where fire has been kindled
by travellers.
Of all the native species of North America, the Red Cherry
Tree beai's the greatest analogy to the cultivated Cherry Tree
of Europe; hence it is the most proper for receiving grafts. It
has been found difficult to graft the European Cherry Tree upon
the Wild Cherry Tree.
PLATE XC.
A branch with fruit of the natural size. Fig. 1. A bunch of flowers.
LARGE BUCKEYE.
Pa via lutea. P. foliis quinatis, cegualiter serratis; corollis lutcis, tetra-
petalis, viscosis, clausis.
Heptandria rnonogynia. Linn. Acerae. Juss.
The Yellow Pavia, or Large Buckeye, is first observed on the
Alleghany Mountains in Virginia, near the 39th degree of lati-
tude; it becomes more frequent in following the chain toward
the southwest, and is most profusely multiplied in the moun-
154 LAKGE BUCKEYE.
tainous districts of the Carolinas and of Georgia. It abounds
also upon the rivers that rise beyond the mountains and flow
through the western part of Virginia, and the States of Kentucky
and Tennessee, to meet the Ohio. It is much less common along
the streams which have their source east of the Alleghanies,
and which, after watering the Carolinas and Georgia, empty
into the ocean. This species may be considered, then, as a
stranger to the Atlantic States, with the exception of a tract of
thirty or forty miles wide in the Southern States, as it were
beneath the shadow of the mountains. It is here called Big
Buckej'e, to distinguish it from Pavia rubra, which does not
exceed eight or ten feet in height, and which is called Small
Buckle.
I have seen no situation that appeared more favorable to the
Big Buekeje than the declivities of the lofty mountains of
North Carolina, and jiarticularly of the Greatfather Mountain,
the Iron Mountain, and the Black Mountain, where the soil is
generally loose, deep, and fertile. The coolness and humidity
which reign in these elevated regions appear likewise to be
necessary to its utmost expansion : it here towers to the height
of sixty or seventy feet, with a diameter of three or four feet,
and is considered as a certain proof of the richness of the land.
The leaves of this tree are united, to the number of five, at
the end of a common petiole of considerable length. They are
lanceolate, pointed at the summit, serrate, and slightly furrowed.
The flowers, of a light, agreeable yellow, are upright and dis-
posed in bunches at the end of the shoots of the same season.
The numerous bunches of flowers, contrasted with the fine
foliage, lend a highly-ornamental appearance to the tree. The
fruit is contained in a flesh} 7 , oval capsule, which is often
gibbous, and whose surface, unlike that of the Horse Chestnut
of Asia, and of the American Horse Chestnut, is smooth. Each
capsule contains two seeds, or chestnuts, of unequal size, flat
upon one side and convex on the other. They are larger and
LARGE BUCKEYE. 155
lighter-colored than those of the Common Horse Chestnut, and,
like them, are not eatable.
In 1808, I passed a great part of the summer with Messrs.
John and William Bartram, at their charming residence at
Kingsessing, on the banks of the Schuylkill, five miles from
Philadelphia, where they have collected a great variety of trees
from different parts of the United States and Europe. I re-
marked that the Large Buckeye was one of the earliest among
them to cast its leaves; they begin to fall about the 15th of
August, while the other Horse Chestnuts are still clothed with
their finest verdure. Its foliation and flowering are also tardy,
which is an essential defect in a tree whose only merit is its
beauty. The wood, from its softness and want of durability,
can subserve no useful purpose. Even in beauty, this species is
inferior to the Common Horse Chestnut, and can never supplant
that magnificent tree.
PLATE XCI.
A branch with leaves and flowers of the natural size. Fig. 1. Fruit begin-
ning to open. Fig. 2. A chestnut of the natural size.
[Soil, Projiagation, &c. Like all the iEsculacete, to thrive, it
requires a deep, rich soil. It is commonly propagated by buds,
because the color of the flower is found to vary much in plants
raised from seed.]
OHIO BUCKEYE,
AMERICAN HORSE CHESTNUT.
Pavia Ohioensis. P. foliis quinatis, incequaliier denlalis; floribas s%>
flavis; fructibus muricatis.
This species of Horse Chestnut, which is mentioned by no
author that has hitherto treated of the trees and plants of
North America, is unknown in the Atlantic parts of the United
States.* I have found it only beyond the mountains, and par-
ticularly on the banks of the Ohio for an interval of about one
hundred miles, between Pittsburg and Marietta, where it is ex-
tremely common. It is called Buckeye by the inhabitants ; but,
as this name has been given to the Pavia lutea, I have denomi-
nated it Ohio Buckeye, because it is most abundant on the banks
of this river, and have prefixed the synonym of American
Horse Chestnut, because it proved to be a proper Horse Chest-
nut by its fruit, which is prickly like that of the Asiatic spe-
cies, instead of being smooth like that of the Pavice.
The ordinary stature of the American Horse Chestnut is ten
or twelve feet ; but it sometimes equals thirty or thirty-five feet
in height and twelve or fifteen inches in diameter. The leaves
are palrnated, and consist of five leaflets parting from a common
centre, unequal in size, oval-acuminate, and irregularly toothed.
The entire length of the leaf is nine or ten inches, and its
breadth six or eight inches.
The bloom of this tree is brilliant : its flowers appear early
* [Since the above was written, this tree has been generally distributed in the
United States.]
156
Ohio Buck eye
Pavia ohwensur .
■/ ..'.7^.
/'/./A?-
<■:„:.■.■,,„>,
1 CI'SIIIIOIl .
/Jm.iyi/ro.y I inri/iiaiia
PERSIMMON. 157
in the spring, and are collected in numerous white bunches.
The fruit is of the same color with that of the Common Horse
Chestnut and of the Large Buckeye, and of about half the size :
it is contained in fleshy, prickly capsules, and is ripe in the
beginning of autumn.
On the trunk of the largest trees the bark is blackish, and
the cellular tissue is impregnated with a venomous and dis-
agreeable odor. The wood is white, soft, and wholly useless.
The value of the Ohio Buckeye or American Horse Chestnut
consists chiefly in the beauty of its flowers, which, with its
rapid vegetation and hardy endurance of cold, will bring it into
request both in Europe and America as an ornamental tree.
PLATE XCII.
A branch with leaves and flowers. Fig. 1. Fruit.
PERSIMMON.
DiosrYRos Virginiana. D. foliis long?, petiolaiis, oblongo-ovalibus, aeu-
minatis, subtics inibesccntibus.
Polygamia dicecia. Linn. Guaiacanre. Juss.
The banks of the river Connecticut, below the 4 2d degree of
latitude, may be considered as the northern limit of this tree ;
but it is rendered rare in these parts by the severity of the
winter ; while in the State of New Jersey, near the city of New
York, it is common, and still more so in Pennsylvania, Mary-
land, and the Southern States : it abounds, also, in the Western
forests. It is everywhere known to the Americans by the name
158 P E R S I M M N.
of Persimmon; the French call it Plaqueminier, and its fruit
plaquemines.
The Persimmon varies surprisingly in size in different soils
and climates. In the vicinity of New York, it is not more than
half as large as in the more Southern States, where, in favor-
able situations, it is sometimes sixty feet in height and eighteen
or twenty inches in diameter.
The leaves are from four to six inches in length, oblong,
entire, of a fine green above and glaucous beneath : in the fall
they are often variegated with black spots. The terminal shoots
are observed to be usually accompanied, at the base, by small,
rounded leaves.
This tree belongs to the class of vegetables whose sexes are
confined to different stocks. Both the barren and fertile flowers
are greenish, and not strikingly apparent. The ripe fruit is
about as large as the thumb, of a reddish complexion, round,
fleshy, and furnished with six or eight semi-oval stones slightly
swollen at the sides and of a dark purple color. It is not eat-
able till it has felt the first frost, by which the skin is shri-
velled, and the pulp, which before was hard and extremely
harsh to the taste, is softened and rendered palatable. The
fruit is so abundant that in the Southern States a tree often
yields several bushels, and even in New Jersey I have seen the
branches of stocks not more than seven or eight feet in height
bent to the ground by their burden. In the South it adheres to
the branches long after the shedding of the leaf, and when it
falls it is eagerly devoured by wild and domestic animals. In
Virginia, the Carolinas, and the Western States, it is sometimes
gathered up, pounded with bran, and formed into cakes which
are dried in the oven and kept to make beer, for which purpose
they are dissolved in warm water, with the addition of hops
and leaven. It was long since found that brandy might be
made from this fruit by distilling the water, previously fer-
mented, in which they had been bruised. This licpior is said
PERSIMMON. 159
to become good as it acquires age : but it will be impossible to
derive profit from the Persimmon in these modes ; and, in the
country where it is the most abundant, a few farmers only em-
ploy its fruit occasionally for their households. The Apple Tree
and the Peach Tree are far more advantageous, as their growth
is more rapid and their produce more considerable.
The trunk of the full-grown Persimmon is covered with a
deeply-furrowed, blackish bark. The fresh sap is of a greenish
color, which it preserves after it is seasoned, and the heart is
brown, hard, compact, strong, and elastic ; I have been told,
however, that it is liable to split. At Baltimore, it is used by
turners for large screws, and by tinmen for mallets. At Phila-
delphia, shoe-lasts are made of it equal to those of Beech, which
is usually preferred. In Carolina, the negroes employ it for
large wedges, with which, aided by those of iron, they split the
trunks of trees. I have been assured by coach-makers in
Charleston that they had employed it for the shafts for chaises,
and found it preferable to the Ash and to every other species of
wood except the Lancewood of the West Indies, and that the
difficulty of procuring stocks of the proper size alone prevented
it being more frequently applied to this use : in truth, though
it is common in the woods, it is usually of inconsiderable dimen-
sions.
Such are the particulars with which I have become acquainted
concerning the wood of the Persimmon. Its properties appear
not to be distinctly ascertained nor generally recognised ; they
are such, however, as to deserve the attention of persons whose
object is a practical knowledge of the trees of the United States.
I have heard it asserted by farmers in Virginia, that the grass
is more vigorous beneath the Persimmon than under any other
tree, and this fact is attributed to the speedy decay of its leaves,
which form an excellent manure. In an ancient periodical
work printed at Philadelphia, I find that the English govern-
ment, in the years 1762 and 1763, offered a premium of twenty
ICO PERSIMMO N.
pounds sterling for every fifty pounds of gum collected from the
Persimmon in their American Colonies. They were doubtless
misinformed on this subject : a greenish gum, without taste or
smell, exudes from the tree; but, in several hundred experi-
ments, I have not been able, by wounding the bark, to collect
more than two scruples from a single stock.
Breckel, in his " History of North Carolina," says that the inner
bark has been used with success in intermittent fever. The
fact remains to be verified ; I have not had an opportunity of
proving it by my own observations nor by authentic report, but
it is rendered in some degree probable by the extreme bitter-
ness of the bark.
The inhabitants of the Southern States have very properly
preserved the Persimmon in clearing the forests. Its fruit
might, without doubt, be doubled in size by attentive cultiva-
tion. As the tree is dioecious, care must be taken to procure
stocks of both sexes. The root runs to a great distance, and
produces a numerous family of sprouts.
The Persimmon grows perfectly well, and even yields fruit in
the climate of Paris ; but farther south it would succeed still
better. Its propagation may be recommended for the sake
both of its fruit and of its wood.
Observation. Dr. B. S. Barton, Professor of Botany and Ma-
teria Medica in the University of Pennsylvania, believes the
Persimmon of the Southern States to be a distinct species from
that of New Jersey. He grounds this opinion upon the fact
that the leaves of the Virginia Persimmon are one-half larger
and slightly downy beneath, and the fruit one-half smaller,
with flat instead of convex stones. I am disposed to admit the
distinction, but am not prepared to adopt it with confidence.
I have always ascribed the difference to climate, which, as Ave
have had occasion to remark, has so extraordinary an influence
on the development of other trees, that are common to different
J^,(?4
P.J.AaLnUr M
( arolinian Poplar
PopuIu,rAnai</<rfa
CAROLINIAN POPLAR. 161
parts of the United States. I leave the difficulty, however, to
be resolved by more accomplished botanists, simply observing
that the two varieties are similar in their general appearance
and in the properties of their wood and fruit.
PLATE XCIII.
A branch icith leaves of (he natural size. Fig. 1. Fruit of the natural
size. Fig. 2. A seed.
[The Persimmon is said to have been improved by cultiva-
tion in France, so much so as to become a very desirable fruit.
It was the opinion of the Abbe Corea de Serra that it deserves
more attention than it has yet received. It is to be hoped that
some of our propagators will make efforts to include it in their
lists of desirable fruits. The tree may safely be included among
the ornamental.]
CAROLINIAN POPLAR.
Populus anqulata. P. arbor maxima; ramis acutangulis ; foliis del-
to'ideis, serratis ; junior ibus amplissimis, cordatis ; gemmis viridibus, non
resi7iosis.
Dioecia polyandria. Linn. Amentacea3. Juss.
The lower part of Virginia is the most northern point at
which I have found this species of Poplar, and here it is less
common than in the two Carolinas, in Georgia, and Lower
Louisiana. It grows of preference on the marshy banks of the
great rivers which traverse these States, and is peculiarly abun-
dant on the Mississippi, from the ocean to the mouth of the
162 CAROLINIAN POPLAR.
Missouri, and along the Missouri for 100 miles from the junction
of these streams, which, in following their windings, is a distance
of 1500 miles. In the swamps, the Carolinian Poplar is accom-
panied by the Cypress, Large Tupelo, Red-flowering Maple,
Water Hickory, Over-cup Oak, Cotton Wood, and Cotton Tree.
Among the numerous species of Poplar found in the United
States, this is one of the most remarkable for its size, being
sometimes eighty feet high, with a proportional diameter, and an
expansive summit, garnished with beautiful foliage.
The leaves, from the moment of their unfolding, are smooth
and brilliant, but they differ w r idely in conformation at different
ages of the plant: on sprouts and young stocks they are seven
or eight inches long, as much in breadth in the widest part,
heart-shaped, and rounded at the base, with the principal ribs
of a reddish color; on trees exceeding five or six inches in diar
meter and thirty or forty feet in height, they are only one-fourth
as large, particularly on the higher branches, and their base is
nearly straight, and at right angles with the petiole. These
leaves are thin, smooth, of a fine green tint, marked with yel-
lowish nerves and edged with obtuse teeth, which are finer
toward the summit and coarser near the base. The long petiole
compressed in the upper part renders them easily agitated by
the wind.
On sprouts and j'oung stocks the annual shoots are very thick,
distinctly striated, and of a green complexion spotted with white;
on branches of the second, third, and even of the seventh or
eighth year, the traces of the furrows are still observable: they
are indicated by prominent red lines in the bark, terminating at
the insertion of the young shoots, which ultimately disappear
with the growth of the branches. This character belongs also
to the Cotton Tree; but, besides the difference of their general
appearance, the two species are distinguished by their buds;
those of the Carolinian Poplar are short, of a deep green, and
destitute of the resinous, aromatic substance which covers those
CAROLINIAN POPLAR. 163
of the Cotton Wood, and of which the vestiges remain till late
in the season.
The wood of the Carolinian Poplar is white, soft, and con-
sidered as unfit for use in its native country. This stately tree
was introduced many years ago into Europe, where it is justly
esteemed as an ornamental vegetable by the amateurs of foreign
plants. In the climate of Paris, its terminal branches are liable,
in rigorous seasons, to be destroyed by the frost.
In the "North American Flora," my father has confounded
the Carolinian Poplar and the Cotton Wood. The two species
agree in the angular form of their trunk, but they differ in
other respects, which I have particularly mentioned.
PLATE XCIV.
A leaf of the natural size from the middle of a large tree. Fig. 1. A portion
of an annual shoot. Fig. 2. A -piece of the bark from a branch of the
third year.
[All the species of Poplar are deciduous trees, mostly grow-
ing rapidly and to a large size; the Poplar is dioecious, and the
catkins of the males of most of the species are very ornamental,
from the red tinge of their anthers, and from their being pro-
duced very early in the spring, when the trees are leafless. The
females of all the species have their seeds enveloped in abun-
dance of cottony down ; this, when ripe, and the seeds are shed,
adheres to every object near it, and is so like cotton-wool in
appearance and quality, that it has been manufactured into
cloth and paper. The tremulous motion of the leaves, which is
common in a greater or less degree to all the Poplars, proceeds
from the great length of the petioles in proportion to the size
and weight of the leaves to which they are attached. The
Poplars are all readily propagated by cuttings or layers, and some
of them by suckers ; they all like a moist soil, particularly when
it is near a running stream; but none of them thrive in marshy
164 COTTON WOOD.
or undried soil. On very dry ground the leaves of the Poplars
grow yellow and fall off much sooner than when they are
planted in a more congenial soil ; from their rapid growth and
great bulk, they are liable to have their branches broken off by
the wind, when the rain enters, and the trunk soon rots and
becomes the prey of insects.
See Nuttall's Supplement, vol. i. p. G7, et seq.]
COTTON WOOD.
Populus Canandexsis. P. foliis magnis lato-cordalis, crenatis, glabris ;
basi glandulosis ; ramis angulaiis in adultis.
This species, like the Virginian Poplar, has long been known
in Europe. It was probably introduced into France from Ca-
nada; such at least is the origin indicated by the name Canadian
Poplar. I have found tins tree in the upper part of the State
of New York, on the banks of the river Genesee which empties
into Lake Ontario in the 43d degree of latitude, in some
parts of Virginia, and on several islands of the Ohio. I have
everywhere seen it on the mai'gin of rivers, in a fat, unctuous
soil, exposed to inundation at their overflowing in the spring.
It is never met with on the skirts of swamps and in other wet
grounds in the forests. On the banks of the Genesee, where
the winter is as rigorous as in the north of Germany, the Cotton
Wood is seventy or eighty feet high and three or four feet in
diameter.
The remarks communicated to me by M. De Foucault, who
has long cultivated this tree and studied it with more minute
attention than myself, agree perfectly with the result of my
( otton Wood.
/!>/>/{///,t- Canadensis.
Oizhrte/ Jctuv.
COTTON WOOD. m r ,
own observations in the country of its natural growth. "The
leaves," says M. De Foucault, "are deltoid, or trowel-shaped,
approaching to cordiform, always longer than they are broad,
glabrous, and unequally toothed; the petioles are compressed
and of a yellowish green, with two glands of the same color as
the base; the branches are angular, and the angles form whitish
lines, which persist even in the adult age of the tree. Every
soil does not suit the Cotton Wood ; in compact argillaceous
lands it grows less kindly than the Virginian Poplar.
"The Virginian Poplar is justly preferred as a useful tree,
not only because it is less difficult in the choice of soil, but
because it is superior in height: the elevation of the Cotton
Wood is repressed by the frequent ramification of its limbs near
the trunk, and if the lower limbs are lopped away the same
form is assumed by those above.
" The Cotton Wood is a more picturesque tree than the Vir-
ginian Poplar, particularly when growing on the sides of rivers.
Its trunk is very plainly sulcated even in its old age. It is less
so, indeed, than the Carolinian Poplar, but far more so than the
Virginian Poplar, whose trunk is rounder and summit more
spherical; hence the two species are easily distinguished. The
Cotton Wood, also, acquires a superior bulk."
The female aments are six or eight inches long, flexible, and
pendulous. The seeds are surrounded with a beautiful plume
which has the whiteness of cotton, and the young buds are
coated with a resinous, aromatic substance of an agreeable odor.
In the Atlantic States, this Poplar is rare, and has received no
specific name. It appears, on the contrary, to be common on
the banks of the Mississippi above the river of the Arkansas,
and on the Missouri and its tributary streams. It is doubtless
the Poplar designated by the name of Cotton Wood, and men-
tioned so frequently by Gass, who accompanied Lewis and Clark
to the Western Ocean, and by Pike in his interesting account of
the northern part of New Spain. Often, say these travellers,
166 COTTON WOOD.
it is the only tree seen growing on the sides of the rivers. The
Mandans, who live 1500 miles from the mouth of the Missouri,
feed their horses during the winter with its young shoots. The
excessive cold experienced in these regions sufficiently proves
that the Cotton Wood is not the same tree with the Carolinian
Poplar, whose annual shoots freeze every year with a degree of
cold much less intense. The Americans of Upper Louisiana, it
is true, confound the two species because they are found growing
in company on the banks of the Mississippi ; but the Carolinian
Poplar, which is more abundant than the other in Lower Loui-
siana, where the temperature of the winter is too mild for snow,
disappears on the Missouri at the distance of 100 miles from its
junction with the Mississippi.
PLATE XCV.
Leaves of the natural size taken from a large tree. Fig. 1. Part of a branch
of two years' growth.
[The Canadian Poplar is propagated by cuttings of the young
wood, about eighteen inches long, put in during autumn; the
shoots produced from these cuttings are always curved at the
lower extremity, though in a few years this curvature entirely
disappears. The fine Poplar avenues in the lower parts of the
gardens at Versailles are formed of this species.
See Nuttall's Supplement, vol. i. p. 70.]
* ■>/»'
American I'lacL I oplai
' opiifn.i- Uutx.foniCft .
•.• \ irsi'iuiau 1 'oi)l.ii -
/)}///(//,;>• mo/in ' \
AMERICAN BLACK POPLAR.
Populus Hudsonica. P. mmulis junioribus pilosis ; foliis dcniatis, con-
spind acumitanis.
I have found the American Black Poplar only on the banks
of the river Hudson, above Albany; but I presume that it grows
also in the provinces of Canada, which I have never visited.
The stocks which I have observed were insulated, and conse-
quently spread into a diffuse summit; hence I was unable to
determine the stature of this tree when confined in the forest,
but their size, which was thirty or forty feet in height and twelve
or fifteen inches in diameter, sufficiently proves that it surpasses
the American Aspen and the Large Aspen.
The bark of the young branches is of a grayish white, and
the buds, which spring from the bosom of the leaves, are of a
dark brown. One of the distinctive characters of this species is
the hairiness of the young shoots and of the petioles in the
spring, which is perceptible, also, on the back of the young
leaves. The leaves are smooth, of a beautiful green color, den-
ticulated, rounded in the middle, and acutely tapering toward
the summit. When fully developed, they are a little more than
three inches long, about two inches broad, and, unlike the leaves
of trees in general, they exhibit nearly the same shape from the
moment of their unfolding. The aments of this Poplar are
four or five inches long, and destitute of the hairs which sur-
round those of several other species.
As this tree is rare in the United States, and as I have
observed it only on the banks of the Hudson, where it is never
used, I can afford no information concerning the quality of its
wood; but, if we may judge from its appearance, it is inferior
to the Virginian and Lombardy Poplars.
167
1G8 VIRGINIAN POPLAR.
Sevor.il large trees of this species are seen growing in New
York, near the Park, which are called American Black Poplars.
TLATE XCYI.
Fit/. 1. Leaves of the American Black Poplar.
VIRGINIAN POPLAR.
Populus monilifera. P. foliis dcUouleis, glabris, crenalis, petiolis aspice
compressis, in aclultis ramis terclibus.
Though this tree has been found neither by my father and
myself, nor by several learned English botanists, who like us
have traversed the Atlantic and a great part of the Western
States in every direction, I have thought proper to describe it,
because it may possibly be indigenous to some part of the United
States which we have not visited, and because, on account of
its rapid growth, it deserves the attention of the Americans.
It has been cultivated in Europe for many years, and is uni-
versally considered as a native of North America. It is called
Virginian Poplar and Swiss Poplar; the last of which denomi-
nations is owing only to its being abundantly multiplied in
Switzerland.
The Virginian or Swiss Poplar is sixty or seventy feet high,
with a proportional diameter. Its trunk is cylindrical, and not
sulcated like that of the aged Lombardy Poplar, and the bark
upon old stocks is blackish. The leaves are nearly as long as
they are broad, slightly heart-shaped, compressed toward the
summit, obtusely denticulated, and borne by long petioles. On
large trees their mean length is from two and a half to three
VIRGINIAN POPLAE. 109
inches, but they vary in size, being twice as large on the lower
limbs, and on young stocks growing in moist places. On trees
equally vigorous and nourished by the same soil, the leaves of
this species are observed to be only half as large as those of the
Cotton Wood and Carolinian Poplar.
In France we have only the male of this Poplar, which is
propagated by slips. On the young Virginian Poplar, as on the
Cotton Wood and Carolinian Poplars, the annual shoots are
angular, and this form subsists during the second and third
years on vigorous stocks in a humid soil : on trees which are
already twenty or thirty feet high, and which grow on dry and
elevated lands, the young branches are perfectly round; but in
the other species they always retain the angular shape during
several years.
As the Swiss Poplar has been and is still confounded with
the Cotton Wood, I shall succinctly state the characters which
distinguish them, according to the observations of M. De Fou-
cault, a Director of the Imperial Administration of the Waters
and Forests, eminently distinguished by his knowledge of botany
applied to this branch of economy. He remarks that the leaves
of the Virginian Poplar are much smaller and less distinctly
heart-shaped; the young shoots are smaller and less angular,
and on high grounds those of the third year are even cylindrical ;
the limbs also diverge less widely from the trunk. M. De Fou-
cault adds that the wood of the Swiss Poplar is softer than that
of the Cotton Wood, but that its growth is more rapid, and that
it prospers in a less humid soil. This last consideration explains
the profusion with which it is multiplied throughout France,
where it is found to yield a more speedy and more abundant
product than the Lombardy Poplar.
PLATE XCVI.
Fig. 2. Virginian or Swiss Poplar.
11.— n*
170 COTTON TREE.
[Tins tree is called the Necklace-bearing or Black Italian
Poplar. In Great Britain it attains the height of 100 and even
1 20 feet.]
COTTON TREE.
I'opulus arqentea. P. rawulis teretibus ; foliis amplis, shut parvo cor-
datis, obiusis, levitcr dentatis, junioribus tomentosis.
Tins species is scattered over a great extent of country, com-
prising the Middle, Western, and Southern States. But it is so
rare as to escape the notice of the greater part of the inhabit-
ants, and it has received a sj)ecific name only on the banks of
the river Savannah in Georgia, where it is called Cotton Wood.
The same denomination is applied also to the Carolinian Poplar
which grows in the same place.
A swamp in New Jersey near the North River, about, two
miles above Weehawken Ferry, and not far from the city of New
York, is the most northern point at which I have observed this
tree. I have met with it, too, in Virginia, but less commonly
than on the banks of some of the rivers which traverse the
maritime parts of the more southern States. My father appears
to have found it still more abundant in the Western Country.
Among other places, he particularly mentions the environs of
Fort Massac, situated on the Ohio near its junction with the
Mississippi, and a swamp of more than six miles in diameter,
which are entirely covered with it : this swamp is about thirty
miles from the river Wabash, on the road from Kaskaskia to
the Illinois.
This is a towering tree, which sometimes equals seventy or
eighty feet in height and two or three feet in diameter. On
PI.Q-.
Cotton Cree .
X
COTTON TREE. 171
trunks of these dimensions the bark is very thick and deeply
furrowed. The young branches and the annual shoots are
round, instead of being angular like those of the Carolinian
Poplar and of the Cotton wood. The leaves, while very young,
are covered with a thick, white down, which gradually disap-
pears, leaving them perfectly smooth above and slightly downy
beneath. They are borne by long petioles, are often six inches
in length and as much in breadth, of a thick texture, denticu-
lated and heart-shaped, with the lobes of the base lapped so as
to conceal the junction of the petiole. The aments are droop-
ing and about three inches long, or only half as long as those
of the Carolinian Poplar.
The wood of the Cotton Tree is soft, light, unfit for use, and
inferior, in my opinion, to that of the White Poplar and of the
Virginian and Lombardy Poplars. The heart is yellowish, in-
clining to red, and the young branches are filled with a pith of
the same color.
This tree flourishes in France; but it is to be regretted that
the quality of its wood does not correspond to the interest
inspired by its elevated stature and beautiful foliage.
PLATE XCVII.
A leaf of half the natural size. Fig. 1. A small branch with leaves a few
days after their unfolding.
TACAMAHACA, or BALSAM POPLAR.
Populus balsamifera. P. foliis orato-lanceolatis sarcitis, subttis albidis,
stipulis resinosis.
This species of Poplar belongs to the northern regions of
Amei'ica to which I have not extended my researches. My
father, who traversed Lower Canada, and particularly the coun-
try lying between Quebec and Hudson's Bay, found the Balsam
Poplar very abundant on the shores of Lake St. John, and in all
the districts watered by the river Saguenai, between the 47th
and 49th degrees of latitude. Notwithstanding the severity of
the winter, it rises to the height of eighty feet with a diameter
of three feet. It is multiplied at Tadousack and Malabaie near
the river St. Lawrence, but, in approaching Montreal, it becomes
less common, and is rare on the shores of Lake Champlain.
Such are nearly its northern and southern limits.
In the spring, when the buds begin to be developed, they are
abundantly coated with a yellowish, glutinous substance, of a
very agreeable smell; and, though this exudation diminishes at
the approach of summer, the buds retain a strong balsamic odor.
The leaves are borne on long, round petioles, and are of a lan-
ceolate-oval form, of a deep-green color above and of a rusty
silvery-white beneath.
The wood of this tree is white and soft, and is not used by
the Canadians.
PLATE XCVIII.
Fiij. 1. A branch of the natural size from a large tree.
[This is one of the hardiest of the Poplars, though not of
very rapid growth, except during the first three or four years in
172
PLofi.
r " /""■''
1 balsam I oiunr.
/ \ it '/; in. i ■ Bill, i ■<i/ii i/i '."ti
oai'l I leaved llalsniu I'oplar.
HE ART- LEAVED BALSAM POPLAR. 173
the nursery. In " Franklin's First Journey," it is stated that it
is found as far north as the Great Slave Lake, and that Macken-
zie River has been named Riviere aux Liards, from the abun-
dance of the tree in that quarter. "It also constituted," says
Captain Franklin, "the greatest part of the drift-timber that
we observed on the shores of the Arctic Sea." Franklin says it
yields a large quantity of potash. Pallas states that the grouse
and other birds of that family, that feed on the buds of this
Poplar during winter, have their flesh imbued with a grateful
balsamic flavor. It is readily propagated by suckers, which it
sends up in abundance ; or by cuttings, which, however, do not
strike as those of other Poplars. It will grow in any soil ; but
it prefers one moist and rich, and a sheltered situation.
See Nuttall's Supplement, vol. i. p. 70.]
HEART-LEAVED BALSAM POPLAR.
Popdlus candicans. P. folds cordatis ; pctiolis Mrsutis; stipules resino-
sis ; ramis teretibus.
In the States of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New
Hampshire, this tree, which is a genuine Balsam Poplar, is
commonly seen growing before the houses, both in the towns
and in the country, less as an ornament than as a shelter from
the sun. I have never found it in the forests of these States,
where, if it exists, it must be extremely rare; nor have I dis-
covered whence it was first introduced. This species differs
very evidently from the preceding : its leaves are three times as
large, perfectly heart-shaped, and often they have hairy petioles .
but in both species the leaves are of the same color, and pre-
174 IIE ART-LEAVED BALSAM POPLAR.
serve, at all stages of their growth, the same shape, which is
invariable upon young sprouts and upon old trees.
The buds of this species, like those of the Balsam Poplar,
are covered in the spring with a resinous balsamic substance of
an agreeable odor.
The Heart-leaved Balsam Poplar attains the height of forty or
fifty feet with a diameter of eighteen or twenty inches. The trunk
is clad in a smooth, greenish bark, and the wood is soft and unfit
for use. The foliage is tufted and of a dark-green tint, but the
irregular disposition of the branches gives an inelegant appear-
ance to the tree. In the spring the ripe seeds, garnished with
down, are borne by the wind into the houses, and alight upon
the furniture and upon the food; for this reason some persons
have substituted for this species the Lombardy Poplar, a pic-
turesepje tree in every respect superior to it, whose limbs are
compressed about the trunk so as not to interfere with the walls
nor to obstruct the windows.
PLATE XCVIII.
Fig. 2. A branch of the natural size from a large tree.
[This tree throws its roots to a very great distance. An
instance is mentioned by Emerson where they passed beneath a
house forty feet wide, and threw up suckers on the other side.
Its agreeable fragrance in the early spring makes it desirable
near habitations; but the abundant cotton of the female aments,
and the appearance of the aments themselves, not unlike a large
caterpillar, on the ground, constitute an objection.
It is called Ontario Poplar by some, and is the Balsam Poplar
of the Northern States.]
PL*
■ American Aspen
Popu/ii.t franuloii
American Larg-e Aspen
' ' wilt,? ,'r, ;/,■<;'/, /,7/,'a .
AMERICAN ASPEN.
Populus tremuloides. P. foliis subcordcitis, abrupte acuminatis, serru-
latis ; margine pubescentibus.
Tins species of Poplar is common in the northern and middle
sections of the United States, and, from my father's manuscript
notes, appears to be still more abundant in Lower Canada. In
the vicinity of New York and Philadelphia, where I have par-
ticularly observed it, I have remarked that it prefers open lands
of a middling quality. Its ordinary height is about twenty feet,
and its diameter five or six inches. The bark of the trunk is
greenish and smooth, except on the base of the oldest trees,
where it becomes furrowed.
The American Aspen blooms about the 20th of April, ten
days or a fortnight before the birth of the leaves. The aments,
which spring from the extremity of the branches, are composed
of silky plumes, and are of an oval form and about an inch in
length. The leaves are about two inches broad, narrowed at
the summit, and supported by long petioles; they are of a dark-
green color, and, in the spring, their nerves are reddish: on
stocks of seven or eight feet in height, they are nearly round,
and are bordered with obtuse, irregular teeth; on young shoots,
they are twice this size, heart-shaped, and acuminate at the
summit. Of all the American Poplars, this species has the
most tremulous leaves; the gentlest air suffices to throw them
into agitation.
The wood of the American Aspen is light, soft, destitute of
strength, and of no utility. These defects are not even com-
pensated by an ample size and rapid growth, and the tree is so
much neglected that it is felled only to disencumber lands that
are clearing for cultivation. It is greatly inferior to several
1/5
176 AMERICAN LARGE AS REN.
species of the same genus, such, for examine, as the Virginian
Poplar, which is three times as large, more rapid in its growth,
and of a more pleasing appearance.
Observation. Since the publication of the French edition of
this work, I have been informed that the wood of the American
Aspen has been successfully divided into very thin laminae, for
the fabrication of women's hats. These hats were for a short
time fashionable in several towns of the United States.
PLATE XCIX.
Fig. 1. A leaf of the natural size. 2. An anient.
AMERICAN LARGE ASPEN.
Populus graxdidextata. P. peiiolis superne compressis ; foliis sub-
rotundo-ovalibus, acuminatis ; utringue glabris, incequaliter sinuato-grandi-
dentatis ; junioribus villosis.
The American Large Aspen belongs rather to the Northern
and Middle than to the Southern States, in the upper parts
only of which it is found. In the north of the United States,
this Poplar, though not one of the most rare is not one of the
most common trees, and is so thinly scattered over the face of
the country that sometimes not a single stock is met with by
the traveller for several da}"S. For this reason, probably, it has
hitherto been confounded by the inhabitants with the preceding
species, which is more multiplied : as it surpasses the Aspen in
height, I have given it the name of Large Aspen.
It grows as favorably on uplands as on the borders of swamps.
AMERICAN LARGE ASPEN. 177
It is about forty feet high, ten or twelve inches in diameter, and
its straight trunk is covered with a smooth, greenish bark, which
is rarely cracked. Its branches are few and scattered : they
ramify and become charged with leaves only near the extremity,
so that the interior of the summit is void, and of an ungraceful
appearance.
At their unfolding in the spring, the leaves are covered with
a thick, white down, which disappears with their growth, so
that at the beginning of summer they are perfectly smooth.
The full-formed leaf is nearly round, two or three inches in
width, smooth on both sides, and bordered with large teeth,
from which is derived the Latin specific name of grandidentata,
given to this species by my father in his "Flora Boreali Ameri-
cana." The flowers compose aments about six inches long, which
appear in the infancy of the leaves, and which, at this period,
are thickly coated with down.
The wood is light, soft, and unequal to that of the Virginian
and Lombardy Poplars ; the tree, also, is inferior to these species
in size, and in the rapidity of its growth. It thus appears to
promise no advantage to the arts, and to be valuable only for
its agreeable foliage. While it is less than fifteen feet in
height it has a pleasing appearance, and it is entitled to a place
in ornamental gardens.
PLATE XCIX.
Fig. 1. A leaf of the natural size. 2. A fertile ament with young leaves.
Vol. II.— 12
COMMON WHITE OR GRAY POPLAR.
Populus canescens. P. foliis subrotundis, angulalo-dentatis, subtomentoso-
cinerescentibus ; amenlis cylindraceis, laxis.
The Poplars of the Old Continent are less numerous than
those of America. The largest among them are the Great
White Poplar and the Common White Poplar, which were for a
long time confounded, and which have been distinguished only
within forty years by the characters of their leaves.
In the "/Species Plantarum" Willdenow thus designates the
first of these trees: — Populus alba: foliis cordato-subrotundis,
lobatis, dentatis, subtus tomentoso-nivies ; amentis ovatis._ In this
description, a shorter and more oval ament forms the peculiar
character of the fructification : but the principal difference is in
the leaves; those of the Great White Poplar are larger, and
have the lower surface constantly whitened with thick down.
To this tree must be referred the allusions of the poets to
the Poplar of Hercules : — Populus Alcidce gratissima. It is less
common in France and in England than the White or Gray
Poplar, and is inferior in size and in the quality of its wood.
The Gray Poplar, PcupUer grisaille, is one of the largest trees
of the Old World : it rises to the height of ninety or one hundred
feet, with a diameter of five or six feet. On aged trees the bark
is thick and deeply furrowed, and on younger stocks it is smooth
and greenish. The leaves vary in size, shape, and color, accord-
ing to the age of the tree and the nature of the soil : in moist
grounds they are larger and more downy, and on the summit of
old trees they are smooth, round, and toothed.
Like other Poplars, this species grows more rapidly in moist
grounds ; but it is proved to accommodate itself the most easily
to a variety of soils. I remember near the bouse in which I
178
Common White or Grey Poplar
Papithis canejcens .
COMMON WHITE OR GRAY POPLAR. 179
was bom, in the vicinity of Versailles, an avenue of these trees
which were planted in the reign of Louis XIV., and which, in
1792, when they were felled, were from ninety to one hundred
feet in height and from four to six feet in diameter.
The wood is superior to that of the other species in white-
ness, in fineness, and in strength ; it gives a firmer hold to nails,
and is not liable to warp and split. In England and Belgium,
it is commonly used by turners for bowls, trays, &c. In tbe
south of France it is employed for the floors and wainscots of
bouses, and in Paris for the cases in which goods are packed for
exportation.
The Gray Poplar, therefore, should be preferred in our forests,
though its growth is not the most rapid. It may be multiplied
by slips or by suckers, which are transplanted the fourth or
fifth year, or by branches six or seven feet long and three inches
in diameter, which do not require to be removed. Tbe larger
end of the branch should be cut obliquely, so as to expose the
bark for the length of five or six inches, and set in a moist, cool
soil, in a hole eighteen inches deep. When the branch is severed
from the tree, it should be placed in water till it is set in the
ground. The most favorable season for forming the plantation
is the autumn or the beginning of spring. When slips are sent
to a distance, they should be enveloped in wet moss.
The superior size and majestic form of the Common "White
Poj^ar, its rapid growth, and the varied and useful applications
of its wood, cause it to be highly esteemed in Europe, and enable
me to recommend it with confidence to the inhabitants of North
America. East of the river Connecticut, there is no tree with
light and tender wood that unites these advantages. Among
the Poplars of Europe and America, this species is the best sub-
stitute for the Tulip Tree, which is rare in the northern part of
the United States, and whose reproduction will probably be
attended with difficulties that do not accompany the propagation
of the Common White Poplar.
ISO COMMON WHITE OR GRAY POPLAR,
PLATE C.
A branch with leaves of the natural size. Fig. 1. A leaf from a sjirout at
the foot of an old tree.
[See NuttalTs Supplement, vol. i. p. 71.]
[Poplars. This tribe is a rapid-growing one, and hence a
favorite with persons who require immediate effect and even
utility; but all the species, being short-lived when compared
with Oaks, Elms, and other slow-growing, hard- wooded trees,
confer a temporary, premature character on landscape, for
nothing can be great or lasting but what advances by degrees.
In ancient times, the public places of Eome were decorated
with rows of Poplar; whence it came to be called arbor populi,
as being a tree peculiarly appropriated to the people.
In Italy, the wood of P. dilatata is considered peculiarly
adapted for packing-boxes; nails do not split it; and, if cases of
this wood fall or are thrown carelessly on the ground, it gives
way a little, and returns to its former position without splitting,
which oak and other heavy woods will not do. In Lombardy, all
the vessels in which the grapes are carried home in carts from
the vineyards are of poplar plank about two inches thick, and
in them the grapes are squeezed. Such vessels last thirty or
forty years, and by their lightness are manageable, however
large and long.
The conical form of the Lombardy Poplar, as a deciduous
tree, is peculiar; the Cypi'ess partakes of the same character,
and both, in many situations, have a good effect.]
END OF VOL. II.
