New York State College of Agriculture At Cornell University Ithaca, N, Y. Library Cornell University Library QK 484.M4E4 A report on the trees and shrubs growing 3 1924 001 309 537 R'p "p r\ "O rp ON THE TREES AND SHRUBS GROWING NATURALLY IN THE FORESTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. PUBLISHED AGREEABLY TO AN ORDER OF THE I.EOISI:. ATURE, BY THE COMMXSSIONEKS ON THE ZOOLOGICAL AND BOTANICAL SURVEY OP THE STATE. DUTTON AND WENTWORTH, STATE PRINTERS, No. 37; Congress Street. 1846. To Hib Excellency Gov. BRieefc. : Dear Sir, — The accompanying Report concludes the work of the Com- missioners on the Zoological and Botanical Survey of the State. It has been prepared with especial reference to the instructions of Gov. Everettj accompanying his commission, and dn-ecting the Commissioners "to keep carefully in view the economical relations of every subject of their inquiry." I trust it may do something "to promote the agricultural benefit of the Common- wealth," by leading citizens who are land owners to a consider- ation of the importance of continuingj improving, and enlarging the forests of the State. It is due to the Legislature, and to yourself, that I should make some apology for the tardy appearance of my Report. It is well known to your Excellency, that ever since the commis- sion was issued, in 1837, I have been occupied, for ten months of every year, m a pursuit which left me no leisure for the Sur- vey, and little for reading, on subjects connected with it. I have, therefore, been able to give to it only the summer vacation, and of that a considerable portion has, every 3rear, been neces- sarily taken up with other things. Under these circumstances, it was hardly possible for me to give to the Survey the attention it deserved, and let my Report appear at an earlier period. I am, respectfully, Your Excellency's friend and servant, GEO. B. EMERSON. September 19, 184G. P K E F A C E In order that this Report should answer the ends for which the Survey was ordered, the descriptions of the Trees and Shrubs are arranged according to the Natural System. This has been done, not from undervalumg the artificial system of Linnaeus, which must still continue of use in aiding to find the name of a plant and its place in the Natural System, but from a conviction of the incomparably greater value of the latter. The artificial S3)*stem is based essentially on distinctions drawn from the stamens and pistils alone. The Natural System, on the con- trary, takes into consideration not one part only, but every part and whatever relates to it, — the seed, from the development of its embryo to its germination, the growth, formation and arrange- ment of the wood, bark, buds and leaves, and the flower and fruit. It is found that plants which resemble each other in the external forms of their more essential parts, have a similar resemblance in properties and uses, and require similar modes of manage- ment and culture. The adoption of the Natural System is, there- fore, particularly important in a comparatively new country like ours. Upon the culture, properties and uses of many of our trees and shrubs, few or no experiments have been made. We must learn what modes of culture are likely to answer best with them, by observing what modes have been successful with well- known plants of the same families and afiinities, in the old countries. Of many of them, the value in building, and the various mechanic arts, in dyeing and tanning, and as furnishing articles of food, or materials for medicine, are not yet known. We shall be likely to find them most readily by looking for uses similar to what are known to belong to plants most analogous to them. '^ If there is," says De CandoUe, ^' a country where the theory of analogy between forms and properties may become eminently useful, it is North America, which, situated in the same latitude as Europe, is occupied by analogous vegetation.'' Fi PEEFACE. The uses of the natural arrangement m abridging the labor of acquisition and aiding the memory of the learner are most im- portant, and its advantages to cultivators, to physicians, — to all who are seeking to enlarge their knowledge of the useful or dangerous properties of plants, that they may be able to avail themselves of the one, oi counteract the other, to gain ma- terials for the arts, or remedies or antidotes in medicine, are too many to enumerate and too obvious to be further insisted upon. In the Conspectus, or Distribution into Families and Genera, I have attempted to offer a substitute, so far as the plants treat- ed of in this Seport are concerned, for the arrangement by the artificial system. This attempt I submit with many misgivings. If it shall be considered a failure, it may at least serve to aid others in more successfully accomplishing the object. My sketches of the natural families, and, in a considerable degree, of the genera, are necessarily drawn mostly from books ; and. as they are taken from the standard works of the science, Endiicher. Lindley, Torrey, and others, are usually given with- out particular acknowledgment of the source. Botanists will here, however, find some points touched upon which have not usually received much attention from scientific writers. The descriptions of the species of all the trees, and nearly all the shrubs, are my own, except where I have expressly given credit to others. To collect my materials, I have scoured the forests in almost every part of the State, from the western hiJls of Berkshire to Martha s Vineyard, and from the banks of the Merrimack to the shores of Buzzard's and Narragansett Bays. The leisure of several summers was first spent in ascertaining what the Mgneous plants of Massachusetts are, and how they are distributed. If I have not discovered new species, I have found new localities for several oaks, willows, poplars, pines, and birches, and some others of less importance, and have thus enlarged the Flora of the State. That some species have escaped me is altogether probable, as, even in the summer of 1815, 1 found the Red Birch growing abundantly on a branch of the Merrimack, some hundreds of miles further north than it had previously been noticed by any botanist. After having become familiar with the trees and their local- PREFACE. Vll ities, I began to collect materials for their description; and every important tree and shrub has been described from copious notes taken under or near the growing plant itself. A point with which I have each year been more and more struck, is the beauty of our native trees and of the climbing vines and under- growth associated with them. I have thrown aside much which I had written upon this point. Utilitarian readers will perhaps find too much still retained. My apology for not pruning more severely must be found in my sincere conviction, that associa- tions with the beauty of trees about our country homes enter deeply into the best elements of our character; and a hope that what I have written may induce some of my readers to plant treesj for the purpose of increasing the beauty and the appearance of seclusion and quiet of the homes of their wives and children. In the progress of the work, I found it necessary to curtail very considerably what I had prepared, especially in regard to the families and genera, as it was evident, if I should go on to describe all the families with the same minuteness of detail even as is given to the pines and oaks, i should write several volumes instead of one. It was my original intention to add to the volume, in the form of an appendix, a strictly scientific synopsis of the fam- ilies, genera and species, with synonymes and references in the usual form. But as the volume is already large, I have con- cluded to suppress this, although, by so doing, I subject myself to the charge of omitting or neglecting several things of impor- tance. All omissions and defects will, however, I trust, at no distant period, be much more than supphcd. The Genera of New England plants, by Prof Gray, now, I understand, in a forward state of preparation, and the Flora of New England, by that most thorough botanist, Wm. Oakcs, for which all the friends of Natural Science have long been anxiously looking, will, when they appear, place the botany of New England where it should be ; and show the dillcrence between the work of men who arc able to give the labor of years to the favorite pursuit of their lives, and the hasty sketch of one whose heart, he is obliged to confess, is, most of the year, wholly in other things, Vm PREFACE. and who gives to a work great enough to command a hfe. the scanty hours of recreation of his summer hoHdays. A Report upon the Botany of the State is certainly very mcomplete, without even an enumeration of the Algas, the Mosses, the Lichens, and the Fungi ; and, with a hope to pre- vent this omission, I furnished myself, at the commencement of this Survey, with several somewhat expensive works upon these departments of botany. But I am obliged to confess, that I have been able to do very little m regard to them. Since the com- mencement of this Survey, my friend, Rev. J. L. Russell, of Hingham, has carefully prepared a catalogue of the mosses in the eastern part of the State, which he was kind enough to place at my disposal. I was not willing that its publication should be delayed till the appearance of this volume, and it has been published m the Boston Journal of Natural History. Mr. Edward Tuckerman also prepared, at my request, a catalogue of the lichens found on the bark of trees m this State. As It is to be hoped that he will soon give us a complete account of the lichens of New England, for which work he is amply pre- pared, it would be doing him injustice to publish an imperfect catalogue. The deficiency in the history of the Algae is likely to be soon supplied, by Prof. Bailey, of West Point, in the thorough manner of which he has given evidence in the Scien- tific Journal. In writing my descriptions, I have, as far as possible, avoided the use of technical language. To avoid it entirely is im- possible. When a part, an organ, a form, or a modification of form is spoken of which has no English name, it must either be called by its scientific name, or it must be described by a tedious circumlocution, repeated as often as the thing is spoken of, and, after all, scarcely more intelligible even to the unlearned reader than the scientific word, which expresses pre- cisely the thing meant and nothing else. In the preparation of the Report, I have availed myself of whatever I found most to my purpose, but never, intention- ally, without giving credit, except in the cases mentioned above. The numerous facts obtained from Loudon and Mi- chaux, are usually given in their words. Some of the best PEEFACE. ix things are quoted from the incomparable descriptions of Bige- low. I am under obhgations to Dr. Gray for suggestions in regard to the distribution into families and genera ; but I should be sorry, to have him considered responsible for any thing in its execution. Mr. Oakes has furnished me with many beautiful specimens, such as nobody else can make. To Mr. Russell, I am indebted for a communication upon the Pitch Pine, and for other favors, as well as for the catalogue of Mosses. To my friends, Messrs. E. Tuckerman and B. D. Greene, I owe thanks for the use of specimens from their exten- sive herbaria. Dr. Barratt, of Middletown, Conn., has given me important assistance in the study of the Poplars and Willows ; and from the invaluable Report of my friend Dr. Harris, I have, with his consent, obtained much information, not to be found elsewhere, in regard to insects. To so many citizens of the Commonwealth am I indebted for aid received in conducting the Survey and ascertaining the condition of the forests, that I can do no more than mention their names. From Hon. D. P. King and Messrs. S. P. Fowler, of Danvers ; Josiah Newhall, of Lynnfield. and Lilley Eaton, of South Reading; J. L. Lewis, of Hmgham, Samuel A. Turner, of South Scituate, and my friend G. P. Bradford, then of Ply- mouth ; from Messrs. Chester Adams, of South Natick, and Daniel Adams, 3d, of Newbury ; Daniel Davis, of Fairhaven, Thomas A. Greene, of New Bedford, and Hezekiah Barnard, of Nantucket; S. Davis, of Truro, Solomon Freeman, of Brews- ter, and E. Swift, of Falmouth ; from Messrs, Jabez Newel, and Abijah M. Ide, of South Attleborough ; Rhodolphus Sanderson, of East Whately, and D. Willard, of Greenfield; C. B. Rishig, of Worthington, and Joseph Field, of Charlemont; C. S. Dar- ling, of Gill, and Samuel Mixter, of New Braintree ; Allen C. Metcalf, of Lenox, J. H. Cobb, of Dedham, and S. Salisbury, of Worcester ; from Henry Colman, of the Agricultural Sur- vey, and especially from Wm. Bacon, of Richmond, Austin Bacon, of Natick, and Henry W. Cushman, of Bernardston, I received very useful letters, — from the three latter gentlemen, communications of great value. From Messrs. P. T. Jackson, N. Hale, Ch. L. Storrow, B. T. B X PREFACE. Reed, W. Raymond Lee, of Boston, and A. E. Swasey, of Taunton, I received facilities in ascertaining the quantity of "wood consumed on rail-roads; and from my friends, T. B. Curtis, of Boston, and H. Kingsbury, of Kennebunk, Me., let- t-ers containing valuable information in regard to the kinds and quantities of wood employed in ship-bmlding. To my friends, Dr. O. W. Holmes, whose poetical eye is also an eye for trees, and J. J. Dixwell, who knows how to represent them, I am indebted for numerous measurements of trees ; and to my learned friend Dr. A. A. Gould, who, to his other attain- ments in natural science, unites a familiar knowledge of botany, I am particularly indebted for most important advice and assist- ance in very many instances. In the ship-yards in Boston, New Bedford and other towns in the State, and the numerous saw-mills, machine-shops, and manufactories of furniture, of agricultural implements, and of all other articles of wood, and on the farms and wood-lots in all parts of the Commonwealth, whither I went, in almost all in- stances, a stranger, to make inquiries, — every where, with one solitary exception, I was very civilly received, and had my ques- tions answered with the greatest kindness and intelligence ; and every where I found a readiness to furnish me, or let me furnish myself, with specimens of the flowers, leaves, fruit and wood of the trees I was examining. To all persons from whom I have received these acts of kindness, I would here make my cordial acknowledgments. I shall always esteem it one of the best fruits of my labors m this Survey, that they have brought me better acquainted than I otherwise could have been, with the intelli- gence, hospitality, and good and kind manners of the com- mon people in every part of the State. If there are better manners and a higher intelligence among the people in other countries, I should like to travel amongst them; but I very much doubt whether, in any country on which the sun shines, there are, amongst the people in common Hfe, more of those qual- ities which are always pleasant to meet with, deUghtful to re- member, and most honorable to our common humanity to record, than are found among the independent mechanics and yeomanry of Massachusetts. TABLE OF CONTENTS. The Forests, page 1. Object of the Keport, 2. Uses of the forests ;— form a soil, 3. Conduct electricity, 4. Soften the climate, protect from winds, 5. Give beauty to a country, 6. Variety of our forest trees, 9. Use for shade, 10. Furnish ma- terials for the arts, 11. Shipbuilding, 12. The forests wasted, 13. Maple sugar, 14. Fuel, 14. Continuation and improvement of the forests, 16. Species of trees, 17. Names little known, 18. Trees for fuel, shipbuilding, 19. Fencing, fur- niture, implements, tannmg, 20. Improvable lands, 21. Kocky hills j marshes, 22. Thinning and pruning, 23. The principle of pruning j mode, 24. Select- ing, 25. Cuttmg smooth ; how soon renewed, 25. Age, 27. Season, 27, Suc- cession of forests, 29. Things injurious to a forest : browsing, mjudicious prun- ing, sea breeze, 31 Upon planting near the sea ; on exposed hills, 32. Strength and durability of timber, 33. Buffon's mode of fellmg, 34. Woody Plants of Massachusetts ; distribution into families and genera ; description of a flower and fruit, 37. Figures, 38 Division into families, 39. Plants with opposite leaves, 40. Plants with alternate leaves, 41, Division into genera, 42. FIRST GENERAL DIVISION. Dicotyledonous Plants, 45. Chapter I. Plants with naked seeds. Fajviily I, Pme Family, 47. Products of the pmes, 48. Rootj trunk, 49. Branches; wood, 50. Leaves, 51. Buds; flower, 52. Fruit, 53. Insects on the pines, 54 Soil for pmes, 56. Propagation and culture, 57. Transplanting ; division, 59. Section First. Pine and Fiu Tribe. Genus 1. The Pme. Sp. 1. White pme, 60. Sp 2. Pitch pme, 66. Plantmg with, 71 Sp. 3. Red or Nor- way pme, 74. Genus 2. Spruce Sp. 1. Hemlock, 77. Sp. 2. Black or Dou- ble Spruce, 81. Sp 3. Single or White Spruce, 84. Genus 3. Fir. Sp. 1. Bal- sam fir, 85. European fir. Sp. 2. Double balsam fir, 88. Genus 4. Larch. Sp. 1. Hacmatack, 89. Plantmg with larch, 91. Cedar of Lebanon, 95, Section Second. Cyphess Tribe. Genus 5. Arbor Vitae Cedar. Sp. 1. Ameri- can arbor vitfE, 96. Genus 6. Cedar or Cypress. Sp. 1. White cedar, 98. Fence of, 100. European cypress, Southern cypress, 101. Genus 7. Juniper. Sp. 1. Red cedar, 102. Cedar apple, 106. Sp. 2. Juniper, 108. Section Thikd. The Yews. Genus 8. Yew, 110. Sp. 1. Ground hemlock, 111. Chapter XL Amentaceous Plants. Family II Oak Family, 113 Genus 1. Oak, 115 Value, 116. Insects on, 117, Bark, 120. Root, 121 Flowers ; fruit, 122. Growth, 123. Species, 124. Arrangement, 125. Table of species, 126. Sp. 1. White oak, 127. Sp. 2, Xll TABLE OF CONTENTS. Overcup White, 132. Sp. 3. Post or Rough, 133. Sp. 4. Swamp White, 135. Sp. 5. Chestnut, 137. Sp. 6. Kock chestnut, 138. Sp. 7. Little Chincapm, 140. Sp. 8. Black or Yellow-barked, 141. Sp. 9. Scarlet, 144. Sp. 10. Red, 148. Sp. 11. Bear, 150. Grouping of the oaks, 151. Planting with oaks, 152. English oaks, 157. Genus 2. Beech. Sp. 1. American, 158. European, 162. Genus 3. Chestnut, 163. Sp. 1. American, 164. Genus 4. Hazel, 170. Sp. 1. American, 171. Sp. 2. Beaked, 173. Family III. Hornbeam Family. Genus 1. Hornbeam. Sp. 1. American, 174. Genus 2. Hop Hornbeam. Sp. 1. American, 177. Family IV, Walnut Family, 180. Insects, ISO. Genus 1. Walnut, 181. Sp. 1. Butternut or oilnut, 182. Sp. 2. Black walnut, 185. Genus 2. Hickory, 187. Sp. 1. Shellbark, 191. Sp. 2. Mockernut, 194. Sp. 3. Pignut, 197. Sp. 4. Bittemut, 199. FA3nLY V. Birch Family, 201. Genus 1. Birch, 202. Sp. 1. Black, or Sweet, 203. Sp. 2. Yellow, 206. Sp. 3. Red, 208. Sp. 4. Canoe, 210. Sp. 5. White, 213. European Birch, 215. Planting, 216. Genus 2. Alder, 217. Sp. 1. Com- mon, 218. Sp. 2. Speckled, 220. Family VI. Was Myrtle Family. Genus 1. Myrtle. Sp. 1. Sweet Gale or Dutch Myrtle, 222. Sp. 2. Bay Berry or Wax Myrtle, 224. Genus 2. Liquidamber. Sp. 1. Sweet fern, 225. Fa3IilyVII. Plane Tree Family, 226. Genus 1. Plane Tree. Sp. 1. Buttonwood, or occidental Plane, 227. Malady m the buttonwoods, 232. Oriental Plane, 235. Californian, 237. Fa:5iily Vin. Willow Family, 239, Genus 1. Poplar, 240. Insects on, 242. Sp. 1. Large, 242. Sp. 2. American aspen, 243. Sp.3. Balm of Gilead, 245. Sp. 4. River, 246. Sp. 5. Necklace, 249. True Balsam poplar, 251. Genus 2. Willow, 252. Group 1. Sallows. Sp. 1. Sage, 255. Var. 2, 256— -var. 3, 257. Sp. 2. Bluhlenberg's, 257. Group 2. Two-colored. Sp. 3. Bog, 258. Sp. 4. Woolly-headed Swamp. Sp. 5. Prmos-like, 259. Sp. 6. Dense-flowered Early, 260. Sp. 7. Frost or Tender, 261. Group 3. Sp. 8. Brittle Gray, 262. Group 4. Osiers. Group 5. Brittle, 263. Sp. 9. Crack, 264, Sp. 10. Varnished, 265. Sp. 11. Bedford, 266. Sp. 12. Glossy, 267. Group 6. White. Sp. 13. The White, 268. Blue. Sp. 14. Yellow Willow, or Golden Osier, 269. Sp. 15. Weeping, 270. Sp. 16. Black, 271. Sp. 17. Pursh's, 272, Group 7. Ochre- flowered. Sp. 18- Beaked, 274. Group S. Cordate. Sp. 19. Heart-leaved, 275. Sp. 20. Stiff-leaved, 276. Sp, 21. Torrey's, 277. Family IS. Bread-Fruit Family, 279. Genus 1. Mulberry Tree. Sp. 1. Red Mulberry, 280. Paper Mulberry j Osage orange, 282. Chapter HL Plants whose Floioers are without Petals^ and not arranged in Aments. Fasiilt 2. Elm Family, 284. Genus 1. Elm, 285. Insects on, 286. Sp. 1. American Elm, or White Elm, 286. Sp. 2. Slippery Elm, 297. English Elm, 299. Scotch Elm, 305. River Elm ; Racemed Elm, 305. Genus 2. Nettle Tree. Sp. 1 American, 306. Sp. 2. Hackberry, 309. Planer tree; Tselkwa tree, 312. TABLE OF CONTENTS. xiil Family XL Sandal "Wood Family, 312. Genus 1. Tupelo, 313. Sp. 1. Tupelo treC; Snag, Horn Pine, or PepperidgC; 313. Family ZII. Cinnamon Family, 317. Genus 1. Sp. 1. Sassafras, 319. Insects on, 321. Genus 2. Benzoin. Sp. 1. Fever Bush or Spice Bush, 324. Family SIII. Mezereum Family. Genus 1. Dirca. Sp. 1. Leather wood, 325. Family XW. Crowberry Family. Genus 1. Oakesia. Sp. 1. Plymouth Crow- berry, 327. Chapter IV. Monopetalous Plants. Family SV. Olive Family, 329. 1. Olive Tribe. Genus 1. Privet. Sp. 1. Com- mon Prim, 330. 2. Lilac Tribe. 3. Ash Tribe. Genus 2. Ash, 332. Sp. 1. White, 333. Sp. 2. Red, 337. Sp. 3. Blacz, 338. European, 339. Family XVI. Holly Family, 340, Genus 1. Holly. Sp. 1. American, 341. Genus 2. Wild Holly. Sp. 1. Mountain, 343. Genus 3. Winter Berry. Sp. 1. Black Alder, 344. Sp. 2. Single Berry Black Alder, 345. Sp. 3. Ink Berry, 346. Family XVII. Madder Family, 347. Coffee, 348. Genus 1. Sp. 1. Button Bush, 349. Genus 2. Sp. 1. Partridge Berry, 351. Family ZVIII. Honeysuckle Family, 352. Genus 1. Linnaa. Sp. 1. Twm- flower, 353. Genus 2. Triosteum, 354. Sp. 1. Fever Boot, 355. Genus 3. Lonicera. Sp. 1. Hairy Honeysuckle, 356. Sp. 2. Small-flowered Yellow Hon- eysuckle, Woodbine. Evergreen Honeysuckle, 357. Japan Honeysuckle. Sp. 3. Fly Honeysuckle, 358. Sp. 4. Hairy Fly Honeysuckle. Genus 4. Diervilla. Sp. 1. Three-flowered Bush Honeysuckle, 359, Family XIX. Elder Family, 360. Genus 1. Elder. Sp. 1. Pamcled, 361. Sp. 2. Common, 362. Genus 2. Guelder Kose. Viburnum. Section 1. Sp. 1. Naked Viburnum Sp. 2. Sweet, 364. Sp. 3. Arrow Wood, 366. Sp. 4. Ma- pie-leaved Arrow Wood, 367. Section 2. Sp. 1. Cranberry Tree, 368. Sp. 2. Wayfaring Tree, 369. Fajmily XX. Heath Family, 370. And homed a Tribe. Genus 1. Andromeda, 371. Sp. 1. Water Andromeda, 372, Genus 2. Cassandra. Sp. 1. Dwarf, 373. Ge- nus 3. Lyoma, 374. Sp, 1. Panicled. Genus 4. Zenobia, 375. Sp. 1. Cluster- ed, 376. Genus 5. Clethra. Sp. 1. Alder-leaved, 377. Genus 6. Epig^a. Sp. 1. May Flower, 378. Genus 7. Gaultheria, 379. Sp. 1, Chequer Berry, 380. Genus 8. Bear Berry. Sp. 1. Common, 381. Rhodora Tribe, 382. Genus 9. Rhododendron, 383. Sp. 1. American Rose Bay, 384. Section Azalea. Sp. 1- Swamp Pink, 387. Sp. 2. Upright Honeysuckle, 389. Rhodoka. Sp. 1. Canada. Genus 10. Eialmia, 390. Sp. 1. Mountain Laurel, 392. Sp. 2. Nar- row-leaved Kalmia. Sp. 3. Glaucous, 394. Genus 11. Ledum, 395. Sp. 1. Labrador Tea, 396. Family XXI. Whortleberry Family, 397. Genus 1. Whortleberry, 398. Sp. 1. Black. Sp. 2. Bangleberry, 399. Sp. 3. Bush Whortleberry, 400. Sp. 4. Peerberry, 401. Sp. 5. High Bush Whortleberry, 401. Black Swamp. Sp. 6. Blue, 402. Sp. 7. Low Blueberry, 403. Sp. 8. Cowberry, 401. Genus 2. Cranberry. Sp. 1. Common, 405. Sp. 2. European. Genus 3. Chiogenes, 406. Sp. 1. Mountain Partridge Berry, 407. Trumpet Flower, 407. XIV TABLE OP CONTENTS. Chapter V. Plants with the Petals and Stamens growing from the Caiycc, except in Cornus. Family XXII. Cornus Family. Genus 1. Cornel, 408. Section 1. Sp. 1. AI ternate-leavedj 409. Sp. 2. Kound-leaved. Sp. 3. Red-stemmed, 410. Sp. 4. Panicled. Sp. 5. Silky, 411. Section 2. Sp. 6. Flowering Dogwood, 413. Section 3. Sp. 7. Dwarf Cornel, 415. Family XSIII. Witch Hazel Family. Genus 1. Witch Hazel. Sp. 1. Com- mon, 416. Family XSrV. Currant Family, 419. Genus 1. Ribes. Sp. 1. Prickly Gooseber- ry. Sp.2. Common Wild, 420. Sp.3. Round-leaved. Sp.4. Swamp, 421. Sp. 5. Large flowering currant. Sp. 6. Mountain, 422. Family XSV. Cactus Family, 423. Genus 1 . Indian Fig. Sp. 1. Prickly Pear, 424. Family SXVI. Rose Family, 425. SpiEiEA Tribe. Genus 1. Spir^a. Sp. 1. Nine Bark, 426. Sp. 2. Queen of the Meadows. Sp. 3. Steeple Bush, 427. Bramble Tribe. Flowering Raspberry, 423. Red Raspberry ; High Black- berry ; Low Blackberry. Thimbleberry. Bristly Blackberry. Rose Tribe, 429. Early Wild Rose ,• Swamp; Shining, 430. Family XKVIL Apple Family. Genus 1. Thorn, 430. Sp. 1. Cockspur, 433. Sp. 2. Scarlet-fruited, 434. Sp. 3. Pear-leaved. Sp. 4. Dotted-fruited, 435. Genus 2. Pear, 436. Pear Tree, 437. Apple, 43S. Sp. 1. American Mountain Ash, 439. Rowan Tree, 440. Sp. 2. Choke Berry, 441. Genus 3. Wild Sugar Pear, 442. Sp. 1. Shad Bush. Variety 1. June Berry, 443. Var. 2. Swamp Sugar Pear, 444. Quince, 446. Family XXVIII. Almond Family, 446. Insects on, 447, Genus 1. Plum, 448. Sp. 1, Beech. Sp. 2. Yellow, 449. Wild Bullace Tree, 450. Genus 2. Cherry. Section 1. Sp. 1. Northern Red, 451, Sp. 2. Sand. Section 2. Sp.3. Black, 453. Sp. 4. Choke, 456. Fa-Mily XXIX. Bean Family, 455. Genus 1. Locust, 458. Insects on, 459. Sp. 1. Common Locust, 460. Kentucky Coffee Tree. Canada Judas Tree, 465. Chapter VI. Plants with many Petals which groiv, together with the Stamens, about or upon a Bisk surrounding the Seed-vesseL Family XXX. The Vine Family. Genus 1. Grape Vine, 466. Sp. 1. Fox Grape, 467. Sp. 2. Summer, 469, Sp. 3. Wine. Sp. 4. River or Sweet-scent- ed, 470. Genus 2. Ampelopsis. Sp. 1. Virginian Creeper, 471. Family XXXI. Buckthorn Family, 472. Genus 1. Buckthorn. Sp. 1. Common, 473. Sp. 2. Alder-leaved, 474. Genus 2. Ceanothus. Sp. 1. New Jersey Tea, 475. Family XXXII. Staff-Tree Family, 476. Genus 1. Bladder-nut. Sp. 1. Three- leaved, 477. Genus 2. Staff-Tree. Sp. 1. Waxwork, 478. Horse-Chestnut Tree, 479. Family XXXIII. Maple Family, 480. Genus 1, Maple. Large-leaved; Round- leaved j Norway; Field; Montpelier; Guelder-rose-leaved; Italian; Tartarean; Smooth-leaved ; Sycamore, 481. Insects, 482. Sp. 1. Red Maple, 483. Colors of the leaves not caused by frost, 484. Causes, 485. Sp. 2. White Maple, 487. Sp. 3. Rock or Sugar, 489. Varieties of the Wood, 491. Making of Sugar, 493. Sp. 4. Striped Maple, 496. Sp. 5. Mountain, 497. TABLE OF CONTENTS. XV Chapter VII. Polypetalous Plants with Stamens and Petals growing upon the receptacle. Family XXXIV. Sumach Family, 499. Genus 1. Sumach. Tanner's; Yarnish; Venetian; Smoke Tree, 500. Sp. 1. Stag's Horn, 501. Sp. 2. Smooth, 502. Sp. 3. Mountain or Dwarf, 503. Sp. 4. Poison, 504. Indian Poke a remedy for the poison, 505. Sp. 5. Poison Ivy, 506. Sp. 6. Fragrant Sumach, 507. Family XXXV. Prickly Ash Family. Genus 1. Xanthoxylum, 508. Sp. 1. Prickly Ash, 509. Family XXXVI. Linden Family. Genus 1. Lmden or Lime Tree, 510. Sp. 1. Bass "Wood, 511. Family XXXVII. Rock Kose Family, 515. Genus 1. Sun Eose, 516. Sp. 1. Canada. Genus 2. Pinweed, 517. Sp. 1. Large. Sp. 2. Thyme-leaved. Sp. 3. Small. Genus 3. Hndsonia, 518. Sp. 1. Downy. Sp. 2. Heath-like, 519. Family XXXVIII. Barberry Family. Genus 1. Barberry, 520. Sp. 1. Com- mon, 521. Family XXXIX, Moonseed Family, 524. Genus 1. Moonseed. Sp. 1. Canada. Family XL. Magnolia Family, 525. Genus 1. Magnoba, 526. Cucumber Tree ; Long-leaved Cucumber ; Three-petalled ; Heart-leaved ; Yulan j Purple. Sp. 1. Small Magnolia, 527. Genus 2. Liriodendron. Sp. 1. Tulip Tree, 529. SECOND GENEBAL DIVISION. Chapter VIII. Monocotyledonous Plants. Family XLI. Smilax Family, 532, Genus. 1. Smilax. Sp. 1. Green Briar, 533. Sp. 2. Carrion Flower, 534. Explanation of the Plates, 535. Index, 536. Plates. TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS. THE FORESTS. The immense variety, the many and important uses, and the great beauty of our forests, must, naturally, attract the attention of an observer; and, as the preservation and im- provement of the forests, in their highest degree, are above private eifort, require jomt action, and must be effected on a large scale, on a system wisely begun and long continued, by the men of one generation for those of the next; and by the application of science, taste and skill, not by one but by many men, not in one village or tovrn, but in a comity and state ; it is wise in a government not acting merely for the present, but extending its forethought generously onwards, maldng its loiowledge and wisdom an invested capital for future use, and desiring to do for coming generations, what they, when looldng back, shall wish it had done, — ^it is wise, prudent and patriotic for such a government to order a survey of the forests, among its other domains, that the people may Imow the sources of their wealth and its extent, and learn how to value, enlarge and enjoy it. The conception and ordering of this general sur- vey, was worthy of the descendants of those who established free schools, free courts of justice, and freedom in religion. The idea was a noble one, with whatever success the work may have been executed. 1 2 TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS. The object of the present report, which comes tardily in to complete the survey so well accomplished by the other gentle- men engaged in it, is to describe the trees and shrubs of the for- ests of Massachusetts, to set forth their importance, their general and particular relations, uses and properties, and the modes by which they may be preserved, propagated, and improved. It is not written for the use of men of science. If any such read it, however, they may find in it many particulars relating to trees, which have not been hitherto recorded; as they may miss much which a more scientific inquiry would have brought to Hght But it is for the common, unlearned citizens, who live on farms, in the country, and have few books and httle leisure. It is, as far as possible, for it cannot be wholly, divested of technical language, in order that they may understand it. And it will accomplish the purpose for which it was written, if it awaken them to a deeper sense of the value of some of the blessings by which they are surrounded, and lead them, or any of them, to resolve to preserve the old forests and plant new. A few generations ago, an almost unbroken forest covered the continent. The smoke from the Indian's wigwam rose only at distant intervals ; and to one looking from "Wachusett or Mount Washington, the small patches laid open for the cul- tivation of maize, interrupted not perceptibly the dark green of the woods. Now, those old woods are every where faUing. The axe has made, and is making, wanton and terrible havoc. The cunning foresight of the Yankee seems to desert him when he takes the axe in hand. The new settler clears in a year more acres than he can cultivate in ten, and destroys at a single burning many a winter's fuel, which would better be kept in reserve for his grandchildren. This profuse waste is checked, but it has not entirely ceased. It is, however, giving way to better views. Even since this survey was begun, a wiser econ- omy shows itself. May it be universal. A brief consideration of the general uses of forests on a great scale may have a ten- dency to produce this effect USES OF THE FORESTS. USES OF THE FORESTS. 1. Forests create or gradually but constantly improve a soil. The roots penetrate deeply into the ground, and thus let in the air to produce its slow but sure effects. The radicles decom- pose the grains of sand, and extract from them some of the elements essential to a soil; they drink in moisture and the carbonic acid which has been formed beneath, or brought down from the atmosphere above, the surface ; and from these several elements, acted on by heat, hght and air, in the leaves, and by that unknown influence, vegetable hfe, are formed the various substances which compose the plant The annual deposit of leaves, and the final decay of the branches and trunk, go to constitute the mould upon which other plants grow. And the soil thus formed is kept by the thick meittmg of the roots from washing away. An unprotected hill soon loses its soil. Every rain bears away a portion, till it becomes a bare rock, and the slow pro- cess must reconimence by which rock had been origmally con- verted into soil. That process takes place slowly on all uncov- ered rocks, but far more surely and rapidly under cover of trees. There also the invisible sporule, borne thither on the wind, perhaps, from a distant continent, attaches itself to the naked rock and vegetates ; encrusting its surface with a lichen which gets thence a foothold and an alkali, while it lives on the atmosphere. From the thin layer left by its decay, another species springs, which in turn gives place to mosses and herba- ceous plants. Whoever has climbed Monument Mountain in Stockbridge, has had an opportunity of observing this process in its different stages and circumstances. On the projecting cliffs of white quartz, of which the mountain consists, the beau- tiful hchens which paint its sides have made no more progress than if the mountain had been thrown up two years ago. They are spread upon it as thin as paper, and perfectly fresh. Wherever they decay, the violence of the rain and winds washes them clean off, and the work is begun each year anew. But in the protected crevices, and under shelter of the few trees 4 TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS. and shrubs that have found root-hold there, a soil is forming or is already formed. What happens here takes place on all moun- tain tops in New England. A sheltering tree allows the creative action to take place. 2. Another use of forests is to serve as conductors of electricity between the clouds and its great reservoir the earth; thus giving activity to the vital powers of plants, and leading the clouds to discharge their contents upon the earth. A few tall trees on the sunamit of a hill are sufficient to produce this effect. A charged thunder cloud, which passes unbroken over a bare hill, will pour down its moisture, if its electricity is drawn off by these natural conductors. The dry sterihty of some parts of Spain, anciently very fertile, is probably owing, in a great de- gree, to the improvident destruction of the forests, and the absurd laws which discourage their renewal. The forests also coat the earth and keep it warm in winter, shutting in the central heat which would otherwise more rapidly radiate into space and be lost. If you go into the woods at the end of a severe winter, you may any where easily drive down a stake without impedi- ment from the frost; while, in the open field by their edge, you find a foot or more of earth frozen sohd. Forests act not less favorably as a protection against the excessive heat of the sum- mer's sun, which rapidly evaporates the moisture and parches up the surface. The first mahogany cutters in Honduras found the cold under the immense forests so great, that they were obliged, though within IG*^ of the equator, to Idndle fires to keep themselves warm.=* The rain, faihng on the woods of a hill side, is retained by the deep and spongy mass formed by the roots and the accumulated deposit of leaves, instead of rushing down, as it otherwise would, in torrents, carrying with it great quantities of loose soil. Protected also from rapid evap- oration, it remains laid up as in a reservoir, trickhng gradually out and forming perennial streams, watering and fertilizing the * '^j^t Guiana, m South America, within 5° of the line, the inhabitants living amid immense forests, a century ago, were obliged to alleviate the seventy of the cold by evening fires. Even the duration of the rainy season has been shortened by the clearing of the country, and the warmth is so increased, that a fire now would be deemed an annoyance." — Tire' s JDicUonary of Chemistry^ — article, Climate. USES OF THE FORESTS. 5 low country through the longest siunmers, and moderating the violence of droughts by mists and dews. All along the coast of New England, numerous little streams, which were formerly fed by the forests, and often rolled a volume of water sufficient to turn a mill in summer, are now dried up at that season, and only furnish a drain for the melting snows of spring, or the occasional great rains of autumn. Forests thus equalize the temperature and soften the climate, protecting from the extremes of cold and heat, dryness and humidity. There is little doubt that, if the ancient forests of Spain could be restored to its hills, its ancient fertility would return. Now, there is nothing to conduct electricity, nothing to arrest the clouds and make them pour their treasures upon the earth, no reservoirs to lay up the winter's rain in store against the droughts of summer. 3. Forests protect a country from the violence of winds. The lively author of "Life in Mexico^' writes,^ ^^M. de Humboldt, who examined the will of Cortes, informs us that the conqueror had left sugar plantations near Cuyoacan, in the valley of Mexico, where now, owing, it is supposed, to the cutting down of the trees, the cold is too great for sugar cane or any other tropical production to thrive." And a most intelligent gentle- man in Worcester tells me, that he attributes the greater diffi- culty now experienced in the cultivation of the more delicate fruits in that town, to tlie fact, that the encirchng hills, formerly crowned with trees, are now, to a considerable degree, laid bare. The laws of the motion of the atmosphere are similar to those of water. A bare hill gives no protection. The wind pours over it as water pours over a dam. But if the hill be capped with trees, the windy cascade will be broken as into spray. Its violence will be sensibly diminished. We are not aware, on the now protected and irregular surface of New England, how important are the screens furnished by the forests. Trav- ellers from Illinois tell us, that on the vast prairies in that and some of the other western States, the wind is ahnost always fresh, and often blows a gale, before which men can hardly * Volume II., p. 52. 6 TREES OP MASSACHUSETTS. stand. The new settlers aie glad to shelter their habitations under the lea of the spurs of forest which stretch like promon- tories into the prairie lands. A forest near the coast, in any part of New England, protects those farther inland from the chiUing east winds ; and, while such winds prevail, a person passing towards the sea, experiences a marked change of tem- perature, upon crosshig the last wood and especially the last wood-covered hill. One who would have his house screened from the northerly winds, must take care to have behind it a hill crowned with trees, or at least to have a wood stretching from the northwest to the northeast A garden surrounded by tall trees admits the cultivation, even in our severe climate, of plants almost tropical. Forests not only protect from winds; they must prevent tlieir formation. The air restmg over a broken surface cannot be rapidly heated to a uniformly high temperature, so as to rise upwards in great masses and create a violent wmd."^ 4 As adding to the beauty of a country, the forests are of the utmost importance. A country destitute of them cannot be in the highest degree beautiful. If the green hills of Berk- * A Trriter ia the 5th volume of the N. E. Farmer, says, "It is not merely in forests, nor as supplying fire wood and timber that trees are valuable. ' Consid- ered agriculturally,' says aa English writer, 'the advantages to be derived from subdividmg extensive tracts of country by plantations are evidently great, whether considered m the hght of affording immediate shelter to the lands, or in that of improvmg the local climate.' The fact that the climate may be thus improved, has, in very many mstances, been sufficiently established. It is indeed astonish- ing how much better cattle thrive in fields even but moderately sheltered, than they do m an open, exposed country. In the breeding of cattle, a sheltered farm, or a sheltered corner in a farm, is a thing much prized ; and in instances where fields are taken by the season for the purpose of fattening cattle, those most sheltered never fail to bring the highest rents. . . . Dr. Deane has observed, 'pasture lands should be well fenced, in small lots, . . . and these lots should be bordered at least, with rows of trees. It is best that trees of some kind or other should be growing scattered in every point of a pasture, so that cattle may never have far to go, in a hot hour, to obtam a comfortable shade." '^ Small lots, thus sheltered, are not left bare of snow so early in the spring as larger ones lying bare ; since fences and trees cause more of it to remain on the ground. The cold winds m March and April hurt the grass much when the ground is bare j and the winds m winter will not suffer snow to lie deep in land that IS too open to the rake of winds and storms." — IV. E, F., YL, 350. USES OP THE FORESTS. 7 shire were stripped of their -woods, they would be converted into broad reaches of upland, from which most of their beauty would have departed. The striMng feature in that charm- ing country is the old forest, on the sides of its hills, here and there irregularly broken in upon by cultivation. The northern and southern sides of Boston are not essentially unhke in their natural features ; yet the hills of Brookline and Rox- bury, capped with hickory, and whose sides are clothed with oaks and pines, give the impression of a rich and happy coun- try, of which only pleasant memories are carried away, wliile the bare hills of Chelsea suggest images of bleak and barren desolation. Three or four trees upon Apple Island make it a gem among the islands in Boston Harbor. What a scene would the Bay present, if all the islands were so covered ! No element of beauty is so completely manageable as trees ; and our resources in that respect are surprisingly great Sit- uated in the middle of the temperate zone, we have, in Massa- chusetts, all the best of the deciduous trees, the oaks, elms, beeches, ashes, hickories, wahiuts, cherries, maples, the chest- nut, linden and button-wood, of the temperate regions, together with the finest of the evergreens, the pines, firs, spruces, cedars and hemlock, and the delicate birches, of a more northern ch- mate. Each one of these trees has its own peculiar and dis- tinctly marked character, recognizable at a distance, and pro- ducing an effect which needs not to be mistaken for that of any other. Each has its own cycle of change, its own time of flow- ering, and of perfecting its fruit, and of opening, maturing, changing and casting its fohage. Each has its own shape and its own color, distinguishing it from every other tree, even of the species most nearly allied. Hence the endless variety of forest scenery. Here are more than fifty elements shading off and blending into each other in imperceptible gradations, ac- cording as you recede from the coast to the interior, as you go north or south, or as you rise from the plain into the mountains. We have here representatives of the vegetations of the warmer and of the colder regions ; but as you go north, first the hicko- ries, then most of the other nut-bearing trees, then others grad- 8 TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS, ually leave you, and give place to hardier foresters. As you go south, the same gradual change takes place from the desertion of the pines and birches, and the addition of new oaks, and other trees. Every one feels the difference in the effect pro- duced on the mind by the forests of Berkshire, and the woods of Norfolk or Essex coimty. The j^ractised eye detects the cause of the difference in the different trees which constitute the forest, and still more in the different proportions in which the same trees are combined. These numerous trees and the still more numerous flowering shrubs which belong to our forests, all capable of being made to flourish freely in every part of the State, give the planter who is studious of the effects of landscape, inexhaustible resources. Some of the trees grow habitually to the height of only thirty or forty feet ; others rise to seventy or a hundred. Judiciously grouped in planting, they are capable of giving to a level plain the appearance of any desired inequality of surface. The tall pines, elms and sycamores at a distance, will seem to occupy a hill, the hickories and maples, to clothe its sides, while the spreading beeches, broad oaks and hanging birches, will form the gradual descent to the plain. Among these, a winding path leading under or near the largest trees and behind thickets, may give to a few acres all the advantages of variety of a large forest. To many persons, the pleasantest season in our climate is autumn, and to a lover of nature the rich and infinitely varied gorgeousness of the autumnal woods is a most important addi- tion to the enjoyment of that season in the country. Each tree has its own color, or rather its own class of colors, — tints and shades which belong to it and to it alone. Trees to be planted about a residence should be selected in reference to this circum- stance as well as to the time and variety of their flowering. Early autumn becomes gay with the vivid crimson of the tupelo and the sumach. A little later come out the rich orange and yellow of the sugar maple, with the gold and scarlet of the red flowermg maple. The soft olive tints of the ash, the warm browns of the hickory, the purples of the cornus florida, the USES OF THE FOEESTS. 9 buffs and yellows of the birches, give place at last to the full scarlets, yellows and browns of the oaks, many of whose leaves remain adhering through the snows of winter. These and forty other trees, and twice as many shrubs, furnish as inexhaustible a store-house of colors as they do of shape and foliage. It would be endless to speak of the adjuncts of trees, the climbing shrubs, the Tirginia creeper, so remarkable for the richness of its fading colors, the Roxbury wax-work, for its berries, the ivy, the vine and the climbers which naturally attach themselves to our trees, and which may be trained upon them in cultivation ; the lichens which cloud and paint their trunks with touches of green and yellow, white and brown, and the mosses of brilliant green or purple velvet which grow about their base. Ail these are studies for the landscape gardener, and their daily observation will add immeasurably to the pleasure of the contemplative man who dwells in or traverses the country in autumn with the eye of a painter, and the feelings of a poet, or with those of a worshipper of the Author of these beauties. It is surprising how small is the number of trees necessary to produce a striking effect. Ten or twelve trees, fortunately or skilfully disposed on the sides or brow of a hill, are often suffi- cient to give it an air of richness harmonizmg perfectly with a highly cultivated country. The happy effect of three or four trees on an island m Boston harbor has been already mentioned ; a single one on Pettick's Island gives an agreeable relief to the eye. A smgle tree by a farmer's house protects it, and gives it a desirable air of seclusion and rest ; as if it must be the resi- dence of peace and contentment. One almost covets a house so pleasantly sheltered. While an unprotected, solitary house seems to shiver in the north wind, and we involuntarily wish for the inhabitants a more cheerful home. Why should not at least one tree be foimd growing near the dwelling of every man, even the poorest and humblest? Nothing can better illustrate the variety of our forest trees, compared with the European, than a criticism of the learned Hallam upon a passage in Spencer's Fairy dueen. It is that in the first book where a shady grove is described, in which the knight and lady take refuge. The critic objects '' to the stanza 2 10 TREES OP MASSACHUSETTS. enumerating as many kinds of trees as the poet could call to mind, — "The sayling Pme, the Cedar proud and tall, The Yme-propp Elme, the Poplar never dry, The builder Oake, sole king of forests all, The Aspine good for staves, the Cypress funerale, with thirteen more in the next stanza. Every one knows that a natural forest never contains such a variety of species.'' The other trees mentioned are the laurel, fir, willow, yew, birch, sallow, myrrh, beech, ash, olive, platane, holm, maple ; in all twenty. Now the forest nearest to Boston which has been left undisturbed, and it is within four miles of the city, in Brookline, contains, in less than half a mUe's space, the white pine, the red cedar, the elm, the large-leaved poplar, the white oak, the aspen-leaved poplar, called aspen by our ancestors, from its resemblance to the tree of that name in England, the willow, two or three species, the poplar -leaved birch, most near akin to the European, the ash, the beech, the plane, or button- wood, the red-flowering maple, — to correspond with those of the same name, — the hemlock, the tupelo, the spruce, the pitch pine, the alder, the shellbark, the hornbeam, the leverwood, to stand against the others named ; and more- over the red oak, the black, and the swamp oak, the sugar maple, the yellow birch, the black birch, the square-nut hick- ory, the pig-nut, the bitter -nut, the chestnut, and the linden, all growing as they were planted by the hand of nature. If it be objected that it is unfair to enumerate several species of one genus, it may be answered that they are all quite as unlike each other as are the willow and sallow, or the poplar and aspen of Spencer's catalogue. It is true that we do not often find in Massachusetts so great a variety in the same wood, except upon son from the pudding-stone or conglomerate formation. The various ingredients of that rock seem to furnish the materials necessary for the ready growth of every kind of tree of our climate. 5. In a country so much exposed as ours is, in consequence of the remarkable clearness of the atmosphere, to the burning heat of the sun, the use of trees for shade is not one of the least USES OF THE FORESTS. n important. This use is closely allied to the last. A tree which furnishes a cool shade to the inhabitants of a house, is at the same time and on that account its best ornament. At the sea- son when men travel for pleasure, a plain, low, modest house with an open grass plot before it, shaded by an oak or an elm, speaks more to the feelings and is more beautiful than the showiest house unprotected from the sun. The traveller ia a hot day welcomes every tree on the road side. Even a thin fringe of grey birches looks pleasant ; and he remembers thank- fully the kindness or good taste which has spared, or planted a tree with a head broad and thick enough for him to rest under and cool himself Trees should be planted not only by dwelling-houses and along roads ; they should be in every pasture and by watering places, and near every barn, — ^wherever cattle, horses or sheep are to be provided for. All these animals suffer from our burn- ing sun; and, to say nothmg of their enjoyment, the cost of shade trees will be many times paid back in the saving of the milk, fat, fleece and strength, which will be the consequence of their being protected from the heat of the sun. 6. The importance of the forests as furnishing materials for ship-building, house-buildmg, and numerous other arts, is so obvious that it must occur to every one ; and yet there is dan- ger that, in many places, from false views of immediate econ- omy, no provision will be made for the wants of future generations. It is not easy to estimate the pecuniary value of the wood used in house-building. A vast deal of this is con- tinually going on; the aspect of the State is annually every where improving by the erection of larger, better finished and more commodious houses, barns and outhouses. And almost all the materials have been, hitherto, except for the sea- board towns, furnished by our own woods. But no returns of these improvements are published. The thousands of tons of timber, boards, clap-boards and shingles, are not put on record. It is manifest, however, that the difference against us would be great, if we had to look elsewhere for our materials. It is indeed very desirable that better taste and more just views of economy, should introduce the fashion of building dwelling- 12 TREES OP MASSACHUSETTS. houses, barnsj and other large structuresj of stone. They would then be built, as the forests must be planted, for future genera- tions. The best building stones are abundant in almost every part of the State, so much so, that in many places they are heaped together in walls much higher and wider than are ne- cessary for the protection of the fields. If the buildings were formed of stone, they would be a permanent addition to the value of the property, while, on the contrary, the present tran- sient structures are an inheritance to be perpetually repaired and renewed. As to ship-building, we have some data. The returns^ from the various towns in the State, made in 1837, show that the average annual value of ships bmlt in five years before that time, was 1,370,649 dollars. A great portion of the materials was, and a greater might have been furnished by our forests, if the oaks and pines of our hills had not been most improv- idently wasted by our ancestors. The valuable document to which I have referred, shows that in 1837 the annual value of casks and hoops made in the State, was, a 202,832 dollars; of chairs and cabinet ware, . " lumber, shingles and staves, ^' window blinds, sashes and doors, ^^ wooden ware, including boxes, rakes, shoe-pegs, yokes, and helves. b 1,262,121 '' c 167,778 '' d 74,166 '' e 174,692 " making an aggregate of . . . 1,881,589 dollars ; the materials for almost the whole of which must have come from our forests. In the manufacture of these, a 194 6 2011 c 121 d 93 e 313 2712 persons * See Statistical Tables exhibiting the condition and products of certain branches of Industry m Massachusetts, for the year ending April 1, 1837, prepared fioxn the Returns of the Assessors, by John P. Bigelow, Secretary of the Commonwealth. USES OP THE FORESTS. 13 were directly employed. Probably five times that number de- pended on it for support. If to this we add a fair proportion for the materials used in the makmg of boats, spars, pumps and blocks, / 32,391 dollars ; ^' " scythe-snaths, scythe-rifles, &c, g 44,736 " ^^ " brushes, brooms and baskets, . h 289,512 " ^' " carriages, wagons, sleighs, har- ness, &c i 679,442 '' '• ^^ machinery, . . . , j 1,235,390 " "- ^' ploughs, k 54,561 " ^^ ^^ saddles, trunks, and whips, . I 351,575 '* '^ ^' shovels, spades, forks and hoes, m 264,709 " making, in all, the sum of . . . 2,952,317 dollars ; giving employment to / 53, g. 88, L 350, I Mo J, 1399, L 73, l. 7oS^ m, 284, — 3950 persons, and support, to doubtless, five times as many. If the wooden materials be estimated at 1-1 0th part of the final value, we have . . 295,231 dollars to add to the 1,881,589 '' found above ; makmg, m all, the sum of . . . . 2,177,820 dollars besides the value of the proportion of wooden materials enter- mg into the building of ships. The eflects of the wasteful destruction of the forest trees are already visible. A very large proportion of the materials for ship-building, house-building and manufactures, m the towns along the coast, are now brought from other States. The man- ufacture of wooden bowls and other vessels made of a single piece, has in some towns in Berkshire diminished, and in others been given up, from the failure of ashes, beeches, lindens, and other suitable trees large enough for the purpose ; and in the western towns of Worcester county, materials less valuable than heretofore are necessarily in some* cases used in the im- portant manufacture of chairs. The same thing is taking place, almost imperceptibly, in all parts of the State. Every mechanic, who works in wood, looks every year more and more out of the State for his materials. Every year we are more dependent on Maine and New York, and some of the southern States, not 14 TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS. only for ship-timber and lumber for house-buildingj but for materials for tanning and dyeing, for carriage-making, basket- making, plane-making, last-making, and for furniture and the implements of husbandry* Even these foreign resources are fast failing us. Within the last quarter of a century, the forests of Maine and New York, from which we draw our largest supplies, have disappeared more rapidly than those of Massachusetts ever did. In a quar- ter of a century more, at this rate, the supply in many places will be entirely cut off. In many parts of both those States, which recently furnished the most abundant supplies, agricul- ture is already taking the place of the Ixmiber trade ; and the disforested region, now changiag into beautiful farms, will never be allowed to resume its original wildness ; or, if the attempt should be made, to restore the forests, the experiment would require a hundred years. 7. Another special use of the forests of the State, is in the production of maple sugar. Great quantities are already made, and the manufacture might be much more generally introduced. This subject has already received considerable attention. It deserves much more. In many favorable situations, the culti- vation of the maple tree would cost only forethought. The labor of planting the trees might be performed late in the year, when the fall work was over, and the making of sugar be at- tended to early, before the spring work had begun. Of minor importance, but of much more than is usually given to it, is the production of nuts of various kinds, the fruit of forest trees. The produce of the shellbark, chestnut, beech, hazel, and acorn, already valuable, might be increased in value almost indefinitely, by selecting the best native varieties, and improving them by processes similar to those to which we owe the fine varieties of apple and pear, and the cultivated varieties of European nuts, and by introducing similar trees, such as the pecan nut, the English walnut, and the European hazel 8. The most extensive and important use of the forest is in the fuel it furnishes. Most of the fires, through the State, are still chiefly fed from this source. The population, by the last census, was something over 737,000. Now, it has been found USES OP THE FORESTS. 15 that in England, the country most like ours, a family consists on an average, of 4 7-1 0th persons. From the greater facility of procuring subsistence, marriage takes place earlier among us and families are larger. If we suppose them to average 6 persons, there are about 123,000 families in this State. If we suppose the average to be 7, there are more than 105,000 families. The prices of fuel vary very considerably in different parts of the State. The estimates of value that have been sent me, give not far from four dollars as the average price per cord of hard wood.=* The quantities required for a family's fuel for a year, are very variously estimated. The medium is between 13 and 14 cords. If we suppose the price to be only |3.50, and the quantity required for a single family to be only 12 cords a year, the average cost of fuel for each family will be found to be $42, If there are 123,000 families in the State, the annual expense will be $5,166,000. If we suppose only 105,000 families, the expense cannot be less $4,410,000. It would not be easy to ascertain the quantity of fuel used in the schools, work-shops, and furnaces in the State. The quantities consumed in the locomotives on the rail- roads, may be more nearly ascertamed. The annual average quantity consumed on the Boston and Worcester Rail-road, for the last two years, is nearly 8000 cords, at a cost of some- what more than |31,000 per annum, or about $3.92 per cord. The average quantity consumed on the Western Rail-road, between Worcester and Albany, is 18,000 cords, at a lower cost per cord. The quantity used on the Boston and Providence Rail-road in 1843, was something over 4000 cords, at an average * I have letters from inteiligent gentlemen m all tlie counties, giving the prices of hard wood in their several towns, and the average number of cords necessary for a smgle family. Stating these prices below the estimates given me, I set the price in Berkshire at $2 ; m Frankhn, Hampden and Hampshire, at $3 5 in Barn- stable, Bristol, Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth and Worcester, at M ; in Nantucket and Dukes, at $5 ; and ia Suffolk at $6, Taking the inhabitants of the several counties, according to the census of 1840, 1 obtain the average price of $4r 03 per cord, for the whole consumption by families. The quantities necessary for a famDy's use, are stated by my correspondents at all numbers, from 4 to 30 cords or more. The numbers given me by the fifteen persons most to be relied on, are 4, 6, 6, 8, 9, 10, 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 17, 20, 20, 30. The average of these is 13 -and nearly 3 tenths. 16 TREES OP MASSACHUSETTS. cost of nearly $450, making $18,000. The average annual consumption on the Boston and Lowell road, is 4000 cords, at an average first cost of about $3.50 per cord,— 114,000. The average consumption on the Boston and Mame Rail-road, is about 8000 cords, at an expense of about |17,000, about $2.13 per cord. A considerable portion of this road lies in New Hampshire and Maine, and the wood is procured almost entirely from those States. On the Eastern Rail-road, as far as New- buryport, there are used, besides coal, 2400 cords of wood, at the rate of |4.50 per cord, an expense of |10,200. Now, tak- ing one-half the Boston and Maine Rail-road to run in Mas- sachusetts, we have, on the six most travelled roads, an an- nual consumption of 40,400 cords of wood, at an expense of $135,700 for 338 miles, or about 120 cords per mile. Of the other rail-roads, the Taunton is 11 miles long, the New Bed- ford 21, the Fall River 11, the Nashua 14, the Northampton 23, the Berkshire 21, the Fitchburg 42, the Plymouth, soon to be completed, 38. The Norwich runs, in this State, about 20 ; the Hartford, in this State, about 8 ; the Hudson and Berkshire, in this State, about 13;— in all, 222 miles. Suppose the average consumption on these roads to be one-half what it is on the others, or 60 cords a mile, and the price of wood $3.25, — we have 13,320 cords of wood consumed, at an expense of $43,290. These, added to the sums above, give an annual consumption of 53,710 cords of wood, at an expense of $178,990 for 560 miles of rail-road, an estimate which those acquainted with the subject ivill regard as within moderate bounds. The wood consumed in locomotives is almost entirely pine of some Idnd. Tery little hard wood is used for the purpose. Now, this consumption is not likely to diminish, and offers a perma- nent market for all the pine wood which can be grown. CONTINUATION AND IMPKOVEMENT OF THE FORESTS. From all these considerations, it is apparent how valuable are the forests, and how important it is that efforts should be made, by the land owners of this generation, to check the waste which is going on, and to provide supplies for the wants of the generations to come. Planting trees on a large scale has been sel- IMPROVEMENT OP THE FORESTS. 17 dom attempted in New England. The inhabitants of each town have been content with the kinds of wood growing in their neighborhood ; or, where particular kinds, not to be found there, were necessary for the manufactures already established, they have been satisfied to import them from a distance. In very few instances, have systematic efforts been made to provide a future supply of the best materials, in their own immediate vicinity. This is to be done. The individuals interested in a particular branch of manufacture in wood may say, that when materials fail them in one place, they will go to another. The owners of the land ought not to rest satisfied with this view of the case. True patriotism and enlightened views of economy, ought to prevent any one from consenting to it. Massachusetts must necessarily continue to be a manufactur- ing State ; and the manufactures in wood are among the most important branches of industry, and must be not only continued but enlarged. They camrot even continue, unless pains are taken to plant forests which shall furnish the necessary mate- rials. A manufacturer of wooden bowls and trays in Boston, who had procured his materials from Maine, found that it would be better economy to live near the woods which produced them, and send the finished articles thence to market. When the large ashes and beeches of Becket are cut down, the maker of wood- en-ware must remove to an older forest. What takes place in individual cases, indicates the necessary but silent movement of great masses. One by one, the workers in wood will have left the State, when the old forests shall have been all cut down. A prudent foresight may prevent this, by plantmg, in season, the kinds of trees necessary for these various demands, — ^for fuel and for all the branches of manufacture. For this end, we have extraordmary resources. Among the native trees, we have great choice, from the number, variety, and excellence of the species. In the narrow breadth of JMassachusetts, the species of native timber trees are more numerous than are found in any kingdom of Europe. We have nine large oak trees, four hickories, five birches, three large maples, three ashes, three pines, two wal- nuts, two elms, two spruces, two cedars, besides the beech, the chestnut, the horabeam, the lever wood, the tupelo, the hoop 3 18 TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS. ash or nettle tree, the tulip tree, the plane, the bass, the locust, the hemlock, the fir, thehacmatack, the cherry, the holly, several poplars, many willows, and a large number of smaller trees. Besides these, it is found that all the valuable trees of middle and northern Europe flourish here as if they were native. It thus appears that our soil and climate are perfectly well adapted to all kinds of wood which are found in temperate countries. It is only necessary to understand the character and habits of each, and to choose suitable soil and situation. Of many of our trees the properties are but partially known. Some of them grow only in particular districts. Others are so unlike those found in the mother country, that they hardly have a name.^ Of many, the habits and rate of increase, and the soil, exposure, and situation most favorable to their growth, have not yet been studied. Of the nine large oaks found grow- ing in Massachusetts, not more than five are often found in the same forest, and of these, two, and often three, are not well dis- tmguished by the land owner, though their value for diiferent purposes is very different. The black oak and the scarlet are commonly confounded, from their close resemblance, although, to the ship-builder or the wagon-maker, the former is far the more valuable ; and both these trees are often confounded with the red oak, which, for timber or fuel, is comparatively worth- less. The rock chestnut oak, of great value for fuel and for timber, and better adapted, than any other oak, for growth on rocky hills, is well known in only a few towns in the State. The mossy cup oak, so valuable for trenails and small frame work, is found only in a small part of Berkshire. It would grow readily in any section. The rough oak, or post oak, is now known only on Martha's Yineyard. Similar observations might be made on half the trees in the State. Those most in- terested in the subject, the owners of the land which should be devoted to trees, and the mechanics who work on the wood, are seldom acquainted with the quaUties of any except the trees of their own immediate vicinity- * There is no one uniform name for the Celtis, the Cai^pinuS; the Ostrya, or the Nyssa. IMPROVEMENT OP THE FORESTS. 19 Nature points out, in Tarious ways, and the observation of practical men has ahnost universally confirmed, the conclusion to which the philosophical botanist has come from theoretical considerations, that a rotation of crops is as important in the forests as it is in cultivated fields. A pine forest is often, with- out the agency of man, succeeded by an oak forest, where there were a few oaks previously scattered through the wood, to furnish seed. An oak forest is succeeded by one of pine, imder the same conditions. But it frequently happens that there are not enough trees of the opposite family to seed the ground : in which case a forest will be succeeded by another of the same land, which, though it will grow, will probably not flourish with the same luxuriance as would one of another familv. It will not be considered foreign to our purpose to enumerate some of the more important of the objects which should be kept in view, in the cultivation and extension of our forests, and the native and foreign trees best suited for those purposes. The first want, as has been shown, is fuel. The trees best suited to the purpose are the hickories, the oaks, the beech, the birches, the maples, and the pines, particularly the pitch pine, and the chestnut and hemlock for close furnaces. If fuel is to be used in the form of charcoal, the hard woods only are of great vahie, particularly chestnut, the birches, alders, oaks and maples. As materials for house-building, the pines, the spruce and the hemlock are generally employed. White oak was formerly used for frames, and in many houses now standing for more than a century, it has not begun to decay. Chestnut resists decay, and is more and more in use. Floors are some- times made of beech, of birch, and of ash. The best materials, probably, are oak, white pine, chestnut, and spruce. For ship-building, oak is considered absolutely necessary, as being preferable to any other wood. The best kinds are white oak, and black, or yellow bark oak. Much southern oak is now used. The English oaks, which, in Great Britain, are pre- ferred, may be cultivated here as successfully as our own oaks. In the construction of most of the ships of Europe, great quan- tities of larch are used. This tree might be profitably planted on thousands of acres which are now unproductive. Small ves- 20 TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS. sels, remarkably light and durable, have been -wholly made of pitch pine. This tree grows well on sands so barren as to fur- nish nourishment for no other tree. Pitch pine is also used m preference to other timber for the upper works of large vessels, and for top-masts. White pine is also used; especially for decks, as it retains the oakum in its seams; and for knees, hacmatack and spruce; and rock maple for keels. The du- rability of all kinds of wood under salt water, is considered nearly or quite equal. Spruce and pine are also used for the upper spars. For boats, cedar and oak are necessary. For fencing materials, chestnut and cedar are found most du- rable. The former is remarkable for its rapid growth. White cedar grows luxuriantly in wet swamps where nothing else will flourish. The various native and foreign thorns, the hem- lock, red cedar, and numerous small trees, furnish fit materials for hedges, which, in many parts of the State, must ultimately take the place of other fences. Furniture, of the most ornamental kinds, is now made of our beautiful maples, birches, cherries, and beech. Tables of ex- treme beauty are sometimes made of the root of oak, or maple, or birch. These four trees, with the oaks and pines, must con- tinue to be indispensably necessary for the manufacture of chairs, tables, bedsteads, and other kinds of furniture. For implements of husbandry, the ashes and hickories, the lever wood, the hornbeam and the oaks, must always be want- ed. The carriage-maker and wagon-builder will want ash for springs and frames, oak for spokes and fellies, elm for hubs and white wood or bass for pannels. The basket-maker will want young white oaks, ash and willow; the plane-maker, beech ; the last-maker, maple; the pump-maker, oak and pitch pine; the bucket-maker, white and red cedar. The tanner will continue to want the bark of the black, the white, and the chestnut oak, the hemlock and the birch, m regard to materials from all which there has hitherto been great wastefulness. And the dyer will want quercitron, sumach, bar- berry root, in addition to foreign stuiFs, for some of which he might substitute the bark of alder, birch, and some other native trees. IMPROVABLE LANDS. 21 IMPBOYABLE LANDS. For all the above purposes, the forests are of vast immediate and prospective importance. A knowledge of the best and most economical means of managing and enlarging them, is no less important. According to the latest returns, the woodlands of Massachu- setts cover 729,792 acres. There are, besides, 955,000 acres of unimproved lands, and 360,000 reported as unimprovable. In all, there are 2,044,792 acres not occupied by buildings or cul- tivation, out of the 4,491,812 acres which are estimated to con- stitute the whole territory. Probably the whole of the unim- proved and those called unimprovable lands, might be turned into forest ; as it is very questionable whether any land, except the ocean beach, should be considered unimprovable. The least promising kinds of surface are, that covered with loose, drifting sand, that of bare, rocky hills, and that of marshes covered with sedge. The most barren sands along the sea-coast of Prance have been successfully sown with pines. Of the details of the pro- cess, an account will be given in the chapter on trees of that family. No part of the sandy territory of Massachusetts, is so hopeless as the region which has thus been actually converted into forest. Our climate is quite as favorable as that of France to the growth of evergreens. We have, among our native trees of that family, a much greater variety, and we may avail our- selves, if necessary, of the very kind of pine so successfully experimented upon in that country. Many acres now mider cultivation, and poorly repaying the labor spent on them, might be advantageously sown or planted with pines- The most impracticable of our rocky hills were originally covered with trees. Sufficient portions of them remain in that state, to show that all might, with a httle pains, be redeemed to a productive use. There are several kinds of trees which re- quire very little soil ; some of them need httle more than a foot- hold in the earth. Several oaks, birches and pines, are often 22 TREES OP MASSACHUSETTS. found growing among rocks where no soil can be seen. The rock chestnut oak, the black birch, the red cedar, and the Hacmatack, rejoice in such situations. As in the case of the sands, the experiment has been made, on a large scale, of cov- ering bare, bleak hills, with trees. Of the Duke of AthoFs successful experiments in Scotland, on thousands of acres of worthless, rocky hills, an account will hereafter be given, as also of the value of the forests thus created. Of sedgy marsh and swamp, too wet and cold to be cultivated without extensive and costly draining, many acres in the east- ern part of the State have been sown by a natural process with the seeds of the white cedar. The seeds, when shed, float upon the water, and are carried by spring tides and freshets, and left upon the surface of the around. In the summer, they sprina; up in countless multitudes' They may now be seen in 'different States of forwardness, some of them forming impenetrable thick- ets. What has been done, in these mstances, by nature, indi- cates the process by which similar grounds may be reduced or restored to the condition of forest. By means of the trees above mentioned, and others, almost every acre of the surface might be made productive. Even the rocky crown of the sea-beaches might be covered with beach plums. Much is to be done for the improvement of the woodlands now existing. In some cases, they are managed with great care. The best means of thinning, pruning, and felling, are studied and practised. But, in many cases, indeed in most instances, they are left in utter neglect. The consequences are often very visible. In the cedar swamps just spoken of, the seed-sowing has been so profuse, that plants spring up thick enough to almost cover the ground- Ten or twelve may some- times be seen on a square foot. These grow up well together for a year or two. Afterwards, they seem to be struggling for existence. The growth of all is retarded — almost stopped. In a few years, the strongest overtop the others, which gradually die. Still the number left living is far too great for the ground, and few of them become fine and vigorous trees. All the side branches die for want of light and air, and the top-most shoot, THINNING AND PRUNING. 23 never sufficient to form a shapely tree, is left alone. The same thing takes place in beech groves. Ten or twenty times as many plants spring up as can be sustained. They go on together vegetating, but hardly growing. I know several in- stances of beech woods, which have made no perceptible pro- gress for twenty years. These are the most striking cases ; but forests of other trees are almost constantly, if left to them- selves, affected in a similar manner. The remedy is obvious. Every year, from the first, they need to be thinned. For the first few years, the plants removed are of no value except for transplantation or fuel. Afterwards, they are of use, in innumerable ways ; the young cedars, larches, and chestnuts, for stakes and poles ; hickories for walking-sticks ; oaks and ashes for basket-work ; lever- wood and hoop-ash for whip-stocks and levers ; all of the five latter for hoops. The products of the thinning will thus obviously far more than re- pay the labor, even if this were not necessary for the welfare of the remaining trees. THINNING AND PRUNING. The principle on which prumng and thinning should be con- ducted, is a very plani and intelligible one. It is, that every tree and every branch should be allowed to have an ample sup- ply of air and light. When, therefore, two trees are so near, that their branches extensively intermingle, one should be re- moved; and, generally, it should be that one which is much taller or shorter than the neighboring trees. In pruning, that branch should be shortened which encroaches on other branches of its own or another tree. It should not be cut ofl" close to the stem, as, in that case, the wound will be long in healing, and the root^^ which supplied the branch, being left -useless, will wholly or partly perish, and, by its decay, will * «' It is almost universally found, that a large branch corresponds to a large root, and the reverse ; and this is true, whether the root, placed m favorable circum- stances, determines the growth of the branch above it, or the branch, propitiously- situated, causes the growth of its corresponding root."— I?e CandolUj Organograjpkie VegetaUj Tom. I., p. 162. 24 TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS. infect and weaken the whole tree. It should rather be taken off at the distance of a foot or more from the stem, just above a vigorous shootj which shall be left to grow towards a space in which it will find a plentiful supply of air and light. The shoot thus left will sustain the life of the shortened branch, and will continue in action the root by which it had been nour- ished.* The mode of thinning and pruning, will be governed in some measure by the end in view. If the object is to produce a full grown tree, m its true character, developing itself according to its natural tendencies, all or most of the branches will be left, and care be taken to give them space ; and, as every branch swells the trunk, a similar course will be pursued, where it is an object to get the greatest possible amount of wood. In both cases, those stems and branches only will be removed, which interfere with the rest. A crowded growth will be allowed, and the lower lateral branches will be removed, where it is desirable to get a lofty trunk and head. In many hard wood trees, shoots spring vigorously from the stool or stump, after the trunk is cut down ; and this mode of reproduction is chiefly relied upon in most of the woodlands in the State. It becomes, then, of great importance to ascertain what are the best modes of felling, whether by thinning out the forest or cutting it entirely down ; in what period a wood, so cut down, will renew itself, so as to be profitably cut again ; at what age of the tree the stump will shoot most vigorously; at what age, if any, trees cease to shoot from the stool ; what trees will not thus shoot; what season of the year is found best for felling a forest, when the object is to have it renew itself speedily; and what season, when the object is to de- stroy the forest. In 1838, I addressed circulars to gentlemen interested in the forests, in all parts of the State, askmg these questions and others. In answer, I received many communi- cations, from which I now proceed to extract some of the valu- * See a " Treatise on the Management and Cultivation of Forest Trees. By John Smith, Gardener and Forester to the Earl of Bute." The chapters on thin- ning and pruning are interesting, as giving illustrations, by a practical man, of scientific principles which he had learnt only from observation. THINNING AND PEUNING. 25 able conclusions of the observation of intelligent, practical men. Most of these conclusions are confirmed by the concurring tes- timony of great numbers of persons. The ninth question in my circular, was, "In felling for tim- ber, or for fuel, is it the practice to thin out the forest, or to cut it entirely down, and leave it to spring up from the stumps'? Which is considered preferable 1 " From the answers returned, I find that, in felling for timber, the practice is to select suitable trees, from any part of the for- est. No mstances hav^ come to my knowledge of extensive woods, cultivated with express reference to the production of timber. In felling for fuel, the practice has been to select the old and mature trees, especially such as have begun to decay. It has now become nearly a universal practice to cut clean and close. Experience has uniformly shown this to be most economical. Several of my correspondents have subjoined the reason. One of them"^ writes, — ^^ Trees which remain where woods are thinned, are much shaken by the winds, and often destroyed. Again, unless the timber be all or nearly all taken ofi", the new growth is shaded, sparse and feeble. But where a new forest springs up, it accommodates itself to ail circumstances of wind and tempest." Another f says, — '^Some persons in this town have trimmed up young white oak and walnut (hickory) woods, clearing the undergrowth, when the wood itself con- sisted of young shoots of 10 or 12 years of age. The result of this experiment does not seem to justify a continuation of the practice." Experience here seems to confirm a well known principle, that the quantity of wood formed depends upon the number of the branches, or rather upon the extent of surface of the leaves. To the question,-" How soon will a wood, which has been cut entirely down, renew itself so as to be profit- ably cut again?" the answers are very full and satisfactory, though very various. The object is every where supposed to be fuel. Some give a definite period, varying, for difierent places, from 15, 17, 18, 20, to 25, 30 and 35 years. The average of * William Bacon, Esq., of Mount Osceola, Richmond, f Austin Bacon, Esq., of Natick. 4 26 TREES OP MASSACHUSETTS. ten such is 23 years. Others speak less definitely, from 15 to 20, 17 to 30, 20 to 25, 20 to 30, 20 to 33, 20 to 40, 25 to 30, 25 to 35, 30 to 35, for woods of miscellaneous growth. The aver- age deduced from fourteen such statements, is, from 21 to 28. The general average from all is a little over 24 years. These statements are probably as definite as the case admits. Differ- ences of situation, exposure, soil, and kind of trees, would of necessity lead to them. For particular trees, the answers are more precise. The white or grey birch is of most rapid growth, and springs at once from the stump. This may be profitably cut in from 10 to 20 years ; a growth of maple, ash and birch, black, yellow and white, in 20 to 25 ; oaks in from 20 to 33. Where the trees are principally oak, white, black and scarlet, the forest may be cut clean three times in a century. Cedar swamps, which grow from seed, cannot be profitably cut in less than 40 years. Pitch pines, which also spring only from seed, are very slow at first, and require from 40 to 60 years to be in a condition to be felled. In many places, the experiment has been tried of burning over the surface, ploughing, and sowing mth rye. When the trees have been of hard wood, this prac- tice IS strongly condenmed. In the case of the pitch pine, it is recommended. The seedling pines make much more rapid progress when the surface has been softened by cultivation. An intelligent gentleman of great experience, A. M. Ide, Esq., of South Attieborough, gives me a statement of some important facts bearing upon the subject. " Having been, for thirty years past, more or less engaged in buying woodland and cutting it off, I wish to state that I know, from careful observation, that an acre of good land, where there is a mixture of the several kinds of oak and walnut, (hickory,) cut off while young and thrifty, will produce, during the first 20 or 25 years, a cord of wood yearly.'* '^ believe that most kinds of hard wood are worth twenty or thirty per cent, more, for fuel, at the age of 25 years than at 75:^ This important fact is confirmed by many of the wood-growers in the Old Colony, and in other parts where the woods have been repeatedly cut down. It is remarkable that ail the facts and testimony lead to the same conclusion. The trees best for fuel shoot again most readily and vigorously THINNING AND PRUNING. 27 when cut under 25 years. The wood is formed within that time as rapidly, taking a forest together, as at any other age ; and, for fuel, it is^then of most value. In cutting with a view to future timber, the tree should be felled as close to the ground as possible, as the shoots will then be erect. In cutting with a view to fuel, it is of less conse- quence. Several suckers will be thrown out, all of which will be curved at base, but they will all, thereby, have more room to grow. To the questions,— '^ Stumps of trees of what age, when felled, will shoot up most vigorously ? Is there any age at which they cease to shoot? What trees will not shoot from the stump?" the answers are equally full. To the first of these questions, the uniform answer is, that the stumps of young, healthy, grow- ing trees, shoot most vigorously. They should not be under 15 years, nor much over 20. The almost uniform answer to the second question, is, that shoots will not come from very old trees. From those of old trees they spring up, but die in one or two years. Stumps of trees that had begmi to decay, seldom give any shoots. In some cases, suckers come from the roots of old trees, but not from the stump. A single individual thinks that the power of throwmg up shoots from the stump, never ceases during the life of the tree. As to the third question, all agree that evergreens never give permanent shoots from the stump. Several persons, who have attended to the growth of the sugar maple say, that the stump of this tree makes no shoots ; and the same is said of tRe beech. As to the season of the year most favorable for felling a for- est, when the object is to have it renew itself speedily, the tes- timony is various, but not absolutely discordant. All agree in saying, that the tree should be felled when not in leaf. The majority say, generally, in the winter months; some, between November and April. A correspondent in Plymouth, my friend G. P. Bradford, who kindly took great pains to get information extensively from the wood -growers in that neighborhood, says, — ^'It is generally considered, by those well acquainted with the matter, much preferable for the future growth, to fell a forest in April and May. The wood is not so good as when cut between 28 TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS. November and April." This is confirmed by several other per- sons vrho have enjoyed means of extended observation. Tlie convenience of the -wood-cutter "will generally lead him to fell the forest in the early part of winter ; and, probably, taking into consideration both the quality of the wood cutj and the welfare of the fatm"e forest, this may be best. When the object is to destroy the growth, summer is univer- sally declared to be the best season to fell a forest. As to the month, opinions differ. Many say, August, or late in summer ; some say, June and July, or midsummer. Mr. A. C. Metcalfe, a very intelligent farmer of Lenox, says, — ''In August, or when the tree has attained its full growth for that season." This seems to be the true period, at whatever time it takes place; when the wood is formed and before it has hardened, and the materials are laid up, in the trunk and root, for future growth. Mr. A. Bacon describes a conclusive experiment. ''A gentle- man residing in this vicinity, effected the clearing of a lot of young walnuts, (hickories,) oaks and birches, in the follow- ing manner. He commenced cutting about the first of March, and felled successive portions as he found leisure, till about the first of July. That portion which was cut between the 18th and 30th of June, was killed to the letter. Those which were cut before the leaves put forth, were most prompt in the renewal of their sprouts." I find an opinion very generally expressed or implied, that every tree has a period of growth, maturity and decay. This is apparently hostile to the theory universally received by the vegetable physiologists, that the growth of every exogenous "^ tree, is, by its nature, indefinite. The discrepancy admits of being easily reconciled. Throughout Massachusetts, in the land left in forest, the soil is thin and poor. It will, therefore, in a comparatively short period of years, be exhausted of the nutriment essential to trees of any particular species. Every tree, like every other organized being, must perish when de- prived of its necessary food. It is not surprising, therefore, * All the common trees of our climate are exogenous; that is, they annually form a layer of new wood between the old wood and the bark. THINNING AND PRUNING. 29 that, in many soils, the trees should at last be unable to ob- tain sufficient nourishment, and should consequently thence- forward begia to cease to grow, and finally perish from inan- ition. We do not find this taking place on our rich intervales, and it might every where, probably, be prevented by sup- plies of fresh, nourishing soil. The proper inference, therefore, from the fact that trees are dying on the ground, is, that their appropriate nourishment is exhausted, and that, if the ground is to be continued in forest, it should be sown or planted with trees of some other kind. This is clearly indicated by what is constantly going on in the forests, particularly the fact which I have already stated, and which is abundantly confirmed by my correspondents, that a forest of one kind is frequently succeeded by a spontaneous growth of trees of another kind. Mr. P. Sanderson, of East Whately, writes me, '-There is an instance, on my farm, of spruce and hacmatack being succeeded by a spontaneous growth of maple wood." Mr. Metcalfe, of Lenox, says, — '^A forest of beech and maple is now growing on my father's farm, where stumps of white pine and some of oak and chestnut, are very numerous and very large." Oaks and pines most frequently succeed each other. Mr, E. Swift, of Falmouth, writes, — ''Many instances have occurred in this town, of pine lands having been cleared of the pine timber, which has been suc- ceeded by a spontaneous growth of oak." J. H. Cobb, Esq., of Dedham, says, — "I have known pine succeeded by hard wood in several instances." Mr. S. Freeman, of Brewster, de- clares, — "I have known frequent instances, where a forest of oaks has been entirely cut down, and succeeded by a growth of pine, and vice versa." Mr. W. Bacon, of Eichmond, writes,— ''We have seen hemlock succeeded by white birch in cold places, and by hard maple in warm ones ; beech succeeded by maple, elm, S'. Russellidna. Smith. Liiroduced. So named in honor of the Duke of Bedford, who first brought it into notice. Figured in Sowerby's Eng. Botany, 1807, and Loudon, III, 1518. Leaves lanceolate, tapering at each end, strongly serrated throughout, smooth, very pale beneath; footstalks glandular, oi lealy , stipules half hc^rt- shaped, strongly serrate, pointed , ovary stalked, lanceolate, smooth, longer than the scale ; style as long as the biiid stigmas , scales naiiow, lanceolate, slightly ciliated. — Hooker, British Flora, 418 ; Loudon, Arb , 1517. This tree, a native of Britain, attains sometimes to as great a height as the crack willow, and is considered far more valuable. It is remarkable for the rapidity of its growth m its natural soil, and it grows with more vigor, in the neighborhood of Boston, than any other willow, native or foreign. The favorite tree of Dr. Johnson, at Litchjaeld, which was destroyed a few years ago by a hurricane, was of this species.^* It is extensively cul- tivated in England for poles, for its wood, and for its bark, which has been ascertained to contain more of the tannin principle than the oak. Mr. Lowe, in his survey of Nottinghamshire, says that a plantation of it, of eight years' growth, yielded a net profit of 214Z. per acre. It flowers in April or May. This tree may be known from the others of this group by the length and brightness of the leaves, their large serratures, and their occasionally leafy footstalks, and by the length and * A few years before the Doctor's death, this tree measured fifteen feet nine inches m circumference, at the ground, and eleven feet ten inches at the smallest place below the branches. It continued to increase till 1810, when it measured twenty-one leet m girth, at six feet from the ground. In 1829, it was blown down. Loudon has given a figure of this tree as it appeared at the time of Dr Johnson's death, and also just before its destruction. See Arboretum, III, pp. 1520, 1521, VIII. 2. THE GLOSSY WILLOW. 267 straightness of its vigorous green shoots. It is found in Rox- bury, along the Lowell road, and for some distance along the brook which runs near Mr. J. A. Lowell's house. It is there mingled with the yellow willow. Sp. 12. The Glossy Willow. S. liicida. Muhlenberg. Th8 leafis figured m the Annals of Botany, II, Plate 5, fig 7, and fin Michaux, Sylva, III, Plate 125. Leaves ovate oblong ; cuspidate, acuminate, rounded and somewhat alter- nate at base, sharply serrate, with glandular serratures, smooth and shining on both surfaces , stipules oblong or roundish, glandular -serrate ; aments ap- pearing with the leaves ; about three to five stamens ; scales broad-lanceolate, obtuse, hairy at base, toothed at the apex, smooth above ; ovaries lanceolate- subulate, stalked, smooth; style cleft, stigmas bifid, obtuse. Outer bud-scales very hairy.— Pt^r^;^. II, 615 ; Wtlld. lY, 667. A handsome small tree, sometimes twelve to fifteen feet high, and four inches diameter, usually smaller. The trunkjs nearly smooth, and the bark externally much resembles that of a maple. The small branches are smooth, polished, and dark green. Recent shoots a shmmg yellow, those of the second year bronzed. The leaves have a smgularly neat and definite outlme, from one to two mches broad, by three and a half to five long. They are on short, compressed, smooth footstalks ; ovate-lanceo- late, or elliptic-lanceolate, rounded at base, tapering to a very long acuminate point; closely and sharply glandular-serrate, of a shining green above ; lighter, polished and reticulate beneath. At the base of the leaf, on each side, are usually a few pedicellate glands. Stipules small, semi-circular, glandular-serrate. Buds long, compressed, on the recent shoots bright yellow. The branches, large and small, are extremely brittle near the base ; indeed, every part is brittle except the recent shoots, which are tough, but less so than those of most other willows. This IS the most beautiful of the willows. Hardly ever have I experienced more vividly the sense of beauty in inanimate nature, than on commg, unexpectedly, upon a low clump of this willow, in a little islet, on the edge of Meeting- House Pond, in Westminster. This willow is found in all parts of the State, and of New 268 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. England. Sir W. J. Hooker says it is one of the most generally diffused of all the willows in British North America, being found throughout Canada, from Lake Huron to the Saskatchawan and Jasper's Lake in the Rocky Mountains, and to the Colum- bia River, and as far north as Fort Franklin on the Mackenzie River. It occurs as far south as Chester County, Pennsylvania. It has a near resemblance to S. pentandra^ of Europe, but the leaves differ in having a much longer acumination, and in having their serratures less glandular, and the male aments and their footstalks are much shorter. Geoup Sixth. The White Willows. Alhoi, Borrer. Trees of the largest size, having Umceolaie, serrated leaves^ with glajidular serratures, long appressed, silky hairs beneath, and often above, givi?ig to the foliage a ivJutish or bluish hue. Flowers loosely disposed in the catkins ; stamens two; ovaries smooth.— Hooker, Eng. FL, 418. Sp. 13. The White Willow. S. alba. L. Introduced. Figured in Soweiby's English Botany, 2430. The tree in Loudon, Arb., YII, 209. Leaves elliptic-lanceolate, xegnlarly glandular-serrate, acute, silky beneath, often above ; ovaries ovate-acunainate, nearly sessile, smooth ; stigmas short, recurved, deeply cleft ; stamens tv^^o, with hairy filaments ; scales short, pu- bescent at the margin. — Hooler^s Eng. FL, p. 418. ^^ A native of Europe, from Norway and Sweden to the Med- iterraneaif Sea : of the north-east and west of Asia; near alJ the large rivers of Russia and Livonia, especially the Irtish, where it attains the height of a large tree." — Loudon, 1523. It has long been more extensively planted throughout Britain, as a timber tree, than any other species. It grows rapidly, often to the height of thirty feet in ten years, and, in favorable situa- tions, attains an elevation of even eighty feet and upwards. It has been extensively planted in various parts of the Continent of Europe, particularly in Russia, on the road from Moscow to the Austrian frontier. It has also been introduced and extensively planted in this YIII. 2. THE YELLOW WILLOW. 269 country. I have found it in Martha's Vineyard, in Waltham, and along the roads in Berkshire. The Blue Willow, S. ccarulea^ is by some made a separate species ; by some, it is considered a variety of the white. It is figured in Sowerby's Enghsh Botany, p. 243L The only char- acters, by which it is distinguished from >S'. alba are, that the under surface of the leaves is less silky, often quite smooth, and that the leaves have a bluish hue, deeper than that of the white. It has been extensively introduced, and is found m many parts of the State ; and so readily does it propagate itself, that the blue willow, with others of the same group, fringes the beauti- ful Housatonic, in the midst of wildness and of cultivation, from its source to the sea. This willow is considered preferable, on account of the rap- idity of its growth, to the white. Sp. 14. The Yellow Willow, or Golden Osier. S. viiel- Vina. L. Introduced. Figured in Sowerby's English Botany, 1389. The tree in Loudon, Arb., YII, Plate 206. Leaves lanceolate, acute, with glandular serratures, acuminate, glaucous and more or less silky beneath ; often so, but usually smooth above ; stipules minute, lanceolate, deciduous, smooth ; ovaries ovate-lanceolate, sessile, smooth; scales linear-lanceolate, acute, fringed at the base, longer than the pistil ; style short, stigmas deeply cleft. — Hoolter^s British Botany, 419 ; Loudon, III, 1528. Differs from the white in its longer, more taper aments, lanceolate, pointed scales, smooth filaments, smoother leaves, and conspicu- ously m its bright yellow branches. This is a native of Britain and various other parts of Europe, where it is extensively cultivated as an ornamental tree, and as an osier, and grows sometimes to the height of fifty or sixty feet. The golden osier has been more extensively propagated in New England than any other foreign willow. It is found in many parts of Maine, where it sometimes attains a height of thirty feet, in New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, and all parts of Massachusetts. As it grows here, the trunk is rarely 270 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. erect, but inclining to one side, with a darkish bark furrowed, on old trees, with pretty deep furrows. The branches are very spreading, of a whitish green, with long dark cracks. The smaller branches are of a greenish yellow, and smooth. The terminal shoots are long, slender, dependent, of a bright yellow color. The leaves are long, lanceolate, finely serrate, tapering at both extremities, of a polished green above when mature, whitish-glaucous beneath, more or less covered with silky hairs when young. The footstalk is short, often with a dark gland at the base of the leaf on each side. Sp. 15. The Weeping Willow. S. Babylojiica. L. Introduced^ The tree is figured in Loudon, VII, Plate 207. Leaves lanceolate, acuminate, finely serrated, glabious, glaucous beneath ; stipules minute, roundish ; aments opening with the leaves ; ovaries ovate, sessile, glabrous ; branches pendulous. — Pitrsh. 11, 614 ; Wdld. IV, 671 ; Loudon, III, 1507. A native of the banks of the Euphrates, near Babylon, of China, and of the north of Africa. It is supposed to have been introduced into Europe by the celebrated botanist, Tournefort, the great predecessor of Linnseus. Tournefort returned from his voyage to the Levant in 1702, at which time this willow must have been introduced. It is now extensively cultivated, as an ornamental tree, in those parts of Europe, as well as Asia, the north of Africa, and America, whose climate is favorable to its growth. It is almost every where considered a funereal tree, and has, in many places, taken the place of the cypress, in church-yards. To no other willow does the descriptive line of the poet of nature so well apply : — ' '' and gracefully The willow, a perpetual mourner, drooped." It is found in most parts of New England, although the cli- mate is rather too cold for it, as is shown by the fact that the branches often fail of ripening their wood, and are consequently killed by the succeeding winter. A singular variety of this willow called the ring-leaved wil- low, with curled or twisted leaves, is cultivated as a curiosity. VIII. 2. THE BLACK WILLOW. 271 Sp. 16. The Black Willow. S. nigra. Marshall. Leaves figured inMichaux, Sylva, III, Plate 125, fig. 1, and in Annals of Bot- any, 11, Plate 5, fig. 5. Leaves lanceolate, rounded at base when young, afterwards acute at each end, smoothish and green on both surfaces, the tipper surface of the footstalk and mid-rib downy ; stipules roundish-heart-shaped, pointed, deciduous; aments rather long, lax, villous, fiexuose, expanding with the leaves ; filaments four to six, bearded at base ; scales small, oblong, spreading, very hairy ; ovaries on a short stalk, brown, ovate, sinooth ; style short, stigmas notched ; young shoots puberulent. — Hooker, FL, Bor, Am. II, 148 ; BarhngtoUj 559 ; Pursh, II, 614 ; Muhlenberg, Ann. of Bat,, II, 65. A small tree, eight or ten feet high, growing usually on the edge of streams and lakes, and bending over the water. The twigs are hght green, downy, rendered slightly angular by the continuance downwards of the vessels of the leafstalk. Leaves lanceolate, very downy and acute when young, afterwards lengthening much, tapering to a long point, and becoming smooth, often somewhat falcate, serrate, the serratures glandu- lar, green on both surfaces, finally smooth, except the mid-rib above, and sometimes below. Footstalks short, hairy, some- times with ferruginous glands near the base of the leaf Flowers m May; capsules ripe in June. This willow be- comes larger, further south. Darlmgton says it is, in Chester County, Pennsylvania, fifteen to twenty feet high, with a diam- eter of from eight to fifteen inches, and a dark-colored, rough bark, with a stem often crooked or leaning. Dr. Barratt says that, at Middletown, Connecticut, ^' The young leaves, in flowering time, are often subcordate at the base, and distinguishable by the white pubescence along the mid-rib, and on the young leaves. In Autumn, the leaves are glabrous, narrow, and mostly falcate. The fine twigs of this species are exceedingly brittle at the base. It is known to bas- ket-makers as the ' wicker willow,' and is much esteemed for its great elasticity, in fine kinds of wicker work. It approaches the nearest of any of the native willows to /S. triandra^ of Eu- rope. This is the last of the willows to flower. The capsules ripen in about a calendar month ; and this as a general rule will apply to the rest of the willows, varying but little in ordinary 272 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS, seasons. Flowers May 18th ; capsules ripe June 18th." — Sali- ces Am. Michaux says this is the most common of American willows, that it is multiplied particularly in the Middle and Western States, and is found along the banks of the large rivers. He found it sometimes thirty or thirty-five feet high and twelve or fifteen inches in diameter. " Upon the trunk the bark is grayish, and finely chapt ; upon the roots it is of a dark brown, whence may have been derived the specific name of the tree. The roots afibrd an intensely bitter decoction, which is considered in the country a purifier of the blood, and a preventive and remedy for intermittent fevers.*'-^ Sp. 17. Pursh's Willow. S. Pvrshidiia. Sprengel. The leaves are figured as those of the Champlain willow, by Michaux, Sylva, III, Plate 125, figure 2. Leaves very long, linear-lanceolate, often falcate, gradually tapeimg above to an extremely long, slender acamination, acute or somewhat rounded at base, closely serrate, of a uniform green on both surfaces, and smooth, the younger leaves, particularly on the mid-rib, silky ; stipules large, broad-lunate or reni- form-cordate, serrate, often deflexed ; female aments rather long, many-fiow- ered, somewhat lax; scales deciduous; ovaries ovate, acunainate, stalked, smooth ; style very short ; stigmas slightly notched ; twigs at first silky, soon very smooth. — Darlington, 560 ; S. falcata. Hooker, Fl. Bor. Am., 11, 149. Pursh, II, 614. This species has a strong resemblance to the last, but may be distinguished by the very long, falcate leaves, and large cor- date or broad-lunate, usually persistent stipules. Pursh's willow is a slender tree, growing on the banks of streams and lakes, in situations sometimes overflown, conspicu- ous for its remarkably soft and delicate foliage and graceful head. It sometimes attains to the height of forty feet, from a base of but four or five inches in diameter. It is often much larger. On the banks of the Nashua River, in Lancaster, I measured many stems a foot in diameter, and one, which, at the height of one foot from the ground, was five feet and eight inches in circumference, or nearly twenty -two inches in diam- * N. A. Sylva, III, 78. VIII. 2. PURSH'S WILLOW. 273 eter. The trunk is covered with a very rough, scaly bark. The recent branches are of a yellowish green, somewhat downy, the older ones grayish. The leaves are on a very short footstalk, silky-downy above. They are very long and narrow, scythe-shaped, lanceolate, rounded or somewhat acute at base, tapering gradually to an extremely long point, finely glandular- serrate, smooth and shining, and of the same color on both sur- faces, which are, by the twisting of the petiole, presented almost equally to the light. The mid-rib is slightly prominent beneath and somewhat silky above, and sometimes beneath. The ve- nation is minutely reticulate, the secondary nerves scarcely dis- tinguishable from the veins. Each leaf, before expanding, closely embraces those within it, and is, at that time, covered with a soft, silken down. The stipules are very conspicuous, semi-lunar or ear -shaped, auricled, pointed above, nearly em- bracing the new shoot, and glandular-serrate. The branches slender, extremely brittle at base, even when an inch in diam- eter, extremely tough above. Aments expanding with the leaves, and borne on the end of a short, leafy branchlet, two inches long, and having, on its lower half, four or five short leaves. On the female anient the scales are soon gone, exposing the brownish, downy, but not silky stem : the seed-vessels are nearly sessile, ovate acuminate, yellowish green, finally light- brown, terminated by the two nearly sessile, black stigmas; ripe, in Worcester County, in the beginning of July, or before. In Middletown, according to Dr. Barratt, the flowers expand May 18, and the capsules are ripe June 18. He says that this tree is there smaller than the black willow, and the twigs are finer ; and that the twigs are equally valuable, for fine wicker work, with those of that willow. Pursh's willow is a more northern tree than the black. The effect of the mass of foliage of Pursh's willow, in the situations in which it is found, is striking and agreeable. The softness of the light reflected from it, without the changeable- ness, distinguishes it from the other willows; and the great length and slenderness of the stem give a peculiarly gentle motion to the whole mass, when acted on by the wind. 36 274 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. GrROtrp Seventh. The Ochee Flowered Willows. Fulvm, Barratt. Male amejiis rather shorty cylindrical^ expanding with the leaves^ iawny or ochre-colored ; scales yellow ; stamens iwo^ long, divm^giyig, expanding first from the base of the ament Female amenis lax. finally lengthened ; ovaries on long stalks, silky, narrow-lanceolate. A shrub with dichotomous branches and tough twigs. — Baxratt Sp. 18. The Beaked Willow. S. rostrdia, Richardson. Branches erect, rather close, pubescent, finally smooth ; leaves broad or ob- ovate-Ianceolate, acute, very entire, serrate, submembranaceous, becoming sub- coriaceous, rather naked above, glaucous and v^hitish-downy beneath ; stipules semicordate, dentate ; male aments rather short, cylindrical, dense-ilowered ; female at last very long and lax ; scales oblong, membianaceous, hairy at the apes, nearly as long as the stalk ; ovaries nairow-lanceolate, silky, with a long acummation, on a very long stalk ; style very short ; lobes of the stigma notched or eniiie.— Richardson, Appendix, p. 37, as quoted by Hoolcr. FJ Bor. jlm.,11, 147. This is a distinct and well characterized willow, found grow- ing in every variety of soil, more frequently in dry, but flour- ishing best in one moderately rich and moist, in open woods, or by the sides of forests. It is a shrub or small tree, from three or four, to ten or twelve, or even fifteen feet high. The stem is reddish or olive-green, or gray, striated, with an orange-grayish, or clay-colored epidermis. The shoots are downy, of a reddish pnrple, or yellowish, or reddish above, where exposed to the sun, and green beneath. In drying, they turn to a brown or dark purple. The leaves are on short, downy footstalks; obovate, oblong-elhptical, or broad lanceolate, often inequilateral, rounded or tapering at base, acuminate on the ends of the branches and recent shoots, with the acumina- tion turned half round ; near the stem, shorter and broader, pointed, or obtuse; downy, or smooth, but with the surface always conspicuously netted with depressed veins above, and white-downy beneath. Margin entire or waved, crenulate or serrate, the serratures ending in a black point. The stipules are ear-shaped, often nearly entire, sometimes cleft to the base, YIII. 2. THE HEART-LEAYED WILLOW. 275 sometimes toothed, and pointed above and belo-w, or serrate. The leaves, when young, are downy on both surfaces. This willow seems to be nearly allied to /S. trisiis, through the variety called by Pursh S. recurvdta; and connects them with S. comfera. Had it not been for the high authority of Dr. Barratt, I should have associated this with the cinereous group. GEOtrp Eighth. The CoRDa.TE Willows. Cordatce Barratt. Aments slightly stalked^ ovate^ cylindrical^ expanding with the leaves. Scales subciliate, red or yellowish. Stamens two or three. Ovaries stalked, smooth. Leaves cordate, or attenuate at base, smooth. Stipides half-heart-shaped, serrate. Tall shrubs with dichotomous, flexible, smooth branches. — Barratt ^' The aments in this section are invested with a double cov- ering; the outer being a hard scale or shield; the inner, a thin membranous envelope. This last is generally ruptured trans- versely, and is elevated like a cap or calyptra on the summit of the expanding ament. This membrane is sometimes found ad- hering to the inner surface of the hard scale or shield. It is most perfectly formed in S. Torreyana. and next in S. cordita. Both these species of willow begin to expand their filaments at the apex of the aments. The floral leaves (four or five) are from half to three quarters of an inch long. The fertile aments of S. r'lgida, the largest of this section, when ripe, form a densely fruited raceme three to four inches long. The mature germens are sub-rhomboidal at the base, and somewhat flattened, vary- ing in color from green to a reddish brown." — Barratt. Sp. 19. The Heart-leaved Willow. iS. cordaia. Willdenow. Leaf figured in Annals of Botany, II, Plate Y, fig. 3. Leaves oblong, lanceolate, acuminate, heart-shaped, rarely acute at base, sharply serrate, smooth, paler beneath ; stipules large, ovate-roundish, cartila- ginous-serrate ; aments expanding with the leaves ; stamens about three ; scales lanceolate, woolly , black ; ovaries stalked, lanceolate, smooth ; style very short ; stigmas cleft. — HooLer, Fl. Bor. Am., II, 149. Pursh, II, 615. WtUdenow, IV, 666. Muhlenberg, Ann. Bot., 11, 64. This is a beautiful low tree, varying from eight or ten, to twelve or fifteen, and even twenty or more feet in height. 276 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Stem brown, or, on older stalks, ashy-gray or clay-colored. Branches greenish brown, or bright green, or bronze yellow, smooth ; recent shoots varying, on the same stem, from bright to faint yellow, dusty or downy white, and apple-green. Buds yellow, tipped with reddish, downy. Leaves usually some- what crowded, and then very cordate at base, at other times scattered, and rounded at base ; folded back, in the bud, cov- ered with silky pubescence when young, smooth above, glau- cous beneath when mature; flat, waving, or recurved, ovate- lanceolate or broad-lanceolate, tapering to a somewhat long point. Male aments an inch long, female, one and a half inches. This willow is found on the streams of Canada as far as the Saskatchawan. It abounds on the Connecticut, Nashua, and other rivers of this State, and is found m New York, and as far south as Yirgmia, presenting some remarkable varieties. The roots form large, tangled masses, on the sides of streams, and are much larger than the stems proceeding from them. Dr. Barratt says it furnishes excellent twigs for basket-work. Sp. 20. The Stiff-leaved Willow. >§, riglda. Muhlenberg. Leaf figmred in Annals of Botany, II, Plate 5, fig. 4. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, subcordate at base, stiff, smooth, sharply serrate, the lower serrature elongate, with a cartilaginous point ; foot- stalks rather long, hairy ; stipules large, cordate, obtuse, glandular-serrate ; aments expanding with the leaves ; stamens about three ; scales lanceolate, black, woolly; ovaries on long stalks, lanceolate, smooth ; style very short ; stigmas bipartite. — Willdenow, IV, 667. Pu7sh, II, 615. Hooker, FL JBor. Am., IT, 149. Muhlenberg, Ann. of Bot., II, 64. A more vigorous or coarser looking plant than the last, re- semblmg it very much, but distinguished by the length of its hairy petioles, the coarseness of the serration of the leaves, and the prolongation and stiffness of ihe lower serrature. It is a handsome small tree, sometimes fifteen feet high. The stem is grayish, rather smooth, erect and slender, or pros- trate along the banks of streams, where its large roots, with those of /S. cordata^ S. lucida, and S. nigra, form dense and strong bulwarks against the action of the stream. The branches VIII. 2. TORRETS WILLOW. 277 are grayish green, or gray ; the recent shoots a bronze yellow^ often clouded, brownish and downy; often bright red where exposed to much Hght The lower serratures of the leaves are enlarged, prolonged and rigid. It is found between Fort Franldin and Cumberland House, in British America, and in Pennsylvania. In this State, I have found it on the Hoosic, abundantly on the Connecticut, about the pond m Westminster from whence flows the Nashua, and along the banks of that river. ^^ This strong and handsome species furnishes excellent twigs and rods for the heaviest kinds of basket-work. This willow and S. co7'data are very ornamental m groves and plantations. There are several varieties of S. rigida, and of the aments I have met with great diversity. The largest of these catkins are one and a half to two inches long, and when the flowering season is fine, and the catkins have escaped being drenched with rain, I have found these flowers of great beauty, exhibiting a play of colors from violet or purple to yellow ; as the stamens rise over the tips of the scales from their doAvny bed, they yield the resplendent colors of the rainbow, and this zone is carried symmetrically onward, by the successive elongation of the fila- ments." — BarratL Sp. 2L Torrey's Willow. S. Torreydna. Barratx. Leaves heart-ovate, sharply pointed, one and a half inches wide, four inches long ; margin wavy and finely serrate ; above smooth, deep green, beneath paler ; stipules large, one half to three quarters of an inch broad, half-heart- shaped. Male ament slender ; when expanded, one and a half to two inches long ; scales imbricate, lanceolate, blackish and ciliate ; stamens two, filaments rather short. Female ament, rachis slender, clothed with soft, dull white hairs. Germens on short pedicels, smooth, deltoid-lanceolate ; stigma four- parted ; m flowering time, flesh-colored, mature capsules green, somewhat compressed, twigs tough, smooth, greenish purple. Adult leaves coriaceous. — Bari alt. Flowers April 12 — 18 m Middletown. Dr. Barratt named this hitherto undescribed willow in honor of his friend Professor Torrey of New York. ^^This ornamental willow seldom exceeds eight or ten feet in height ; and will be readily recognized in autumn from the other 278 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. willows of this fine group, by its broad, heart-shaped, glossy, deep-green leaves, wavy margin, and sharp point ; also by its large stipules. The staminate plant, in flowering time, may also be distinguished by its long and slender catkins, and the absence of the irised ring or zone, exhibited by S. rigida and /S. cor data in flowering time, when the anthers are elevated above their respective scales and short fine hairs. The pis- tillate plant may also be distinguished early in spring by its delicate, flesh-colored, four-parted stigma. The leaves do not blacken in drying; it is very distinct from S. rigida and S. cordata. This is probably one of the best native willows we possess, for protecting the banks of rivers with rapid currents. It does not grow as high, and is more disposed to spread in these situations than its congeners, S. cordata and S. rigida. It furnishes abundance of stout twigs or rods." — Barratt. I found this beautiful willow growing abundantly along the banks of the Connecticut, in Longmeadow and Springfield, and also on the plains between the Arsenal and Chicopce Falls. As found growing on the uplands, it is a showy plant, six or eight feet high, stem erect or bending, of a light gray color with blackish clouds. Branches long, bending upwards, of a shining gray. Twigs bronzed or yellowish green, with a red or pur- plish hue above. Stipules very large, half-heart-shaped, round- ed above, often folded around the leaf so as to appear double. Leaves rich and luxuriant, hearted or rounded at base, broad, oblong-lanceolate, tapering gradually to a long point ; footstalks short There is a great resemblance between the last three willows, and it is only by very attentive study that they can be clearly distinguished. Torrey's willow has doubtless been confounded with the two previous, until Dr. Barratt, by planting them side by side, has availed himself of the opportunities thus presented of comparing them in all stages of their growth, and at all seasons. I have specimens from WilHamstown, of what Dr. Barratt tells me is S. angiisiata of Pursh, but I have had no opportu- nity of particularly examining the plant. 1 had taken it for a narrow-leaved variety of S. cordata. IX. THE BREAD-FRUIT FAMILY. 279 FAMILY IX. THE BREAD-FRUIT FAMILY. JRTOCARPEJE. Brown. This family consists, with a single exception, of trees and shrubs, with alternate, toothed, or lobed, or entire leaves, and milk}?- juice. They are natives of tropical regions, two or three genera, Morus, Broussomtia and Madura^ bemg found towards the north, and a single species of Morus, as far as Canada. To this family belongs the famous Upas tree, Antiaris. of Java, which has long been considered the most deadly poison in the world. And here also, in strange companionship, are the Bread-fruit Tree, the Fig, the Mulberry, the Osage Orange, and the Fustic, a kind of mulberry whose wood furnishes the well- known yellow dye. The juice of all is remarkable for being milky, and contains a considerable portion of caoutchouc. It is, even in those that produce wholesome fruit, usually acrid and of a suspicious character, and sometimes poisonous. Yet here also we find the Palo di Yacca, the famous Cow-tree of South America, which yields a large supply of rich and whole- some milk; and the fruit of several of the plants, besides those already mentioned, are eatable. Many virtues are ascribed to the various kinds of fig. The Flctis rellgibsa^ the Indian Fig, or Banyan tree of India, is justly looked upon as one of the sig- nal favors of Providence to tropical India, furnishing to the traveller a natural temple, thick shade, and refreshing fruit This family is distinguished by having its fruit usually situ- ated on or withm a fleshy receptacle, covered by numerous nuts or drupes, — rarely a single one, — enveloped by a fleshy or pulpy involucre, and forming a compound fruit, like many berries or fleshy fruits grown together. The name AriocdrpecB^ was given by De Candolle to a section of the nettle family, to indicate the most important tree of this group, (the Artocarpus^ literally bread-fruit,) and the fleshy character of the fruit. The genera that are found native or cultivated in this climate are Mbrus^ Broussonkia^ and Madura. The only one native is, — 280 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. THE MULBERRY TREE. MORUS. L. The flowers of the two sexes are usually on the same plant, sometimes on distinct plants. The male flowers are in a droop- ing, axillary spike, with a calyx of four-parted sepals and four stamens. Female flowers in ovate, dense, erect spikes ; calyx of four sepals, concave, becoming pulpy and juicy. Ovary of two cells, one havmg one pendulous ovule, the other none. Stigmas two, long. When ripe, each ovary is a fleshy nut covered by the fleshy calyx; the aggregate from a spike of flowers forming the compound berry. The several species are trees, with white sap, and alternate, rough, usually lobed, leaves, which are the favorite food of the silk-worm, the caterpillar of the Bombyx Mori, but are hardly attacked by any other insect. There are ten or more species, two of which have been known from remote times. The only species natural to New England, is — The Red Mulberry. M, rubra. L. Figured in Michaux, Syka, III, Plate 116 ; and in Loudon's Arboretum, VIl, Plate 183. This species naturally grows farther north than any other mulberry. Pursh speaks of it as growing in the Middle States ; Michaux thmks it is not found east of the Connecticut River, or north of Lake Charaplain. According to Darlington, it some- times reaches the height of thirty feet m Pennsylvania, and a diameter of from twelve to twenty inches, with numerous spreading branches at top. But Michaux found it, m the upper part of that State and in Yirgima, sixty or seventy feet high, and sometimes two feet in diameter. According to all who have spoken of it, the wood is exceedingly hard, strong, and durable. Michaux says it is almost as durable as the locust, and by many persons esteemed quite equal to it. In the south- ern ports, all that can be obtained of it is employed in ship- building, and It is preferred to every other wood except locust, for treenails. For posts, also, it is highly valued, from its dura- bility when exposed to the weather. In boat-buildmg, and for IX. THE RED MULBERRY. 281 the light timber of vessels, it is preferred ia Carolina to any "wood except the red cedar, =^ The use of its leaves as food for silk- worms, has been tried, bat not with encouraging success. The fruit is very agreeable, and by most persons is preferred to that of any other species. I have found it growing wild on the Westj&eld River, where it is a small tree about twenty feet in height, Mke an apple tree. The recent shoots are gray, and somewhat downy. Larger branches, a light gray or brownish buff, smooth, with prominent gray dots. Trunk rough, with long superficial clefts and fur- rows. The leaves are heart-shaped, ovate or three-lobed, end- ing in a long point, rough on the upper surface, and downy on the lower. The Black Mulberry, M. nigra^ L., is occasionally cultivated here, as it has been in most parts of the civiUzed world from very ancient times, for ornament, ^d for its shade. It is sup- posed, from the circumstance of its being found, in great num- bers, wild in the forests of Persia, to have been originally a native of that country, and to have been introduced thence, at a very remote period, into Europe ; and others thmk it probable that it was brought, at a still more remote period, into Persia, from China. Its leaves are of no great value as food for the silk-worm, and its wood has not much strength or durability. Several of the numerous varieties of the White Mulberry, M. alba^ L., have been introduced, and are much cultivated in this country, with reference to the production of silk, the leaves having been long considered the natural and best food for the silk- worm. None of the varieties are so hardy as the black and red mulberries — and their range of climate is much less extensive. Its native country is China ; but it has been natu- ralized in several parts of Europe, and it flourishes in all the temperate parts of this continent. It is a rapidly growing tree, reaching the height of twenty feet in five or six years, and when fully grown, attaining that of thirty or forty feet. The Many-stemmed Mulberry, M. muUicauUs, is a native of China, where it is said to be preferred for the food of silk- * Elliott, 37 282 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. worms. Peirottet brought it from Manilla to Senegal in 1821^ andj some years afterwards, to Europe. It has been extensively- propagated in this country, and affords a great abundance of more delicate leaves than those of any other mulberry ; and the silk formed by worms feeding on them, is considered very ex- cellent, perhaps superior to any other. The Paper Mulberry, Broussonetia papyrifera, so much re- sembles a mulberry tree in its general appearance, that it has until recently been included in that genus. It is a low, thick- branched tree, with large, light colored, downy or hairy leaves, and dark scarlet fruit. It is very hardy, grows rapidly, has considerable beauty, and might be mtroduced as an ornamental tree, but is of no value for its wood. It receives its specific name from the fact that, in Japan and China, of which it is a native, its bark is manufactured into paper. In the South Sea Islands, where also it is found, the bark is made into the curi- ous dresses which we sometimes see imported thence. The Osage Orange, Macliira auranilaca^ is a native of the banks of the Arkansas, and other regions west of the Missis- sippi. Its name was given by Nuttall in honor of William Maclure, a liberal and distinguished patron of the Natural Sciences in North America. It is a beautiful, low, spreading, round-headed tree, with the port and splendor of an orange tree. Its oval, entire, pointed leaves, have the poHshed, shining green of natives of warmer regions, and its curiously tesselated, succulent, compound fruit, the size and golden color of an or- ange. The male and female flowers, which are green and incon- spicuous, are found on different trees; and different kinds must grow in immediate vicinity, in order that the fruit may be fertile. In the neighborhood of Philadelphia, I saw, in the Au- tumn of 1839, some fine specimens of this tree, several of which were loaded with fruit. I have rarely seen an object in the vegetable world more strikingly beautiful. It was first introduced into St. Louis from the country of the Osage Indians, and thence received the name, which it well de- serves, of Osage Orange. It has since been cultivated in many IX. THE OSAGE ORANGE. 283 parts of this country and Europe, and has ripened fruit in sev- eral places in the south of Prance. It seems to be perfectly hardy in the latitude of Boston, as, at Nonantum Hill, in New- ton, It has been found by Mr. Kenrick to have endured without injury the rigors of the last ten winters. The wood seems likely to be of great value. It is of a rich saffron yellow, whence it is sometimes called Yellow Wood, and resembles the Madura tiiictoria^ a tree of the West Indies, in yielding a yellow dye. It is of a fine close grain, and very elastic, and is preferred by the Indians, to make their bows with, and thence called Bow Wood. It is hard and durable, and is said to receive a beautiful polish. It must therefore be valu- able to cabinet-makers. It is said to rival even the live oak in durability as ship timber. From the bark, as from that of the Paper Mulberry, a fibrous substance resembling fine white flax, may be formed. The use of its leaves as a substitute for those of the White Mulberry for feeding silk- worms, seems to be of doubtful success. It is easily propagated by layers, and by cuttings of the root. Loudon says that, in the vicinity of London, a plant cut down after having been two or three years estabhshed, throws up shoots six or eight feet high, and nearly half an inch in diame- ter, m a single season. 384 WOODY PLANTS OP MASSACHUSETTS. CHAPTER III. PLANTS WHOSE FLOWEKS ARE WITHOUT PETALS, AND NOT ARRANGED IN AMENTS. FAMILY X. THE ELM FAMILY. ULMACEM, Mirbel, The members of this family, several of which, in our own country, are among the noblest and most valuable timber trees, are natives of the northern temperate regions of both conti- nents, being found in North America and Europe, in China, and the other northern countries of Asia, and in the mountains of India. They are allied, botanically, to the Nettle Family on the one hand, and to the Bread Fruit on the other, however different they may be in their general aspect. They are not dis- tinguished by any remarkable properties. The bark of several species is tough and fibrous, and susceptible of being used for rude cordage ; the substance which exudes spontaneously from the bark of the elm, and thence called ulmin, is also found in that of the oak and chestnut, and is said by Berzelius to be a con- stituent of most kinds of bark. The plants belonging to this family are trees with simple, serrate, roughish, unequal-sided leaves, which are usually alternate in two rows on the sides of the branches. The flowers are in fascicles on the sides of the branchlets, and furnished usually with stamens and pistils, but sometimes wanting the latter. The flower-cup is erect, some- what bell-shaped, with its border divided into four, fi.ve, six, or eight lobes. The stamens spring from the bottom of the cup, and are usually of the same number as the lobes, and opposite them. The ovary has one cell and one ovule, and is crowned with two styles. The fruit is a flattened, winged samara, or a drupe. There are two genera found in this State, the Elm, U^lmus^ whose fruit is a samara ; and the Nettle Tree, CUtis^ whose fruit is a stone fruit or drupe. A third genus, Planha^ is found m the Southern States, and might be cultivated here. X. 1. THE ELM, 285 1. THE ELM. ULMUS,^ Linn. The elms are all long-lived trees, with hard wood, consisting of twisted and interlaced fibres, alternate, deciduous, harsh, serrated leaves, inequilateral at base. The flowers come out, early in the Spring, before the leaves, in small, dark-red, fringe- like tufts, and are soon succeeded by the peculiar fruit called a samara, consisting of a small, central, thin membrane, contain- ing a seed, and bordered by a thin, wing-like margin. This becomes mature and falls, when the leaves are expanding. The buds are covered with six or seven coriaceous scales, overlying each other in two rows ; those which contain flowers are large and arranged on the sides of the branchlets of the preceding year. The leaves have short stalks, are rough, unequally and doubly serrate, acuminate, and vary much in size and shape. So are the membranaceous stipules, a pair of which embrace each leaf within the bud, and at the same time protect the leaves which are to succeed from the same bud. The roots of most of the species are strong, very tough, supple, and spreadmg ex- tensively beneath the surface. "When raised from seed, the dif- ferent species have a striking tendency to vary, and in Europe, where, for its uses in agriculture and the mechanic arts, and for ornament apd shade, it has been constantly cultivated since the time of the Romans, the varieties are very numerous. The same tendency may be observed, in the variation of shape and habit, in the native elms of different parts of New England, and even of Massachusetts. Their growth is rapid ; they bear transplanting and pruning better than almost any other tree ; they grow on almost any soil, and have a great variety of beauty, and their timber is valuable for many purposes, and bears continual exposure to moisture without decay. Perhaps, therefore, no trees are greater favorites, or more deservedly so. On the continent of Europe, where the variety of forest timber trees is much smaller than in America, the elm is applied to a great number of uses, for which other trees * The Latin word Ulmus is supposed to be derived from the Saxon word elm or ulm, which is given as the name of this tree in almost every Saxon dialect. 286 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. are here preferred, as the wood has the disadvantage of being liable to warp and shrink, unless very long and thoroughly sea- soned, or kept moist. Both living and dead, it is liable to the attacks of insects and worms, which strip it of its fohage, pen- etrate into its bark and wood, and lessen the value of its timber. A great many insects feed upon its leaves. The most per- nicious, if not the most universal of these, are the canker-worms, {Anisopteryx vernata and pometarid) one or two species of which, with their habits, times and mode of destruction, have been carefully described by Dr. Harris, (Report, p. 334 — 341.) Less injurious are the span-worms, called, when arrived at their perfect moth state, Hybernia tiliai^ia^ the Lime-tree winter- moth, (ib., pp. 341, 342.) The Cimbex iilmi a species of saw- fly, (ib., pp. 374, 375,) feeds on the leaves of the elm, during its caterpillar existence, and the caterpillars of some of the most beautiful of the moths and butterflies, such as the stinging cat- erpillars of the Sahirnia moth; (ib., p. 283,) the caterpillars of the AjiiiopahuttQX&Y) (i^-j P- 219,) of the Semicolon butterfly, Vanessa interrogaiionis ; (ib., p. 220,) of the Progne butterfly, Vanessa progne, (ib., p. 222,) and the enormous caterpillars of the Ceratomia quadricornis, which are sometimes three inches and a half long, (ib., p. 227), are all found on this tree, and do more or less harm by devouring its leaves. There are two species of elm common in Massachusetts, the American, and the Slippery Elm ; another is sometimes found indigenous ; and two varieties of the European Elm have been introduced. Sp. 1. The American Elm. White Elm. Ulmus Ameri- cana, L. The American elm is, in most parts of the State, the most magnificent tree to be seen. From a root, which, in old trees, spreads much, above the surface of the ground, the trunk rises to a considerable height in a single stem. Here it usually di- vides into two or three principal branches, which go off by a gradual and easy curve. These stretch upwards and out- wards with an airy sweep,— become horizontal, the extreme X. 1. THE AMERICAN ELM. 287 branchlets, and, in ancient trees, the extreme half of the limb, pendent, forming a hght and regular arch. This graceful cur- vature, and absence of all abruptness, in the primary hmbs and forks, and all the subsequent divisions, are entirely charac- teristic of the tree, and enable an observer to distinguish it in the winter and even by night, when standing in rehef against the sky, as far as it can be distinctly seen. The American elm affects many different shapes and all of them beautiful. Of these, three are most striking and distinct. The tall Etruscan vase is formed by four or five limbs, sepa- rating at twenty or thirty feet from the ground, going up, with a gradual divergency to sixty or seventy, and then bend- ing rapidly outward, forming a flat top with a pendent border. Such is the fine old tree, still in perfect vigor, which stands by the painted gate of the Botanic Garden, in Cambridge. And such are many of the noble trees in Northampton and Spring- field, and all along the valley of the Connecticut. The single or compound plume is represented by trees stretch- ing up in a single stem, or two or three parallel limbs, to the height of seventy or even a hundred feet, and spreading out hi one or two light, feathery plumes. Of this character is the tall, patriarchal tree that stands alone on the common in Pittsfield. Many specimens of this form may be seen in Berkshire and in other parts of the State where the tall primeval forest has been cut away, and the elm alone has been left standing. The elm often assumes a character akin to that of the oak; this is when it has been transplanted young from an open situation, and allowed always to remain by itself. It is then a broad, round-headed tree. Of this kind are the large tree on Boston Common, the grand old tree by the Aspinwall house in Brook- line, and that striking tree, in Hingham, on the road to Cohas- set. The resemblance to the oak, however, never very strik- ing, is entirely lost as you approach and stand under it. The mighty, abrupt strength of the oak is not visible, and you have, instead, the graceful majesty of the elm. '' The buttonwood,'^ says Michaux, '^ astonishes the eye by the size of its trunk and the amplitude of its head ; but the white elm has a more ma- jestic appearance, which is owing to its great elevation, to the 288 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. disposition of its principal limbs, and to the extreme elegance of its summit. In Maine, between Portsmouth and Portland, a great number of young white elms are seen detached in the middle of the pastures ; they ramify at the height of eight, ten, or twelve feet, and their limbs, springing at the same point, cross each other and rise with a uniform inclination, so as to form of the summit a sheaf of regular proportions and admira- ble beauty." The character of the trunk is almost as various as that of the general form of the tree. You sometimes see it a straight, gradually tapering column, shooting up to sixty or eighty feet without a Mmb ; at other times, an inverted small branch or two, pushing out at the fork, hangs wavmg downwards for some feet. Agam you see it a verdant pillar of foliage, feathering from the branches to the ground. With this endless variety of beauty, it is not wonderful that the American elm should be the greatest favorite with the New England people. And it has the additional recommendation of retaining much of its beauty when the foliage is gone. The sturdy trunk and the airy sweep of the branches are always there, and few objects of the kind are more beautiful than the feathered, alternate regularity of the spray upon the out- most and uppermost boughs. With the earliest spring, these are fringed with numerous bunches of red blossoms, soon to give place to soft, delicious green of the young leaves. Coming with such recommendations, the elm is more fre- quently transplanted than any other forest tree, and, from the vigor and number of its roots, it is more sure than any other to live. It is oftener spared, too, in most parts of the country, when the rest of the forest is cut away. We frequently, there- fore, see it standing, for a shade to cattle, in pastures, and by fences and sometimes in mid fields, on tilled land, or left to shade and protect and give an air of comfort to farm-houses. And, in the excellent practice, becoming every year more com- mon, of ornamenting towns and villages and sheltermg sunny roads, with rows of trees, the elm is chosen often to the exclu- sion of all other trees, of trees too, which, much as we value the elm, we cannot but consider its equals and often its su- X. 1. THE AMERICAN ELM. 289 periors, the maples, the ashes, the birches, the beeches, and even of the lordly oak itself. But the elm bears pruning better, and requires it less than almost any tree, for it usually throws out no branches below a height of twelve to twenty or thirty feet. It grows, too, with great rapidity, for its roots run, just beneath the surface, to a great distance, and thus get the best of the soil The flowers are in numerous clusters of from eight to twen- ty in a cluster, on the sides of the terminal branches. Each flower is supported on a green, slender, membranous thread, from one fifth to half an inch long, and consists of a brown cup, parted into seven or eight divisions, rounded at the border, and con- taming about eight brown stamens, and a long, compressed ovary, surmounted by two short styles. This ripens into a flattened seed-vessel, called a samara, which is winged on every side, with a thin, ciliated or fringed border. The flowers appear early in April or even in March, and the samaras are mature before the full expansion of the leaves. The leaves are on very short footstalks, broad ovate, heart- shaped, rounded or rarely acute at base, acuminate, conspicu- ously doubly serrate ; divided by the mid-rib mto very unequal parts, of which the upper is larger; somewhat tomentose when young, afterwards roughish on both surfaces, particularly the upper ; usually from two to four or five inches long, and one and a half to two and a half broad, but varying extremely in size. The rich green of the leaves turns, in autumn, to a sober brown, which is sometimes touched with a bright golden yellow. The elder Michaux found the elm as far north, in Canada, as 48^ 2(y. According to Hooker, it is found from Saskatch- awan to York Factory, on Hudson's Bay. The younger Mi- chaux traced it from Nova Scotia to Georgia, and says that it is found 111 the extreme western part of the country. He con- siders the country between the 42° and 46° of latitude as most favorable to its growth. To this, probably, no part, considering the soil, is better adapted than Massachusetts. This tree grows in almost any soil, but never attains its loftiest elevation ex- cept in rich, moist ground, such as is found on the banks of our larger rivers. In such situations, it has so rapid a growth, that 38 290 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. he who has planted it may lire, without passing beyond the ordinary age of man, to see it become a majestic tree. I once heard an old man, standing in the shade of a tree, nearly two feet in diameter, which towered above all around it, say, ^' this tree, after I had been many years successful m business, and, m a change of fortune, had retired to this farm with a little that remained, I stuck into the ground after I had used it as a stick, m a ride of eight miles home from P ." I know several fine rows of majestic elms, the ornaments of the villages where they grow, that were transplanted within the distinct memory of persons now living to enjoy their shade. From Its having been so long a favorite, it has been more frequently spared and oftener transplanted than any other tree, and there are, m all parts of the State, many fine old trees stand- ing. Of a few of those, which T have had an opportunity to examine and measure, or of which I have received an account, I give some of the dimensions. In Springfield, m a field a few rods north of the hotel, is an elm which was twenty -five feet and nine inches m circumfer- ence, at three feet from the ground, when I measured it m 1837. This magnificent tree divides, not many feet from the ground, into several large branches. This is near the place where the enormous Celtis, which was usually taken for an elm, once stood. There are many other elms, not far from this, some of which make a greater show at a distance. In West Springfield, the largest tree I could see, upon the road, measured, at the same time, nineteen feet five inches in girth at four feet from the ground. At Richmond, I measured, m 1837, with William Bacon, Esq., an elm in the northern part of the town, which was twelve feet two inches in girth, m the smallest part, between the root and branches. This was of the kind resembling a sheaf of wheat The Pittsfield elm was, in the same year, thirteen feet in circuit at four feet. This towers up to one hundred and four- teen feet, without a branch, till near the top. In the lower part of Bolton, I measured a tree which was fifteen feet seven inches, at four feet from the ground. The Aspinwall elm, in Brookline, standing near the ancient X. 1. THE AMERICAN ELM. 291 house belonging to that family, and which was known to be one hundred and eighty-one years old in 1837, then measured twenty-six feet five inches at the ground, or as near to it as the roots would allow us to measure, and sixteen feet eight inches at five feet. The branches extended one hundred and four feet from southeast to northwest, and ninety-five from northeast to southwest. The great elm on Boston Common was measured by Prof. Gray and myself, in June of 1844 At the ground, it measures twenty-three feet six inches ; at three feet, seventeen feet eleven inches, and at five feet, sixteen feet and one inch. The largest branch, towards the southeast, stretches fifty-one feet. The classical ehn, opposite the gate of the Botanic Garden, Cambridge, measured fourteen feet nine inches at four feet, in 1838. In Hingham, on the road leading to Cohasset, just below the turn from the Old Colony House, stands an elm which is said to have been transplanted in 1729. It may have been one hundred and twenty or one hundred and twenty-five years old, on the 25th of July, m 1839, when I measured it, in company with that excellent botanist, William Cakes, Esq., of Ipswich. It was thirteen feet in circumference, at four and a half feet from the ground. At from ten to fifteen feet, eight large branches are thrown out, which sweep upwards in a broad curve, making a noble round head sixty or seventy feet high. The immense roots, which, beginning at three or four feet above the surface, stand out like abutments, in all directions, chiefly west and east, give an idea of permanency and vast strength. The extreme spread of the limbs is forty-five feet from the trunk, making the breadth of the head more than ninety feet. In the angle of one of the branches, when we measured it, was grow- ing a currant-bush with ripe fruit. Speaking of this tree, J. S. Lewis, Esq., to whom I am indebted for valuable informa- tion concerning the trees of Hingham, says, — ^^ At ten feet, it is fifteen feet nine inches in circumference. It has a hemi- spherical top, of ninety feet diameter at the base, ascending and terminating with singular uniformity, presenting to the eye a rare combination of beauty and grandeur. At this measure- 292 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. ment, it is covered with a deep, luxuriant foliage, looking as fresh and vigorous as a stripling of the forest." In July, of 1838, I measured the noble elm which stands in front of the dweilmg-house of Capt. Jaquish, about one mile from the centre of Newbnryport. This was set out in 1713, by Richard Jaquish, who was born in 1683. It may, therefore, be one hundred and thirty-five or one hundred and forty years old. At the smallest place between the roots and the branches, it was fifteen feet in circumference, and probably over eighty feet high. It had many large branches, one of which was more than three feet in diameter. Mr. William Bacon, of Natick, mentions two remarkable elms growing ia that town. ''One of them is not far from the Old Hartford road, near South Natick Mills. Its pendent branches are spread equally m all directions, to the distance of fifty feet from the trunk, thus gixang a diameter to its shade of about one hundred feet. It is the handsomest specimen of its genus which I ever saw." '' The other is standing upon the south side of the road which leads from Natick to Wayland, near the house of Mr. Edward Hammond. This tree was transplanted to its present situation about sixty years since, under the superintendence of the gen- tleman who still occupies the mansion. It now, (1838,) mea- sures thirteen feet in circumference four feet above the ground, and probably twenty or more at the surface. Its shade mea- sures, from north to south, at noon-day, one hundred and two feet. It ramifies at the height of about eight or nine feet." The great ShejSield elm had, m September, 1844, at the ground, a girth of twenty -two feet six inches ; at two feet, eighteen feet six inches ; at three, sixteen feet nine inches ; at four, fifteen feet ten inches; at five, sixteen feet; at six, sixteen feet seven inches, above which it rapidly enlarges, and divides at ten or twelve feet into three large Hmbs, which soon subdivide. Its spread westward, from the centre, is forty-nine feet six inches, and it is nearly equal on every side ; height sixty or seventy feet. At Johnston, on the estate of Royal Potter, Esq., is a mag- nificent elm, which I measured, August 21, 1840, with the aid of Hon. Horace Mann. At from twelve to fifteen feet, it X. 1. THE AMERICAN ELM. 293 throws up a prodigious weight of branches, twelve, each equal to a tree,— forming a broad, one-sided head. At five feet from the ground, which is the smallest place, its girth is twenty-two feet two inches ; at seven, it is twenty-two feet nine inches ; at one and a half on one side, three on the other, twenty- nine feet nine inches; at three, twenty-four feet nine inches. Below, one and a half or three, the roots bulge out The first large branch, which has a girth of eleven feet two inches, divides into two. The second, thirteen feet ten inches in girth, divides into five branches. The horizontal extent of the southeast branch, is sixty-nine feet one inch. It is a very old tree and falling into decay, but still vigorous and clothed with a rich, dark colored foliage. Its uncommon growth is, doubtless, owing to its peculiar situation. A small perennial stream flows near it, and its most vigorous limbs are stretched so as to overshadow, for many feet, the Httle fertile glade through which it flows. It is also near a farmer's yard, the animals belonging to which are often standing by day or lying by night, under the covert of its branches. It has, to visiters, the additional recommendation of being on the farm of a worthy magistrate, who knows how to respect the curiosity of those who visit it. Some of these trees are still in apparent vigor, though nearly two hundred years old. It is found, however, on cutting down old elms, that they are, almost universally, hollow at base. Whether this is the case in the rich, deep soils of the western valleys, I know not. In the scanty soils of Massachusetts, it may proceed from the fact, that all the nutriment near the bot- tom of the tree, where the roots are fed that nourish the heart, is exhausted. Besides its use as a shade and ornamental tree, its timber is employed for several important purposes in the arts. Its wood is preferred to any native wood for hubs of wheels. In Boston and the vicinity, the hubs for the very superior gigs, light wagons, and other pleasure carriages, which are manufactured there, are almost universally made of it. For this purpose, it is obtained from tJhe towns within a few miles in the neighbor- hood. The same use is made of it in the centre and western parts of the State. Yokes are made of it In the sea-port 294 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. towns, it is much used for making large ships' blocks. As it is very difficult to work, these are not made, like the smaller ones which are of ash, of a single thick piece, but of several pieces of plank pinned together. From the peculiarity of the grain, these cannot be planed lengthwise, but must be wrought cross- wise. By the ship-builder, it is used in the flat of ships' floors. For blocks and hubs, it is said, by those who have tried both, that English elm is decidedly superior. Formerly, the bark of the elm was used to make chair bot- toms. It has considerable tenacity, and when macerated in water and rendered supple by pounding, may be twisted into a pretty strong cord. The elm may be very easily propagated by seed, by suckers, or by layers. The seed is ripe in May or early in June; and in August and September, I have seen thousands of young elms springing from them in the paths or sandy walks beneath, or near the tree. The seed should be sown immediately after it has fallen, on soft, sandy loam, and covered lightly to the depth of one eighth or one fourth of an inch. The plants will appear in a few weeks, and may be transplanted to a nursery the same autumn. In from five to ten years, they will be large enough to be planted where they are permanently to stand. There is so great a similarity in the habits of this and the English elm, that it might doubtless be propagated by suckers and layers, Li the same manner as directed for that tree. — See pp. 302 — 3. The elm is transplanted from the forest, of every size, from five or six feet to thirty or more ; and it is so tenacious of life that it bears beheading and dismemberment in an astonishing manner. Far more pains in the transplantation would be well rewarded. By a little attention to the habit of the young trees, those might be selected which would push up to an ample height before ramifying : and those numerous varieties which strike us by their beauty, when seen standing as they were left on the clearing up of the woods, might be secured by examining the tendencies of the trees in particular situations. I have measurements of very many large elms from various parts of this State. For many of them, I am indebted to the X, 1. THE AMERICAN ELM. 295 kindness of Dr. O. W. Holmes and J. J. Dixwell, Esq. Others I ha^re obtained from other individuals and from the New Eng- land Farmer, and a still greater number I have measured my- self In the following statistics, the words ''circumference," ''feet," "inches/' and "from the ground,'' will be generally omitted : — Three miles from Hmgham, a fine tall elm measured, m June, 1840, 12 feet 7 inches at 4^ feet. It is of the Etruscan ^ase shape, and a fine specimen. In the same year, an old elm at Heard's Island, in Wayland, was 20 feet at U, and 15 feet 5, at 3^. A very noble tree, 75 feet high, and with a spread of 128 feet from northeast to southwest, and not much less in any direction, covering a broad space with its dense shade. One m Lincoln, a beautifully irregular and picturesque tree, with a full, broad head, growing on the road-side, and giving a cheerful aspect to two houses, and on which a family of orioles had built their hanging nests for not less than seventeen years, — was 12 feet 9, at 5 feet. A broad, spreading tree on the Old Common in Lancaster, was 14 feet 6, at 5 feet 6. East of Centre Bridge, in the same town, on the south side of the river, by a green lane which was once a town road, a tree of 70 or 80 feet high, measured 20 feet 9, at 2 feet above the bulging of the roots. An elm near Breck's garden, one half in a wall, was 16 feet 3, at 5^. It enlarges above and divides into many branches, spreading into a vase-like shape, with a broad, magnificent head of 80 or 90 feet in height. Several other very noble trees are near by. The following were measured by Dr. Holmes, in September, 1837:— Great elm, at Springfield, was 29 feet 4, at about 1 foot ; 25 feet 10, at 2 or 3 ; 24 feet 8, at 5. A curious tree, also in Springfield, w as 20 feet 1, at 1 ; 18 feet 5, where smallest; 22 feet 11, at 5. One on Northampton meadow, was 22 feet 2, at 1 ; 22 feet at 3 ; 23 feet 9, at 5. A second was, 19 feet 7, at 1 ; 16 feet 6, at 5. One in Mr. Whitney's yard, in that town, was 22 feet 2, at 1 ; 18 feet 7, at 5. One on Deerfield street v/as, 17 feet 7, at 5 ; another, on the Colman farm, 23 feet 9, at 1 ; 16 feet 7, at 5. A tree at Hatfield, measured 35 feet 9, at a little above 1 ; 23 feet 2, at 5 ; 22 feet 7, at 6|. The elm on the Common, at Pittsfield, was 17 feet 4, at 1 ; and 12 feet 7, at 5. One on the Wendell farm, 20 feet at 1 ; 13 feet 4, at 5. Thaddeus Morse, at Med- field, had a tree which measured 37 feet 4, probably at the ground. The following elm trees, in Northampton, were measured by Mr. Dixwell, in November, 1841 : — On the intervale between the town and river, in "Middle Meadow," an old elm, within sight of the ferry-landing, from Mount Holyoke towards the south- 296 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. west ; 6 inches from the ground, 24 feet 6, in circumference ; at 3^ feet, small- est place, 22 feet 10 ; at 4 J feet, 23 feet 10. It begins to branch at 5k feet from the ground, and divides into distinct trunks at 7^ feet. Its roots spread very little at the surface. The trunk seems sound outside, but the branches at, and just above, the main trunk exhibit considerable decay, and one branch, about a foot m diameter, has fallen this season. Spread of branches 110 feet. An elm, with top in fine preservation, and apparently healthy, but with a deep hollow m one side of the trunk, — at the ground, 20 feet 9 ; at 4 J feet, 16 feet 10, smallest place ; branches off at 8 feet from the ground. On the intervale, northeast from the ferry a mile or so, are two decayed trees, 18 and 20 feet at the smallest places. One in the same situation, in fine condition ; — at 1 foot from the ground, 21 feet 4 ; at 2 feet, 17 feet 7, smallest place ; at 4^ feet, 19 feet 11 ; branches at 5 feet from ground, and spreads over an area thirty paces in diameter. Another, in the same situation, in fine condition ; — at 1 foot from the ground, 18 feet 7 ; at 4 feet, 16 feet 8, smallest place ; branches at 7 feet, A tree, called " Mather Elm," before an old house, formerly occupied by a family of that name, on the north side of Pleasant street — at 1 foot from the ground, 22 feet 8, roots spread much ; at 4^ feet, 15 feet 7, in smallest place ; branches at 12 feet, and is in fine condition, with the exception of one large branch gone. Elm, in King street, planted by President Edwards, now before the house of J. B. Whitney ; — at the ground, 22 feet 5 ; at 4 feet above, 18 feet 10, smallest place ; branches at 7 feet and is in fine condition. One in the Main street, before the house of a Mr. Pomeroy, and opposite the mansion of the late Gov. Strong; — at 4 feet from the ground, 15 feet 1, smallest part. Great Elm, at Hatfield, near the church, in the enclosure at the side of the town house ;— at the ground, 41 feet, roots spread much ; at Sk feet, 27 feet ; at 6 feet above, 22 feet 9, smallest place. Branches spread over an area 108 feet in diameter. The trunk appears sound, but the branches are much decayed, and probably half of them have fallen. Two elms, at Hatfield, on the main road in the village, both in very sound and fine condition ; — the first, at the ground, 25 feet; at 2 feet above, 17 feet 2 ; at 3 feet above, 15 feet 5, smallest part. The second, at the ground, 20 feet 7 ; at 2 feet above, 15 feet 5 ; at 34 feet above, 13 feet 7, smallest part. An elm tree, nearly opposite the house of Heman Day, Esq., in West Springfield, was planted by him on the 8th of January, 1775. At the time of transplanting, it was a sapling carried in the hand. The trunk, in 1829, was 18 feet in circumference to the height of 12 feet above the surface, where it divides into branches which overhang a circle of more than 300 feet in circum- ference, covering 7,500 square feet of surface.— iV. E. Farmer, VII, 299. It had thus grown 216 inches in circumference in 54 years, or at the rate of 4 inches a year. All the circles of growth must average two thirds of an inch. In 1845, this tree was carefully measured by a gentleman of Springfield, who gives me the following dimensions :— at 3 feet, its diameter is 7 feet; at 5, X 1. THE SLIPPERY ELM. 297 6 feet 5.7; at 8, 8 feet ; at 11, 7 feet 4.7 inches. The spread of the top is 134 feet 8 inches. The great elm, on Boston Common, measured, in 1820, 23 feet at the ground ; and 20 feet at 3. In 1844, it measured, near the ground, 23 feet 6 ; at 3 feet, 17 feet 11 ; at 5 feet, 16 feet 1. On a map of Boston, published in 1720, this elm is delineated as a large tree. It is said to have been planted about the year 1670, by Capt. Daniel Henchman, an ancestor of Gov. Han- cock. It is, therefore, more than 175 years old.* The *' Washington Elm," in Cambridge, so called because beneath its shade or near it. Gen. Washington is said to have first drawn his sword, on taking command of the American army, measured, in 1842, 15 feet 2, at 1 foot, and 13 feet 2, at 3 from the ground. In 1844, it measured 13 feet 2^ inches, at the same point, where the girth is smallest. The celebrated Whitefield preached under the shade of this tree, in 1744. The following measurements and accompanying particulars are taken from a communication in the New England Farmer, Vol. lY, p. 242, made in 1826 :— Two elms were set out by the Indians, in front of the house of Rev. Oliver Peabody, who succeeded, in 1722, to the venerable Elliot, the Indian apostle, in the same truly Christian ministry, in Natick. This voluntary offering of the grateful savages, they called trees of peace. A similar offering was made to Mr. Peabody's successor, Rev. Stephen Badger. These latter trees were standing, in 1826, having been planted 73 years. They measured 15 feet at the ground, and 9 at the smallest place above, having grown half an inch in diameter annually. A tree standmg in Frammgham, which was 90 years old, measured, in the same year, 20 feet at 1 foot from the ground. This indicates an annual growth in diameter of more than four fifths of an inch. The same communication states, that the Charter Oak, in Hartford, Conn., measured, at the ground, 36 feet in girth, and at the smallest place above, 25 feet. Sp. 2. The Slippeey Elm. TJlmus fuha. Michaux. Figured in Michaux, Sylva, Plate 128. The slippery elm has a strong resemblance to the common elm. It has less of a drooping appearance, and the bark of the smaller branches is rougher, and of a lighter color ; on the trunk it is somewhat smoother and darker. It is commonly a much smaller tree. The leaves are thicker and rougher, — excessively rough above. The recent shoots are light gray, and very * See an article in the North American Keview, July, 1844, for much curious mformation on the longevity of trees. 39 29S WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. rough; the older branchlets grayish, or grayish purple. The leaves are on short, stout, hairy and rough footstalks, very large, from four to seven inches long, and three or four wide ; heart-shaped and very unequal-sided at base, the upper side being full and spreading back over the footstalk; the termina- tion a long slender point; the margin coarsely and doubly, rather obtusely serrate; both surfaces very rough, the lower less so, but hairy on the veins and nerves, which are prominent, parallel, straight, and usually divided towards the edge. The upper surface is a pale green, the lower much whiter; veins irregular, reticulate ; serratures less falcate than in the common elm. The surface of the latter is rough in one direction, and smooth m the other ; of the slippery, rough in both. The buds are small, acute, and black. The larger branches are brown- ish, somewhat striate, the bark cracking and becommg rag- ged at an earlier age than m most trees. On the young and vigorous branches, the leaves are often eight or ten mches long, by four or five broad, and of an oblong shape. The bark is tough and mucilaginous, with abundant mucilage beneath it. The jB-owers are in lateral clusters, on short footstalks. The flower-cup is usually divided into seven parts, and has seven long stamens with dark purple anthers. The ovary is com- pressed, surmounted by two, purple, glandular styles. The seed vessel, or samara, is larger than that of the common elm, and with a broader and more entire border. The slippery elm is rare in the eastern part of the State. I have not found it, growing naturally, nearer to Boston than Natick. In the western counties, it is more abundant. In many places I have found it dead or dying, from having been stripped of its bark. The largest tree of this kind which I have meas- ured, was six feet ten inches in circumference, at four feet from the ground. It was found growing in Natick. Contrary to the observation of Michaux, I have found this tree growing in rich low ground, much more frequently than on higher. The inner bark of this elm contains a great quantity of mu- cUage, and is a favorite popular prescription, in many parts of the country, for dysentery, and in affections of the chest. It is much to be regretted that the slippery elm has become X. 1. THE ENGLISH ELM. 299 so rare. The inner bark is one of the best applications known for affections of the throat and kings. Flour prepared from the bark by drying perfectly and grinding, and mixed with milk, like arrow-root, is a wholesome and nutritious food for infants and invalids. Dr. Darlington says that, in the last war with Great Britain, the soldiers on the Canada frontier, found this, in times of scar- city of forage, a grateful and nutritious food for their horses. Michaux considers the wood of the slippery elm as ^ superior to that of the white. He says, '' The heart is coarser-grained, and less compact than that of the white elm, and of a dull red tinge. I have remarked that the wood, even in branches of one or two inches in diameter, consists principally of perfect wood. This species is stronger, and more durable when exposed to the weather, and of a better quality than the white elm ; hence, in the Western States, it is employed with greater advantage in the construction of houses, and sometimes of vessels, on the banks of the Ohio. It is the best wood of the United States for blocks, and its scarceness in the Atlantic States is the only cause of its limited consumption m the ports. It makes excellent rails, which are of long duration, and are formed with httle labor, as the trunk divides itself easily and regularly : this is probably the reason that it is never employed for the naves of wheels.' ' — Michaux^ Vol. Ill, p. 90. I find, however, that it is used for the purpose of making hubs in some places in the western part of the State, and is preferred to the white elm. It is so rare in the eastern part of the State, that I have not been able to find any one in this quarter acquainted with its properties. Michaux found this elm in all parts of Canada and of the United States, except the maritime parts of Carolina and Georgia. Sp. 3 The English Elm. Common European Elm. TJlmus cam/pestris, Linn. Introduced. In Boston, and some towns in the immediate vicinity, many of the finest elms are of this species. They are said to have been first imported and planted by a'' wheelwright, for his own 300 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. use ia making hubs for wheels, for which purpose they are probably superior to any other wood known. They have come, however, to be far too valuable, as trees of ornament, to be often cut down for use. The English elm is a noble tree. If it has less grace than the American, it has more stateliness and gran- deur. It has more of the strength of the oak. It is distin- guished from the American elm by its bark, which is darker and much more broken ; by having one principal stem which soars upwards to a great height, and by its branches, which are thrown out more boldly and abruptly, and at a larger angle. Its limbs stretch out horizontally, or tend upwards, with an ap- pearance of strength to the very extremity. In the American, they are almost universally drooping at the end. Its leaves are closer, smaller, more numerous, and of a darker color. It has been objected to this elm by Gilpin, {Forest Scenery^ I, p. 90,) that it wants a definite character, that it has often so great a resemblance to an oak that it may, at a distance, be mistaken for It. The observation is undoubtedly well founded, but to one who would gladly have the satisfaction of looking on the king of trees, but cannot wait for its tardy growth, it is very far from an objection. The American elm is so planted every where, that it is possible to be weary of seeing it ; in which case, as a variety, the sight of a stately English elm is a rehef. It has, moreover, the advantage of being clothed in an unchanged foliage, several weeks longer than our native tree. The English elm continues to increase for one hundred, or one hundred and fifty years, and probably much longer, al- though, compared with the oak, it is not a long-lived tree, the very old ones being usually hollow at the base. For several centuries it has been planted for ornament, on avenues and pub- he walks in France, Spain and the Low Countries, and in England, immemorially. "When full grown, it is four or five feet in diameter, and sixty or seventy feet high. Raised from seed, it forms innumerable varieties, distinguished by their difference in habit and appearance, time of leaf and peculiarity of hue, and by the qualities of the wood. These varieties, some of them very valuable, are propagated by shoots, and by grafting. Like the American elm, it is of very rapid growth. X. i. THE ENGLISH ELM. 301 Evelyn says it has been Imown to rise to the height of a hun- dred feet in less than a century. Many large elms are described by Loudon and Strutt, and several of the most remarkable in England are figured by the latter in his Sylva Britannica. The finest of these, the Chip- stead Elm, ^^is sixty feet high, twenty feet in circumference at the base, and fifteen feet eight inches at three feet and a half from the ground. It contains 268 feet of timber. Its venera- ble trunk is richly mantled with ivy, and gives signs of consid- erable age ; but the luxuriance of its foliage attests its vigor, and it is as fine a specimen of its species in full beauty as can be found." — Sylva Britaimica^ p. 60. ^^ The Crawley Elm stands in the village of Crawley, on the high road from London to Brighton. It is a well known object to all who are in the habit of travelling that way, and arrests the eye of the stranger at once by its tall and straight stem, which ascends to the height of seventy feet, and by the fantas- tic ruggedness of its wildly spreading roots. Its trunk is perfo- rated to the very top, measuring sixty-one feet in circumference at the ground, and thirty-five feet round the inside at two feet from the base." (lb. p. 62.) This tree is not so large as would seem from this account, as it diminishes very rapidly upwards. There are many fine trees of this kind in Boston, Roxbury, Dorchester, and some other neighboring towns, but none of very great size. The largest on the Mall, bordering Boston Common, was meas- ured by Prof. Gray and myself in 1844, and found to be twelve feet and three inches in circumference at three feet from the lower side, and eleven feet two inches at five feet. It is a stately and very beautiful tree. The European elms on Paddock's Mall, near Park Street Church, are said to have been planted in 1762, by Major Adino Paddock and Mr. John Ballard. In 1826, several of them measured nine feet at four from the ground, having grown more than one and a half inches a year. Several of them now measure nine feet ten inches at four feet, haviug grown only half an inch annually, for the last twenty years. This, however, is not surprising, as they are immedi- ately surrounded on all sides by an almost impenetrable pave- 302 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. ment, and must get all their nutriment from a distance on one side, beyond a heavy wall. A differently constructed gutter, allowing the water and drainings of the street to penetrate, would doubtless quicken their growth. The noblest and most beautiful English elms in this vicinity are found on the grounds of the country residence of Henry Codman, Esq., in Roxbury. The largest stands by the princi- pal gate in front. At three feet from the ground, it measures seventeen feet and five inches ; at five feet, fifteen feet ten inches. It has lost several of its lower limbs, and with them much of its beauty ; but it holds its size fully to the height of twenty or twenty-five feet, where it divides into three large branches, the mam, central one of which, rises upwards to a height much above one hundred feet, perhaps to one hundred and twenty or one hundred and tv/enty-five. Another, stand- ing on the lawn, withm the enclosure, has nearly the same ele- vation, with a girth of twelve feet eight inches at three feet, and eleven feet seven at five. Several trees of the same kind in the rear of the house are known to have been planted in 1796, so that they have now been planted nearly fifty years. The largest and most northerly of these measures eight feel eleven inches at three feet from the ground. Two others, being the most westerly ones, have each a girth of seven feet ten inches at three feet. The largest of these has thus made an annual growth of more than two inches annually, and the others but little less. All these trees are favorably situated, in the midst of highly cultivated grounds, and the last mentioned grow in a moist situation near a never failing stream. The uses of this tree in England and on the continent of Eu- rope, are very numerous. Its wood is of a brownish color, and is hard and fine grained, and of great lateral adhesion, and it is little liable to crack or split when exposed to sun or weather. It is therefore much employed for ship's blocks, and other wooden parts of the rigging. It is also remarkable for its dura- bihty m water. It is employed for the keels of large ships, and for pumps, water-pipes and troughs ; for mills and water-wheels, piles, ship-planks beneath the water fine; also for gates and rails, the knotty for hubs of wheels, the straight and smooth X. 1. THE ENGLISH ELM. 303 for axle-trees, and for innumerable other purposes. A variety- called the Twisted Elm, Orme toriillard^ is very highly valued in France for its extreme toughness, and also for the beauty of its grain. When frequently pruned, the wood of the elm be- comes knotted, and is prized by cabinet-makers in France. It takes a fine polish, is very ornamental, and, when stained, ex- tremely beautiful. The knobs which grow on old trees are re- markable for the carious interlacmg and twistmg of fibres, and as veneers, are used, like mahogany, for articles of furniture. As among the ancient Romans, so in France at the present day, the leaves and shoots are used to feed cattle. In Russia, the leaves of a variety are used as a substitute for tea. The inner bark is in some places made into mats, and in Norway, they kiln-dry it, and grind it with corn as an ingredient in bread. The European elm ^^ produces abundance of suckers from the roots, both near and at a great distance from the stem : and throughout Europe these afford the most ready mode of prop- agation, and that which appears to have been most generally adopted, till the establishment of regular commercial nurseries. On the Continent, plants are very often procured from stools, simply by heapmg up earth about the shoots which proceed from thciii. These shoots root into the earth ; and, after grow- ing three or four years, during which time they attain the height of ten feet or fifteen feet, they are slipped off ; and either planted where they are finally to remain, or m nursery lines. When they are transplanted to their final situation, the side shoots are cut off; and the main stem is headed down to the height of eight feet or ten feet ; so that newly planted trees ap- pear nothing more than naked truncheons. The first year, a great many shoots are produced from the upper extremity of each truncheon ; and m the autumn of that year, or in the sec- ond spring, these shoots are all cut off but one, which soon forms an erect stem, and as regular a headed tree as if no decapitation had previously taken place. All the avenues and rows of elm trees in Europe were planted in this manner previously to about the middle of the eighteenth century : and, according to Poiteau, 304 WOODY PLANTS OP MASSACHUSETTS. the same practice is still the most general in France.''— ioz^^ don^s Arboretmn^ Vol. Ill, p. 1383. In England, trees are planted without bemg headed down, but on the Contmentj from the greater warmth of the summers, they are apt to be killed, when transplanted with their branches, in consequence of the great evaporation from their leaves. Our summers are even hotter than those of the Continent of Eu- rope, and the practice which has been so long found perfectly successful there, will be likely to be better suited to our climate than the English mode. A practice recommended by Evelyn, (Discourse, p. 127,) is still in use abroad, and may, m some cases, be very convenient. When, as is often the case m this country, no suckers spring up round the tree, ''bare some of the master-roots of a vigorous tree within a foot of the trunk, or thereabouts, and with your axe make several chops, putting a small stone into every cleft, to hmder the closure, and give access to the wet ; then cover them with three or four inches of earth, and thus they will send forth suckers in abundance; I assure you, one single elm, thus well ordered, is a fair nursery, which, after two or three years, you may separate and plant in the nlmarium^ or place designed for them ; and which, if it be in plumps, as they call them, within t^xi or twelve feet of each other, or in hedge-rows, it will be better ; for the elm is a tree of consort, sociable, and so af- fecting to grow in company, that the very best which I have ever seen, do almost touch one another : this also protects them from the winds, and causes them to jshoot of an extraordinary height, so as, in little more than forty years, they arrive to a load of timber, provided they be sedulously and carefully culti- vated, and the soil propitious ; for an elm does not thrive so well in the forest, as where it may enjoy scope for the roots to dilate and spread at the sides, as in hedge-rows and avenues, where they have the air likewise free." I have been thus particular in regard to the English Elm, because of its great beauty and rapid growth, and the value of its timber, in which last particulars it is doubtless superior to the American Elm, as, in the others, it is little if at all inferior. X. 2. THE SCOTCH ELM. 305 Sp. 4. The Scotch Elm. Ulmus montana. Bauhin. Another elm which has been partially introduced in this coun- try, and is very much cultivated in Scotland, and the northern parts of England, is the Scotch Elm, otherwise called the Wych Elm, or Wych Hazel. For many purposes, its wood is preferred to that of the English Elm, as it splits more freely. On the whole, however, it is inferior. It resembles our Slippery Elm. There are several other species of elm known in this coun- try, though I have never found them in Massachusetts. The River Elm, U. nemordlis, is said by Pursh, (N. A. Flora, p. 200,) to occur, rarely, on the banks of rivers from New Eng- land to Virginia. He speaks of having seen it growing. It is characterized as having oblong, smoothish leaves, equally ser- rate, and nearly equal at base, with sessile flowers. Michaus mentions an elm which he saw in Maine, and on the ChamplaiUj differing from those which have been described, but which more nearly resembled the common elm. There is described and figured in Silliman's Journal, (XIX, p. 170,) by David Thomas, a new species of elm which he calls Racemed Elm, U. racembsa^ whose specific character he gives thus : — '^ Ulmus i^acemosa, — Flowers in racemes ; pedicels in distinct fascicles; united at their bases. A tree. Lower branches, with irregular corky excrescences. Leaves, ovate, acuminate ; auriculate on one side; doubly serrate; above, glabrous; under side and ribs, minutely pubescent. Racemes, of sev- eral fascicles, (often three or four, with a terminal flower;) one to two and a half inches long — from the sides of the last year's branches, and often garnished with small but per- fect leaves, before the terminal buds open. Fascicles of from two to four flowers. Flowers, pedicellate. Calyx, from seven to eight-cleft. Stamens, from seven to ten. Stigmas two, re- curved. Samara, ovate, pubescent; membrane more extended on oiiQ side ; margin densely fringed. A native of Cayuga 40 306 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. County, in the state of New York, and of the adjacent country." Silliman^s Journal^ Tol. XIX, p. 170. It is possible that this ehu, which has some affinity with the Cork Elm of Europe, though evidently a distinct tree, may be found in the western part of this State. I have seen some small trees resembling it in the corky bark, while m other res- pects they were hke the common elm. X. 2. THE NETTLE TREE. CELTIS. L, This genus contains handsome trees, or tall shrubs, natives of North and South America, Asia, and Europe, with alternate, deciduous, unequal-sided, strongly nerved leaves, axillary flow- ers, with Ave stamens, and a calyx of five divisions ; and small, sweet, wholesome stone fruit. The nettle trees are of a strik- ingly elegant appearance, from the breadth of their ample and richly tufted head. They grow well on the poorest and most arid soils, but flourish best in a soil which is rich and moist. In such situations, their growth is very rapid. The wood of some of the species is remarkable for its hardness and tenacity ; of others, too soft to be of much use. Their foliage is rich and abundant, of long continuance, and not liable to the attacks of insects, and is remarkable for falling almost at once. The flow- ers come out early, before the leaves; and the fruit, which ripens in Autumn, remains on the tree till the following Spring. The name nettle tree has been given from the resemblance of the leaves to those of some species of nettle. There are about twenty species, four of which are found in North America. Several of these trees are very ornamental, and none more so than the two found in Massachusetts. Sp. L The American Nettle Tree. C. occldentdlis. L. Figured in Michaus, Sylva, III, Plate 114, and in this volume, Plate 16. The tree is well represented in Loudon, Arboretum, VII, Plates 192 and 193. This fine tree has a strong resemblance to an elm, and is often, by careless observers, mistaken for one. Its branches have something of the drooping character of those of the com- mon elm, but much less than they, and are more inclined to X. 2. THE AMERICAN NETTLE TREE. 307 spread horizontally. The trunk is covered with a grayish and rough bark. It seldom extends to a considerable height, with- out throwing out numerous, slender branches. The ultimate branchlets are extremely slender, downy when young, and cov- ered with a reddish brown bark. The leaves, commonly from one and a half to three inches long, and from one to two broad, vary much on the fruit-bearing and on the vigorously growing hmbs. On the latter^ they are large, rather thick, broad and conspicuously serrate \ on the former, they are smaller and more delicately shaped, more sharply serrate, and have a much longer acumination. On both, they are downy when young, and rough on both surfaces, but afterwards become nearly smooth. They are ovate in their general outline, acute, rounded, or obtuse, and sometimes slightly heart-shaped at base, commonly une- qual-sided, but sometimes equal-sided ; very irregularly dentate or serrate about the middle, and end in a long, taper, entire point. They are borne on slender footstalks, which continue slightly hairy till late in the season. The leaves are of a dark green, which turns to a bright yellow in autumn, when they fall nearly all together. The flowers come out very early, on long footstalks, from one to three in the axils of the leaves. They have a calyx of five, or sometimes six divisions, with five or six stamens. The lower flowers have usually stamens only, and are barren ; the upper, solitary flowers have also an ovary which becomes a fruit. This is sweet to the taste, about the size of a wild cher- ry, has a large stone, and, when perfectly ripe, is of a dark pur- ple color. The tree might be described to one who wished to be able to recognize it, as an elm, bearing purple, sweet cherries, which continued on the stem through the winter. Douglas says that this tree is found on the rocky banks of the Columbia River in places so dry that no other tree can grow there. Michaux had never observed it northward of the Connecticut River. I have found it, never in great numbers, in almost every county in the State. It was pointed out to me at Savin Hill, by Dr. Bigelow, and in Dorchester by Dr. Harris. It is almost every where so rare, that its name is unkno-wn, and it might well be called, as it was by the French in Illinois, Bois 308 WOODY PLANTS OP MASSACHUSETTS. inconnn, unknown wood. In Bristol County, where it is often found, and whence a fine specimen of the wood was sent me by an attentive observer of nature, Micah Ruggles, Esq., of Fall River, it is called False Elm, from its strong resemblance. In Middlesex, it is so rare that a friend, whose eye is open to what- ever is curious in nature, and who showed me specimens of its leaves, had been unable to find any name for it among the com- mon people, his neighbors. It is, throughout the State, a small tree, seldom rising above forty or fifty feet in height, and twenty or twenty -four inches in diameter. It is said by Torrey, who gives it the name of beaver wood and hoop ash, to be found particularly in rocky situations, on the banks of rivers. Specimens of the leaves and wood have been sent me from the banks of the Potomac, under the names of sweet gum and sugar berry. ElHot says that along the margin of salt water, in the sea islands of Carolma, where it grows in light, rich soils, it sometimes attains the height of sixty or eighty feet, and a diameter of three or four. Michaux had found it in greatest vigor on the Savannah, where, in a cool and shady situation, he had seen trees sixty or seventy feet high, and eighteen or twenty mches in diameter. This is so rare a tree, that I have not been able^to find that any one is acquainted with the qualities of its wood. Michaux supposed, from its similarity to the European nettle tree, that it must have the same properties. That tree, C. Austrdlis, is supposed to have been the Lotus of the ancients, the sweet fruit of which was the food of the lot6phagi\ and which Homer describes as so delicious, that those who ate thereof, straight- way forgot their native country, or lost all desire to return home. The European is a small tree, seldom fifty feet high or three in circumference. Its wood is extremely compact, taking a place between that of the live oak and the box for density and hard- ness. It weighs, when dry, according to Baudrillart, 70 lbs. 3 oz. per cubic foot. It is susceptible of a high polish, and, when cut obhquely across the fibres, resembles satm wood. It is used for making furniture, and by carvers for images of the saints. The branches are very supple, tough, and elastic, and are much X. 2- THE HACK BERRY. 309 used, ill the south of France, for making hay-forks. In that country, plantations of it, for that purpose, are common. In the department of Gard, seven acres of rocky land, unfit for any other use, planted with nettle trees, yield, annually, five thousand dozen of hay-forks, giving a revenue of five thousand dollars yearly. When cut close to the ground, the stem sends up numerous vigorous shoots, of great flexibility. Planted close, in masses, they rise to considerable height, without much thick- ness, furnishing admirable handles for coach-whips, ramrods for muskets, and walking-sticks. And so highly are they val- ued that, according to Baudrillart, all the coachmen in Europe are supplied from plantations on rich soil in Narbonne, which are made expressly for this purpose. It is also used for the shafts and axletrees of carriages, the naves of wheels, and for musical instruments. The root is used for dyemg yellow ; the bark for tanning ; and an oil is expressed from the stones of the fruit. — Loudoris Arh.^ 1415. Sp. 2. The Hack Beeey. C. crdssifolia. Leaves and fruit represented (incorrectly) m Michaux, Sylva, III, Plate 115. Michaux assigned the banks of the Delaware as the north- eastern limit of the hack berry. I find, however, that it grows in Massachusetts, on the banks of the Connecticut. Specimens of the leaves, which I had gathered as those of the nettle tree, turn out, on careful examination, to belong to this tree. I have found it in only two places :— in Springfield, on the east side of the Connecticut River, and in West Springfield, on the west. Some of the trees are, I hope, stHl standing. The most remark- able one has been destroyed. It grew a few rods north of the Hampden House, in the broad county road, in Springfield. When I measured it, in September, 1838, its girth, at three feet from the ground, was sixteen ieei ten inches ; at four, it was fourteen feet three inches ; at six. thirteen feet. It had gnarled, projecting roots, putting out on every side till nearly three feet from the surface. It diminished, gradually, to the height of twelve or fifteen feet, and there had several broad, irregular pro- tuberances, where it had lost large limbs. Above this it tapered 310 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. rapidly, dividing into three branches, which formed a small, round, rather dense top, fifty or sixty feet high. It was covered with a very rough, brownish gray bark, and had, altogether, so much the aspect of an elm, that it was, almost universally, taken for one. I was informed that a still larger tree of the same kmd had formerly grown near it. Withm two years, this noble tree has fallen, like its brother, before the axe of improve- ment. The leaf-bearing branchlets are very slender, slightly downy, and covered with a reddish brown bark. The buds are small, compressed, and rather pointed. The leaves are four or five inches long and less than two wide, borne on a small, round, short, somewhat hairy stalk. They are unequal- sided, the side next the branch being much broader than the other and strongly half-heart-shaped ; the other side being some- times, but not always, half-hearted ; they are oblong, tapering very slowly, ending m a long acumination, and sharply serrate almost to the very point; rough on both surfaces, bright green above, pale beneath. They are less thick than the leaves of the nettle tree ; although, in other respects, they correspond suffi- ciently well with the description and figure of Michaux.* To him and to other writers, I am indebted for the remainder of this description; for I have not seen the flowers, fruit or wood. The trunk is commonly straight and without branches to a great height. The bark is grayish and broken, thickly and irregularly set with hard, blackish, permanent, corky asperities. The branches are nearly horizontal and slender. The branch- lets inclined or pendent, small, close-set, brown, scattered with small, whitish warts; the young ones green, more or less downy. The leaves on the vigorous shoots are from four to seven inches long, and often of equal breadth, deeply toothed and rough, sometimes almost equal-sided, sometimes exactly heart-shaped, sometimes half-heart-shaped, or ovate-lanceolate. The stipules are hnear-lanceolate and pointed. Flowers of the size of those of the nettle tree, with the segments of the perianth oblong, obtuse, fringed at tip, cihate on the border. Ovary conical, sur- * Spach, who is familiar with, the tree as cultivated in France, finds fault with this figure, because the fruits are incorrectly represented as black, and as growing upon a stout and vigorous shoot with large and thick leaves. X. 2. THE HACK BERRY. 311 mounted with stigmas twice its own length. Fruit-stalks half an inch long. Drupe of the size of a large pea, and of a brown- ish red. — Spachy XI, 431. Michaux says, " This is one of the finest trees that compose the dusky forests on the upper part of the Ohio. It associates with the buttonwood, black walnut, butternut, bass wood, black sugar maple, elm and sweet locust, which it equals in stature but not m bulk, being sometimes more than eighty feet high, with a disproportionate diameter of eighteen or twenty inches. '- The wood is fine-grained and compact, but not heavy, and when freshly exposed it is perfectly white : sawn in a direction parallel or oblique to its concentrical circles, it exhibits the fine undulations that are observed in the elm and the locust. On laying open the sap of this tree in the spring, I have remarked, without being able to account for the phenomenon, that it changes in a few minutes from pure white to green. On the Ohio and in Kentucky, where the best opportunity is afibrded of appreciating this wood, it is little esteemed, on account of its weakness and its speedy decay when exposed to the weather. It is rejected by wheelwrights, but is sometimes employed m building, for the covering which supports the shingles. As it is elastic and easily divided, it is used for the bottom of common chairs, and by the Indians for baskets. On the banks of the Ohio, it is frequently taken for the rails of rural fence, and is wrought with the greatest ease, as it is straight-grained and free from knots : it is said, also, to afibrd excellent charcoal. " The hack berry is certainly one of the most beautiful trees of its genus, and one of the most remarkable for height and for majesty of form. In rich soils, the luxuriance of its vegetation is shown by sprouts, six, eight, and ten feet in length, garnished on each side with large, substantial leaves. In France, it is principally esteemed for the rapidity of its growth." — Sylva, III, 47—48. Spach says it grows readily on all kinds of soil, and is re- markable for its beauty and for the rapidity of its growth. There are two trees of this family of such value for their wood, and of such beauty, that they ought not to be passed 312 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. ■without notice. The one is the Planer tree, Plhnera ulmifolia^ of Michaux, which is found on the banks of the Mississippi, and in Kentucky and Tennessee. The other is the Zelkoua or Tselkwa, Pldnera Ricliardi^ of Michaux, a native of the country between the Black and Caspian Seas, from lat 35° to 47°. This was introduced into France in 1782, by the elder Michaux, and has since been cultivated both in that country and England. Its trunk resembles that of a beech, being kept smooth by the exfoliation of the outer bark. It is a lofty, richly tufted and picturesque tree, remarkable for its rapid growth, and for its shining green leaves being not liable to the attacks of insects. Its wood is of very great value, extremely beautiful, heavy, dense and hard, finely- veined and susceptible of the highest polish, and surpassing oak in durability, never becoming worm-eaten, however old it may be. There is another tree, belonging to the family of Balsamd- cem^ for which I have hitherto searched New England in vain, which yet is probably found here : as it occurs abundantly in parts of New York nearest us. It is the Sweet Gum, Liqtdd- amhar styradfiua^ whose star-like leaves are so conspicuously beautiful in the woods of New Jersey in autumn. FAMILY XL THE SANDAL WOOD FAMILY. SANTADACEJE, K. Browjj". This family, which receives its name from the Santalum, one species of which produces the well-known odoriferous sandal- wood, comprehends trees, shrubs, under-shrubs and herbs. The flower-cup is three- or five-cleft, greenish and leaf-like exter- nally, and colored internally. A fleshy disk which is entire or lobed, occupies the bottom of the flower, and adheres to the base of the flower-cup, or to the ovary. The stamens are equal in number to the lobes of the flower-cup, or twice as many. The ovary is one-celled, with from one to four ovules. The fruit is a drupe or nut, one-celled and one-seeded. The leaves arc alternate, and undivided. In North America, it includes trees, XI. THE TUPELO TREE. 313 as well as some small herbaceoiis plants; in New- Holland, the East Indies, and the South Sea Islands, trees and shrubs; in Europe, only in conspicuous weeds. One genus of the trees of Massachusetts belongs to it, The Tupelo, Nyssa. L. This is placed by some writers,'^ in the Linn^an class Dicecia, order Pentandria ; by others,! in Pentan- dria, Monogynia; by Linn^us himself and others,t in his class Poly garni a. On different trees three kinds of flowers are found, some con- taining only stamens, others stamens and a pistil; others only a pistil. None have a proper corolla. In the staminate flowers, the calyx is five-parted; the stamens from five to tm or twelve, inserted around a glandlike disk. In the pistillate flowers, the calyx is five-cleft; stamens five or none; the style simple, often revolute ; succeeded by a one-seeded, somewhat fleshy drupe, containing an ovate,, striate nut This genus is confined to North America. The trees grow by streams or stagnant waters. They have alternate leaves, entire, or with large angular teeth, and are smooth, reticulate or downy beneath; and flowers sprmguig from the axil of the leaves, the male in racemes or heads, the fertile solitary, or with two or three on a stem. Of the trees of this kind found in this State, varying exceed- ingly in their shape, and especiaUy in their leaves, I have had great hesitation, whether to consider them as belonging to two or three species, or only as varieties of one. I am rather in- clined to the latter conclusion, and that they belong to the spe- cies which has been called THE TUPELO TREE. Ny'ssa mUtiflora. Walter. In Bristol County, and the other south-eastern counties, this is called the Snag Tree, and sometimes Horn Pine. In the western parts of the State, it is called Pepperidge; and often, in every part, it is called Hornbeam, from the extreme toughness of the wood. It is nowhere called Gum Tree, by which name it is commonly known in the Middle and Southern States. The * Nuttall, Elliott. t Darlington. % Bigelow. 41 314 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. most suitable name, and one not appropriated to any other tree, is Tupelo, the name by which it and several other species of this genus were known to some tribes of the aborigines. The Tupelo is always a striking, and often a very beautiful tree. It usually rises to a height of not more than thirty or forty feet ; but m dense, moist woods, where it has been surrounded by other tall trees, I have seen it sixty or seventy feet high. No tree varies more in its aspect. In the neighborhood of Boston, where it abounds, especially in the low grounds in Cambridge, on the borders of Jamaica Pond, and in other places in Brook- Hne, it is a low tree, throwing out a very great number of horizontal or drooping branches, formmg a short, cylindrical head, flat abox^e. Where it has long stood by itself, and its nat- ural tendency has been completely unimpeded, it forms a low, very broad, palm-like head. Sometimes it is pyramidal or con- ical ; and sometimes the dense mass of foliage has the shape of an inverted cone, very broad and flat at top. The trunk, which is almost always erect, and which seldom rises many feet, — commonly not more than six or seven, — be- fore it throws out branches, — is invested with a dark ashy gray bark, much, but not deeply broken by longitudinal furrows. In very old stocks it is sometimes broken into somewhat regular polygons. The branches, which are far more numerous than on any other tree, frequently so close to each other, that it would be difficult to find room for more, are almost uniformly horizontal near the trunk, and arch downwards towards the extremities. Often very crooked, they are thickly set with smaller ramifica- tions, which form a short spray, projecting in every direction. The bark on the new shoots is of a bright apple or reddish green, on the older branchlets it is red or brownish, shining through a pearly, thin epidermis. The leaves, which are alter- nate on the growing shoots, but in tufts of four or more on the ends of the lateral branchlets, are of a resplendent green above, reflecting the light hke those of a tropical plant. They are somewhat paler beneath, and vary in shape from lanceolate to broad oval, and obovate, and m size from one inch to four or five inches m length, and from one half an inch to two inches in breadth. They are usually wedge-shaped at base, sometimes XI, THE TUPELO TREE. 315 taper to a long point, sometimes are obtuse, and even emargi- nate or slightly notched, at the extremity. Generally, they are entire at the edge, but I am acquainted "with some trees which constantly bear leaves of a very large size, and notched with several large teeth towards the extremity. The surface is some- times perfectly smooth above and below, most frequently hairy or downy beneath, especially when young. The texture is rather firm and coriaceous. They are borne on short, roundish petioles, flat above, green, or of a rich scarlet or crimson color, when exposed to light ; and to some shade of these colors, the whole leaf turns m early autumn. The petiole often has an expansion or margin on each side, and is invested with ciliate rows of hairs, which usually fall off as the leaf grows old. The sterile flowers sometimes form little umbels or heads of from four to eight greenish flowers on the end of a downy foot- stalk of a uniform size, and an inch or less in length — some- times the footstalk terminates in an open ckister of from two to five or six flowers, which are very small, and of a yellowish green, and rest on very short stalks. The flower consists of from four to eight, oblong, or ovate, pointed, obtuse, or emargi- nate, green sepals, with from four to eight stamens rising from beneath or from the edge of a glaucous, fleshy disk. The fertfle flowers form a close whorl of three or more very small flowers, sometimes but two or one^ on the end of a short club-shaped footstalk, which lengthens as the fruit advances, till it becomes one or two inches long. The fruit, of which seldom more than one or two, on the same footstalk, come to perfection, is an oblong or elliptic drape, of a deep blue-black, when mature, consisting of a little acid flesh, enveloping a very hard stone, longitudinally striated. Very little use is made of the wood of this tree. From the crossing and intertwining of its fibres, it is excessively difiicult to split, and therefore, when employed as fuel, it is reserved for logs and back-sticks. In the Middle States, it is used to form the naves of wheels. But, for this purpose, it is less suitable than the elm, as it is said to be more liable to decay when exposed to the weather. It has been sometimes turned into bowls and other wooden vessels, for which its toughness renders it pecu- 316 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. liarly fit. It is better fitted than any other tree to he made into the pipes of aqueducts, as it requires no hoops ; and it has been extensively employed for this purpose in the salt works at Syr- acuse and the neighboring towns, in New York. It is of a yellowish color when freshly cut. As an ornamental tree the Tupelo deserves more attention than it has received. The brilliant color of the green of the leaves, and the rich scarlet and crimson to which they turn in autumn, at which season some of the trees are covered with the bright blue fruit, make it always a beautiful object. I have been often struck with the appearance of extreme vigor and healthfulness in the young trees — and some of the old ones are amongst the noblest in the State. There is a tree of this kind at Cohasset, which was first pointed out to me by the Rev. Dr. Greenwood, a man of taste, who was a lover of trees, and which we rode twenty-five miles expressly to see. It is richly worth a much longer journey. It stands in a lone pasture, half a mile or more eastward from a place called the Gulf. At the surface, just above the roots, it is eleven feet in circumference, and it is nine feet and two niches, up to the larger branches, which begin at about seven feet from the ground. The trunk loses little of its diameter for near twenty feet, although in that space, twenty large branches, and many small ones put out These are very large, and project horizontally on every side, to a great distance, with an air of mighty strength and power of resistance. The bark is cleft into long prismatic ridges, nearly two inches high, which, on the larger branches, are broken into hexagons, with an approach to geometric regularity. It is of a mouse color, or purplish ashy gray, with white clouds of pertusaria, and greenish and bluish ash parmelias. The height is forty or fifty feet. The average breadth of the head sixty-three feet, its extreme breadth sixty-six. The whole head is of a broad, irregularly hemi- spherical shape, flat at top. A striking circumstance in this tree is the fact that the enormous horizontal branches push out as boldly seaward as in any other direction, though the north-east wind sweeps from the Bay in this quarter with a violence which has bent almost every other tree towards the land. I have ob- XIL THE CINNAMON FAMILY. 317 served many other instances of the vigor with which the tupela- stands out against the sea breeze. Another fine tree of the same kind is near by, rising to sev- enty or eighty feet in height, without large branches till towards the top. Farther landward is a noble tree, sixty feet high, with a large flat top. This, at two feet from the surface, is six feet two inches in circumference ; and, at from four to eight or nine feet, five feet eight inches. Its branches are small and nearly erect, a few large ones coming out at twenty or twenty-five feet from the ground. It is a remarkable thing to see trees of the same species growing near each other, so entirely unlike in aspect and habit as these. Three or four other species of Nyssa are found in the United States, and, where well known, are considered by botanists as distinct. Those who are acquainted with these, will have re- cognized, in the above description, which is taken from nature, peculiarities of some of the other species. An attentive study of the protean forms of the oak. has led me to doubt the value of distinctions of nearly allied species, founded on ^.Tij thing but the fruit. Till I shall have had better opportunities of exam- ining the fruit of the several varieties of Nyssa ^ I shall not be able to say, confidently, whether there is only one, or whether there are several species m the State. The tupelo is found around the ponds in Plymouth County, about Buzzard's Bay, in the swamps in Franklin, and the other river counties, and in other parts of the State. It is found near Portsmouth, N. H., and in the Middle and Southern States, as far as Carohna and Georgia. FAMILY Xn. THE CINNAMON FAMILY. LAURINE^, Yen TEN AT. Most of the plants of this family are trees of great beauty, and often of a lofty stature. It also contains shrubs and a few leafless, parasitic, climbing herbs. Only eleven or twelve spe- 318 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. cies were Imown to Linnaeus, all belonging to the genus Laurus^ but the family now contains j.iiore than four hundred species, divided into more than thirty genera, of which the greater part are natives of regions between the tropics ; some few are found in the northern temperate zone ; and Massachusetts is, in this country, very nearly their northern limit. All are remarkable for their warm, stimulating, aromatic proper- ties, owing, usually, to essential oils, which abound in their bark and leaves. Several species, in different eastern lands, yield the different sorts of cinnamon and cassia, the genuine being the produce of varieties of the Ci7ina?ndmwn zeyldniciim. Camphor is extracted from the roots of the Camphora officind- rum, by boiling. It is also found, in ample or minute propor- tion, in the wood of the trunk or root of many other species. The delicious Avocado pear, the aguacatc of the Spaniards, often called by the English the Alligator pear, and said to be worth a voyage from Europe to the West Indies to taste, is produced by a tree of this family, the Persea gratissima. The wood of many of the species, found in southeastern Asia, re- tains the pleasant camphoretted odor many years, and is sought for as the material for the finishing and furniture of oriental dwellings; as in beauty, hardness and durableness, it some- times vies with mahogany. The sweet-wood timber of Jamaica, and many valuable woods of South America are produced by trees of this family. The botanical name is derived from the only plant of the family indigenous to Europe, the bay tree, Laurus nobiUs^ the laurel of the ancients, the emblem of victory and of clemency, and sacred to their god Apollo. Victorious generals were crowned with a wreath of bay leaves, an honor which, in later times, has been transferred to distinguished poets, thence called poets laureate. The name of baccalaureate degree, that of bachelor of arts, seems to have had a similar origin from bacca laurea^ the laurel berry. The leaves are mostly entire, and usually coriaceous, smooth and shining. The flower-cup is of one piece, with four or six divisions arranged in two rows, and with a fleshy disk occupy- ing its centre. The flowers are sometimes perfect; sometimes fertile and sterile flowers are on different plants, or on the same. XII. 1. THE SASSAFRAS TREE. 319 The stamens are as numerous as the divisions of the flower- cup, and opposite them, or two, three, four, five or six times as numerous. When there are more than three rows, the inner ones are sterile. The anthers open by valves, which curve up- wards. The fruit is a one-seeded berry or a drupe, usually supported by a thickened, club-shaped stalk. The only genera found in this State, are the Sassafras and the Spice Bush or Fever Bush, Be?izoin; the former a tree, the latter a shrub. Both have six-parted yellowish flowers with nine stamens, which are all fertile in the male flowers; the fe- male, six sterile ones. The Sassafras has its anthers opening with four valves, and its fruit borne on sl stem thickened and fleshy at the extremity. The Spice Bush has anthers with only two valves^ and its fruit-stalk not fleshy at the extremity. XIL 1. THE SASSAFRAS TREE. SA'SSAFRAS OFFICINALE, Nees Ton Esenbeck. Figured in Audubon's Birds, II, Plate 144 ; in Michaux, Sylva, Plate 81 ; Bigelow's Medical Botany, II, Plate 35. The sassafras, in thisState, rarely reaches thirty feet in height and a foot in diameter. I have, however, measured some which were forty or fifty feet high and nearly two feet in diameter. The old tree is a striking but not a beautiful object, at least when the trunk is visible, which is rarely erect, but usually bending upwards, and sometimes crooked. The bark, on old stems, is of a reddish ash color, deeply and irregularly cracked, with the sides of the furrows striated with black and gray lines, showing the annual layers. The color of the interior of the bark is dark red, like some kinds of cinnamon. The branches are numerous, bare and crooked. The young tree is often beautiful, from the rich color of the luxuriant foliage and the recent shoots; and on young and old trees, the head is broad, round and finely tufted. The living bark is commonly free from most kinds of lichens, but an occasional dead branch will be found covered with Lecanoras and Lecideas, and patches of common and golden-eyed Parmelias. On young trees, the 320 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. bark is a reddish green, striated, with ash ; the branches are in imperfect whorls, and stand nearly at right angles to the trunk, curving slightly from branchlet to branchlet. On old trees, the appearance of regular whorls in the branches is lost, from the smaller ones being outstripped by the larger, and some of them dying ; and the graceful curvature is lost, and the branches are bare and crooked. The spray is long and irregular, forming a sharp angle with the small branches, and curving upwards. It is of a yellowish green color and downy surface. The terminal buds are large, ovate, and invested at base with three or four scales of the color of the twig. The leaves of the same tree are remarkable for their variety of form. They are supported on petioles of one quarter or one fifth the length of the leaf, are acute or wedge-shaped at base, often entire, sometimes oval with an imperfect lateral lobe, more frequently, especially towards the ends of the branches, dilated and three-lobed. They are of a pleasant green ; in the autumn becoming a delicate buff, leatlier yellow or orange. The scales of the buds, which are covered with down, on ex- panding, remain to protect the branch of leaves and flowers which they enclosed, and which are ahke clothed with a hairy or silken down. This disappears from the upper surface of the leaves as they advance in age. The under surface is marked by prominent veins. The flowers are on pendulous or nodding, r^ender, clustered racemes, in the axil of the bud-scales, below the leaves, around the base o£ the recent shoots. Each partial flower stalk has, at its base, a slender, thread-like, villosc bract, as long as the foot-stalk. In the sterile flowers, the calyx usually has six yellowish, oblong, petal-hke pieces, united at base to form a cup, inside of which and opposite them are six stamens, forming one circle, and inside them and opposite the alternate ones, a circle of three stamens, on each side of each one of which is an orange-colored gland on a short stalk. The an- thers are short, having two cells opening inward, and^ above, two smaller cells opening obliquely upwards. The style, swell- ing at base, stands freely in the centre, but with no ovule within. The fertfle flowers have only six short, imperfect stamens, in a single series. Ovary roundish, stigma on a short style. The Xn. 1. THE SASSAFRAS TREE. 321 fruit is an oblong oval druprof a dark blue, when ripe, sup- ported by a dark red, thickened, club-shaped footstalk. They are eagerly sought after by birds, and therefore soon disappear. When perfectly ripe, and before they have begun to be preyed upon, they form a beautiful contrast with the agreeable green of the leaves. Few of the insects which frequent the sassafras trees have been attentively studied. Caterpillars of the rabbit tussock- moth, Lagoa opercularis of Dr. Harris, are often found feeding on their leaves, as are those of the Saturnia lo ; and within the leaves, the caterpillar of the Aitacus Promethea butterfly spins its cocoon and spends the winter. — {Harrises Report, pp. 265, 281 and 283.) The leaves, also, sometimes furnish nourishment to caterpillars of the Aitacus luna butterfly. — {Drury, I, 45.) The wood, in young trees, is white, but becomes reddish on growing old. It is very brittle, and branches of some size may be broken with little effort, and yet the seasoned wood combines lightness and toughness in a higher degree, than al- most any other wood, and is therefore preferred for the purpose of making the smaller joints of fishing-rods. It is soft and close- grained, and IS said to resist decay for a long time, when exposed to the weather. Its odor is supposed to be disagreeable to in- sects and worms, to whose attacks it is said not to be liable ; for which reason it is sometimes used as the material for bed- steads, and for trunks and drawers for clothes. It is also used for rafters and joists ; as fuel, it is little esteemed, as it snaps in the fire like the wood of .the chestnut In the southwestern States, the dried leaves are much used as an ingredient in soups, for which they are well adapted by the abundance of mucilage they contain. For this purpose, the mature green leaves are dried and powdered, the stringy por- tions being separated, and are sifted and preserved for use. This preparation, mixed with soups, gives them a ropy consist- ence, and a peculiar flavor, much relished by those accustomed to it. To such soups are given the names gombo file and ffombo zab. In Virginia, and the more southern States, a beer, considered a healthy drink for the spring and summer seasons, is made by 42 322 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. boiling the young shoots in water, adding molasses, and fer- meniing. The taste of the leaves is naucilaginous and pleas- ant ; of the fruit, disagreeably spicy. For its medicinal properties, the sassafras has long been cele- brated. On this account, it was much sought for by the earliest visitors to America;^ and its roots formed a part of the first cargo exported from Massachusetts.^ At that time, it " com- manded an extravagant price, and treatises were written to celebrate its virtues." The following account is from Dr. Big- elow's Medical Botany, II, p. 144: — *-The bark of this tree has a fragrant smell and a very agreeable spicy taste. The flavor of the root is most power- ful, that of the branches more pleasant The flavor and odor reside m a volatile oil, which is readily obtained from the bark by distillation. It is of a light color, becoming darker by age, very pungent, and heavier than water, so that it sinks in that fluid when the drops are sufficiently large to overcome the re- pulsion at the surface. The bark and pith of the young twigs abound with a pure and delicate mucilage. A very small quan- tity of the pith infused in a glass of water gives to the whole a ropy consistence, like the white of an egg. This mucilage has the uncommon quality that it is not precipitated, coagulated, or rendered turbid by alcohol. It continues in a perfectly trans- parent state when mixed with that fluid, though it does not unite with it. When evaporated to dryness, it leaves a light- colored, gum-hke residuum. ^' The volatile oil and the mucilage appear to contain all the medicinal virtue of the tree. ^^The bark and wood of the sassafras were formerly much celebrated in the cure of various complaints ; it is now recog- nized only with regard to its general properties, which are those of a warm stimulant and diaphoretic." A decoction of the bark is said to communicate to wool a durable orange color. The sassafras is found as far north as Canada. It is there, however, a small tree, not often exceeding fifteen or twenty feet in height. In the Middle States, it is found forty or fifty * Gosnold, in Belknap's American Biog^raphy, I, 238. XIL 1. THE SASSAFRAS TREE. 323 feet high, and two feet in diameter, and in the Southern and Western States, is said to attain a still loftier stature. " 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 one thousand eight hundred miles, the sassafras is sufficiently multipUed to be ranked among the most common trees." — Mlchaux, II, 145. It is found in almost every part of Massachusetts, and seems to flourish in almost every kind of soil. In the vicinity of Bos- ton, in soil restnig upon crumbled grauwacke, it attains larger dimensions of diameter and height, than I have elsewhere ob- served it It is nowhere found very abundantly, but is usually allowed to remain, out of regard for its medicinal properties, and the beauty of its foliage and fruit, about fences, and on the borders of fields, where it is most frequently seen. This tree has the credit of having aided in the discovery of America, as it is said to have been its strong fragrance, smelt by Colum- bus, which encouraged him to persevere, and enabled him to convince his mutinous crew that land was near. The sassafras never grows to the size of a tree of the first class. One was growing in 1842, in West Cambridge, which measured more than three feet through at the base, and rose, without a hmb, more than thirty feet, with a trunk very straight and slightly diminished, above which it had a somewhat lofty and broad head. It was nearly sixty feet high, and had been long growing by itself It was felled and its roots dug up, to allow a Btone wall to run in a right line. Such pieces of barbar- ism are still but too common. A tree so beautiful and lofty, and of such rare dimensions, such an ornament to a bare hill- side, sacrificed to the straightness of a wall ! The sassafras has been much cultivated in England as an ornamental tree. It is usually propagated by seeds imported from this country. These, as soon as received, are sown or put in a rot-heap, as they sometimes remain two or three years in the ground before they come up. It may be also propagated by suckers which spring up in great numbers from the long creep- ing roots of old trees. Several other species of sassafras are found in this coxmtry. 324 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. XIL 2. FETEU BUSH. SPICE BUSH. BENZOIN ODORTFERUM. Nees Yon Esenbeck. The spice bush is a shrub, from four to ten feet high, with long, tapering, brittle branches. The recent shoots are smooth, and of a bright green, which, in the next year, takes an olive tint, and afterwards a pearly gray, which becomes darker on the older stalks. The leaves are from' two to five inches long, and one or two wide, scattered, very entire, broad lanceolate or obovate, sometimes almost rhomboidal, tapering at base, ab- ruptly pointed, sometimes obtuse, smooth and of a pleasant soft green above, pale or glaucous beneath ; revolute and deli- cately ciliate on the margin; supported on leaf-stalks about half an inch long, smooth or rarely downy. In April, or the early part of May, clusters of from three to six flowers, of a greenish yellow, on very short pedicels, appear from buds distinct from the leaf-buds, m the axils of the last year's leaves. What seem to be petals, are a calyx of six oblong, obtuse seg- ments. The stamens are somewhat shorter, nine in number, in two rows, six exterior, and three interior, alternating with sta- men-like bodies; the filaments of the inner series trifid, with the lateral segments short and terminating in two-lobed glands. Anthers two-celled, cells opening by vertical elastic valves. Ovary roundish, surmounted by a short thickish style. Fruit a dark red or purple drupe, of an oval shape, in bunches of from two to five, by the side of the base of the short leaf-branches, which are sometimes abortive. The stem is short and stout, not so long as the fruit. While green, the drupe has the black style in a terminal hollow. This plant is remarkable for its graceful form, and large, hand- some leaves, particularly when found growing in the deep shade of a moist forest. Such a situation, where it seems most vig- orous, is not favorable to the production of its flowers and fruit. This plant derives its botanical name from its aromatic odor, resembling gum benzoin. This is to some persons always dis- agreeable, and when the leaves are bruised, oppressively strong. The bark is stimulant and tonic, and has been used in inter- mittent fevers. The berries are said to have been sometimes XIII. THE LEATHER WOOD. 325 used in place of allspice. In Pennsylvania, a decoction of the branches is often used as a medicinal d:rink for homed cattle in the spring of the year. — Darlington. Two or more species of Benzoin are found in the Southern States. Nuttall proposed, while the Sassafras and Benzoin were still united with Laurus, to separate them from the other spe- cies, and unite them in one genus Euosmus, FAMILY XITI. THE MEZEREUM FAMILY. TRYMELA'CEJS, LiNDLEr. This contains shrubby plants wanting a corolla, but hav- ing a corolla-like, colored calyx, and a very tough bark. The calyx is tubular, with its border usually four-cleft, and with four or eight stamens, growing from its tube. Most of the plants belong to the Cape of Good Hope and Australia ; many are found in the cooler parts of India and South America ; a few in Europe and Middle Asia; a single genus is found in North America. The plants of this family are distinguished for an acrid or caustic principle in the bark. When chewed, it produces a burn- ing sensation in the mouth, and, taken into the stomach, causes heat and vomiting, or purging. Applied externally, it slowly produces a blister. The bark is made up of interlaced fibres of great strength, from which cordage has been made. A sort of natural lace is formed of it, in the Lagetta, or Lace Bark of Jamaica. In Nepaul, paper has been manufactured from it. A yellow dye for wool is formed from two plants of this family, in the south of Europe. THE LEATHER WOOD. DIRCA PALUSTRIS. L. Figured in Bigelow's Medical Botany, Plate 38. This is a much branched shrub, from three to five or six feet m height. The tough, flexible, dichotomous branches which come from the bottom of the stem, have a horizontal tendency, 326 WOODY PLANTS OP MASSACHUSETTS. making the plant look lower than it is ; they have a jointed appearance, each joint enlarging upwards, and seeming to have been drawn out from the one below it. Bark grayish yellow, very tough. On the last year's shoots, it is of a greenish or yel- lowish bronze, with a pearly lustre. Leaves alternate, two or three inches long, and half as wide, oval or obovate, entire, tapering at each extremity, green and smooth above, pale or whitish and rather downy beneath, on short stalks. The flowers appear in April or May, and fall before the leaves ex- pand. '^ Previously to their emerging, they exist in miniature within a small hairy bud, which occupies a sheath or cavity in the end of each flowering branch."^ There are usually three from each bud, with their short footstalks cohering. They are half an inch long, of a pale or greenish white or yellowish color, pendent, lateral, from the midst of the young unexpanded leaves. The coroUa-hke calyx is monosepalous, tubular, trum- pet-shaped, or bell-shaped, contracted at base, and in the middle, enlaxgmg upwards, and ending in an irregularly and slightly toothed border. Stamens eight, alternately longer, conspicu- ously terminated by ovoid anthers, projecting, on slender fila- ments, which proceed from the lower part of the tube. Style curved, somewhat longer than the stamens, proceeding from the side of a roundish ovary. Berry small, oval, containing one, compressed, ovate seed. This plant grows in wet, marshy and shady places from Canada to Georgia. It is conspicuous, when m flower, for the number of its yellow blossoms, which fade and fall rapidly as the leaves expand. The peculiar properties of the family are remarkable in this plant The fresh bark produces a sensation of heat in the stomach, and at last brings on vomiting. The wood is very pliable, and the bark of singular tenacity and toughness. It has such strength that a man cannot pull apart so much as covers a branch of half or a third of an inch in diameter. It is used by millers and others for thongs. The aborigines used it as cordage. * Bigelow. XIV. THE PLYMOUTH CROWBERRY. 327 FAMILY XIV. THE CROWBEERY FAMILY, EMPETRA'CEM, NUTTALL. This forms a small group of heath-like plants, natives of the northern temperate zone and the southern extremity of South America. It consists of low under-shrubSj with simple, entire, coriaceous leaves, scattered or verticillate, often revolute, without stipules. Flowers in the axils of the upper leaves, sterile, fertile, and perfect, on different or on the same plants, with a calyx of persistent, imbricated scales ; stamens equal in number and alternate with the sepals ; anthers two-celled, the cells distinct, bursting longitudinally. Ovary three to nine-celled; ovules sohtary, ascending; stigma radiating, the number of its rays equal to that of the cells. Fruit fleshy, globular, three to nine- celled, three to nine-seeded. This family was proposed by Mr. Nuttall, to contain the Empetrum and Cerailola, It includes only these and Comma^ and the genus found m this State, Oakhia, Mr. Nuttall point- ed out Its distant affinity to Taxiis among the Comferae. The resemblance to the Heaths in appearance and habit is striking. Little is known of the properties of this family. Linnaeus informs us that the fruit of Empetrum nigrum^ of the north of Europe, is eaten by many animals, and even by man. Of this family, I believe there is but one plant known in Massachusetts. It is the — OAKESIA. Tuckerman. Of which there is one species, The Plymouth Ckowbeery. Oakhia Cdnradi. Tuckermam First noticed by Mr. Conrad among the pme barrens of New Jersey, and called after that gentleman by Dr. Torrey ; sepa- rated from Empeirum, and called Tuckermdnia^ by Dr. Klotzch, in honor of Mr. Edward Tuckerman, but named by the latter Oakesia^ in honor of William Oakes, Esq, 328 WOODY PLANTS OP MASSACHUSETTS. It clothes one open^ sunny hill of some acres, in Plymouth, with a low, brown, uniform dress, strongly reminding one of the description of the heaths of Europe. In the end of March, or the beginning of April, the numerous purple, terminal blos- soms, give to this spot an air of gaiety, in striking contrast with the sere and melancholy waste every where around, when little else, except the beautiful and fragrant May-flower, Epigoi^a^ gives evidence of the approach of spring. The lovers of nature in this town of the Pilgrims, have the pleasure of announcing the agreeable news, by presents of the Oakesia and the Epigce^a to their friends at a distance. A favor of this kind, from my friend Mr. Gilbert, gives me the opportunity of describing this plant. It rises a foot or two from the ground, forming large, crowded tufts. The stem is small and round, of a reddish color, with an ashy bark. The short branches are in imperfect whorls or stages ; their ends are covered with the thickly set leaves, closely scattered or in whorls of three. Leaves very short, needle-like, so completely revolute at the edge, as to form almost a cylinder. Male flowers in terminal bunches of ten to fifteen, consisting of three to six, brown, membranaceous scales, enclos- ing three stamens. Filaments long threads, supporting on their summit a bi-lobed anther, free at each extremity, and opening longitudinally on the external sides. The plants bearing the female blossoms have leaves of a lighter green. These flowers also are terminal in clusters of about twelve. Each flower consists of one ovary surmounted by a trifid style, encircled by three delicate equal scales, in the axis of one which is ovate, ciliated at the margin and acumi- nate. Some plants are found bearing perfect flowers. The stamens and pistils are purple, the encircling scales brownish. XY. THE OLIVE FAMILY. 329 CHAPTER TV. MONOPETALOUS PLANTS. FAMILY XV. THE OLIVE FAMILY. OLEA'CEM. The Olive, the Lilac, the Ash and the Privet, with some other less known but hardly less dissimilar shrubs and trees, form this family. It is apparently made up of discordant mate- rials, but their analogy in nature is proved, not only by their distinctive characters, but by the fact, that all the species are capable of being successfully grafted on each other. The Lilac will graft upon the Ash and the Fringe tree, and the Olive will take on the Philly'rea and even on the Ash itself — (Z> G, P?^op, Med., 206.) The essential character is as follows. The plants belonging to it are trees or shrubs with opposite branches, four-cornered or compressed branchlets, opposite, en- tire, simple or pinnate leaves, without stipules. The tiowers, in terminal or axillary racemes or panicles, perfect, or sometimes wanting stamens or pistil; with a persistent calyx of four parts or divisions: a corolla of four petals, sometimes distuict, some- times united, rarely altogether wanting; two stamens, (some- times more,) and a two-celled ovary with a very short style. The fruit is various ; frequently it is a one-celled, one-seeded drupe, as in the olive ; sometimes a capsule with two valves ; sometimes a winged capsule or key, as in the ash. The plants of this family, chiefly natives of temperate climates, present various claims to the consideration of man; some of them pro- duce durable and elastic wood ; others, fruits full of a valuable oil, or important as articles of food ; some of them, fragrant and showy flowers; others, medicinal juices. The bark and leaves of the greater part are bitter and astrin- gent ; the bark of the ash, especially, possesses these properties to such a degree, that it has been successfully employed as a substitute for Peruvian bark in the treatment of fever. From 43 330 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. the bark of some species of the flowering ash, exudes the mild and useful purgative known by the name of manna. The olive is one of a very few plants which yield oil from the fleshy part of their fruit, it being almost universally confined to the kernel or seed. The sap of the ash has some resemblance to that of the maple. The family is divided into three sections, each of which has a representative, indigenous or introduced, in our forests or gar- dens : — 1. The Olive Tribe, — whose fruit is a drupe or berry, com- prehending, with the Olive, the Privet, the Philly^rea, and the Fringe Tree, or Snow Flower ; 2. The Lilac Tribe, — fruit a capsule j containing the Lilac and the Fontanesia ; 3. The Ash Tribe, — fruit a key ; the Ash and the Ornus, or Flowering Ash. 1. THE OLIYE TRIBE. OLEI'NEM. The only genus which has become naturalized, is XT. L THE PHIVET. LIGU STRUM. Tournefort This genus contains a very few shrubs or low trees, indige- nous to the temperate regions of Europe and Central Asia, with opposite, entire, smooth leaves, and flowers in terminal panicles. The calyx is short and four-toothed; the corolla has a short tube, longer than the calyx, with its border four-lobed. Sta- mens two, with short fiiaments attached to the tube of the corolla. The ovary is two-celled, with two ovules in each cell, and surmounted by a very short style bearing a two-cleft stig- ma. The berry is two-celled with one or two seeds in each cell. The Comivion Privet or Prim. L. vulgare. L. A hardy shrub, with numerous opposite branches, growing to the height of six or eight feet. It grows in clumps, from strong, matted, bright yellow roots. The bark on the trunk is of a dark XV. 1. THE COMMON PRIVET OR PRIM. 331 pearly ash color. The branches are grayish, recent shoots greenish gray, smooth, or with a delicate, silken pubescence. The leaves are small, on very short stalks, crowded in tufts or opposite on the growing shoots, lance-shaped, acute at both ends, entire, pale green and smooth ou both surfaces. Flowers white, in short terminal panicles made up of opposite short branchlets, with a slender bract at base of each, on which the flowers are in opposite pairs. Footstalk very short, white, with a mmute white bract beneath ; calyx short, endmg in four very obtuse teeth; corolla a short tube, with four oblong, ex- panded, pointed segments. Stamens two, short, growmg to the inside of the tube; anthers large, sulphur-colored, soon turn- ing brown : pollen sulphur-colored, fragrant. The berries are of a shining black. In the south of England, the privet is evergreen. Here, the leaves fall, but later than those of most other plants. It is not a native, but was introduced from Eu- rope, and has spread extensively in the eastern part of this State. The leaves and bark are bitter and astringent. In Belgium, and some other parts of the continent of Europe, the small twigs, clipped in June, dried and powdered, are used in tanning leath- er. From the berries a rose-color is obtained for tinting maps ; and their juice, with the addition of alum, is used to dye wool or silk green. An agreeable oil for culinary purposes and for lamps, or making soap, is obtained from the berries, by a pro- cess of grinding and pressure. In France and Great Britain, the privet is much used as a hedge plant, either alone or with other plants. Its use for this purpose is recommended by the beauty of the foliage, the flowers and the berries, by its rapid and easy growth, and by the fact that it grows well under the drip of other trees, except evergreens. It flourishes on almost any soil, as may be easily seen, from the variety of ground on which it has sown itself, in the vicinity of Boston, and it is propagated by seed or by cuttings, and requires very little pruning. The privet of Nepaul, which, in its native climate, is a tree, but, as cultivated in Europe, a shrub, is the only other species known. 332 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Several species of Philly^rea^ and the Virginian Fringe tree, ChiondntJms Virginica, are cultivated in our gardens for their beauty as ornamental shrubs. The representative of 2. THE LILAC TRIBE, THE LILAC, SYRfNGA VULGA^RIS, '' Various in array, now whitCj Now sangumcj and her beauteous head now set With purple spikes pyramidal;" was one of the first plants introduced by our forefathers, and it is universally found: often, in the front of ancient houses, grow- ing almost to the size of a tree. The more delicate Persian lilac, S. Persica, is getting gradually into favor. 3. THE ASH TRIBE. FRAXI'NEM. Bartling. Distinguished by having its fruit a single samara or key, con- tains^ the genera Fraxmus and Ornus. XY. 2. THE ASH. FRA'XINUS. Tournefort. The ashes are lofty trees, -with deciduous, compound, une- qually pinnate, articulated leaves, axillary and terminal scaly and downy buds, and flowers in lateral, crowded panicles, ris- ing from the axis of the last year's leaves. They are found abundantly in North America, in smaller numbers in Europe and Central Asia, rarely in Eastern Asia. The flowers are perfect, or wanting stamens or pistils, on dis- tinct plants or on the same plant : usually the two sexes are found on different trees. The calyx and corolla are four- parted or wanting. Stamens two. Ovary free, two-celled. The fruit is a one-seeded samara or key, cylindrical at base, compressed above, and ending in a long, membranous wing. The ashes are usually without a corolla. From this circumstance, the family is properly placed next those which have never a co- rolla. The ashes yield to the oaks alone in the number and import- ance ol their uses. The timber of no other tree of Europe or XV. 2. THE WHITE ASH. 333 of the United States, equals ashen timber in elasticity ; and its hardness and strength, and other valuable properties, are so considerable, that of our species as of that of England, might be pronounced the eulogmm of Spencer : — " The ash for nothing ill." ^'It serves the soldier," as Evelyn says, (pp. 156-7,) '^and heretofore the scholar, who made use of the mner bark to write on, before the mvention of paper. The carpenter, wheelwright and cartwright find it excellent for ploughs, axle-trees, wheel- rings, harrows, bulls; it makes good oars, blocks for pullies and sheffs, (shieves,) as seamen name them. For drying herrings, no wood is like it, and the bark is good for the tanning of nets ; and like the elm, for the same property, (of not being so apt to split and scale,) is excellent for tenons and mortices ; also for the cooper, turner, and thatcher ; nothing is like it for our garden palisade-hedges, hop-yards, poles and spars, handles and stocks for tools, spade-trees, &c. In sum, the husbandman cannot be without the ash for his carts, ladders, and other tackling, from the pike to the plough, spear and bow ; for of ash were they formerly made, and therefore reckoned amongst those woods which, after long tension, has a natural spring, and recovers its position; so as in peace and war it is a wood in highest request. In short, so useful and profitable is this tree, next to the oak, that every prudent lord of a manor should employ one acre of ground with ash to every twenty acres of other land, since in as many years it would be more worth than the land itself.'' There are three species of ash growing in Massachusetts, — the White, the Red, and the Black. The Yellow is found in Maine, and may, perhaps, belong to this State. Sp. 1. The White Ash. F. acuminata, Lamarck. Figured in Michaux, Syha, III, Plate 118, The white ash is a graceful tree, rising, in the forest, to the height of seventy or eighty feet, with a straight trunk and a diameter of three feet or more at the base. On an open plain, 334 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. it throws out its branches with a gentle^ double curvature, to a distance on every side, and forms a broad, round head, of great beauty. The trunk is covered with a whitish bark, which, in very young trees, is nearly smooth ; on older trees, it is broken by deep furrows crossing each other obliquely, into irregular, square, or lozenge-shaped plates, and on very old stems becomes smooth again from the rough plates scaling oif. The bark of the branches is smooth, of a grayish green, indistinctly dotted with gray : while, on the somewhat stout young shoots, it is of a smooth, polished, deep green, with long white dots. The leaves are opposite, compound, twelve or fifteen inches long, the stalks much swollen at base and at the joints, round, smooth, and tapermg. The leaflets are usually seven, (five to nine,) from three to &Ye inches long and one or two broad, on compressed petioles, channelled above, four or five lines long. They vary in form from egg-shaped to lance-shapcd, elliptic, oblong and inversely egg-shaped, tapering to a long point, rather acute at base, entire or slightly dentate, or serrate, smooth above, very pale or glaucous, and somewhat hairy along the veins be- neath. The odd leafiet is on a long stalk. The young leaves are very downy, but become almost perfectly smooth. The buds are short and rust-colored, smooth; terminal buds large. The flowers are in opposite fascicles or bunches, near the ends of the branches, in the axils of the last year s leaves. The fertile flowers are on a smooth, branched, tapering, purplish rachis, with opposite branches, each branch terminating in a fl.ower. Calyx deeply two-parted, the parts divided slightly. Ovary flattened, elliptic; style tapering; stigma bifid. The footstalks have two opposite scales, like bud-scales, near the base, and beneath each ramification. In the fertile flowers, the two sterile stamens, when present, are opposite, at the base of the ovary. The staminate are in close, dense, much-branched fascicles. At the end of each very short branch, in a flat cup with four teeth, are two sessile or nearly sessile brown stamens, parallel and one eighth of an inch long. The keys or samara are on angular, tapering, diverging stalks, dividing by threes, and from five to seven inches long. The keys are one and a half inches long, cylindrical at the base, which is surrounded XY. 2. THE WHITE ASH. 335 by the minute, jagged calyx, and expanding upwards into a flattened wing, two or three lines broad, rounded or rarely notched at the extremity. The flowers appear in May, before the opening of the leaves, and the keys are mature in August and September, about which time the leaves turn to an ohve or olive purple. The keys often remain on the tree through the winter. The white ash is found in every part of the State and on every kind of ground, but flourishes best in a deep, loamy soil, near the banks of a river or in a moist meadow. "B7 the banks of sweet and crystal rivers and streams," like the Eng- lish ash, it is observed to thrive infinitely. It is sometimes seen nestling among rocks, where it can hardly get foot-hold, and is frequent on the steep sides of the Hoosic mountains. In swamps, it gives place to the black ash. In the old forests, in the narrow valleys in the western part of the State, it towers to a great height. Not unfrequently, it may be found one hundred feet high and more, with a diameter of four feet and upwards. Six- teen years ago, an ash was felled in Granville, which was rived into three thousand rake-stalks. It was four and a half feet in diameter, and had a shaft of seventy feet without a limb. It grew on the land of Zeiotes Robinson, now of Blandford. Standing by itself, the ash rarely attains a great height. There is, growing at the corner where the road from Hmgham Plain to Cob asset unites with that from the Old Colony House, an an- cient tree, which measured, in July, 1839, four feet two inches through, at four and a half feet from the ground, and four feet eight inches just below the branches. At seven or nine feet from the surface, ten large branches go off, horizontally, or with a slight inclmation upwards, forming a broad space above them, on which seats have been placed. The ash has been called the painter's tree. It is, at least, while young, remarkable for its gracefulness, for the light and easy sweep of its branches, and for the softness and mellow green of its foliage. It produces a fine effect in contrast with the darker woods, and should, on that account, always have a place, were it the object to exhibit the various beauty of the forest trees. Its leaf comes out late, and, although beautiful 336 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. while it lasts, and turning to a rich, mellow, olive purple, for some time before it falls, it falls early. It should not often, therefore, stand alone, in a conspicuous place, but in a corner among other trees. The wood is white, and remarkable for its toughness and elasticity. For these qualities, it is used for hoops, for handles of pitch-forks and rakes, and for the shafts and springs of wag- ons and other carriages. It is used to make oars, in preference to any other wood. The oars, already made, are brought to Boston, from the Penobscot and Kennebec Rivers, m Maine. They are made of forest ash, which is considered lighter and more springy than any other. It is also used for ship's blocks, for which purpose, it is wrought m a green state, as it is then almost as soft as pine. It is used for the boxes of pumps, almost exclusively. White ash, from Maine, is used, for its superior softness, for the bodies, brackets, sills and pillars of carriages ; a tougher variety, from the interior or from the west, being pre- ferred for shafts, springs and bars, requiring strength. Lance- wood alone, as more elastic and strong than ash, is preferred for carriage shafts. Ash is also used for sofa frames and chair frames, for backs and bottoms, for staves for inferior casks in- tended for drv articles, and for bowls. The leaves and branches of the ash are said to be so offensive and perhaps poisonous to serpents, that they will not come nigh them. The leaf is also said to give relief in case of a bite from poisonous serpents. This property is of small consequence in New England, where poisonous serpents are few, and probably confined to the single species of the common rattlesnake. A more important property has been tested. An ash-leaf rubbed upon the swellings caused by mosquitoes, removes the itching and soreness immediately. The same effect is produced on the poison occasioned by the bite of the bee. A decoction of the leaves is said to be an antidote to the poison of lamb-kill, Kalmia angustifoUa^ when taken by lambs. XV. 2. THE RED ASH. 337 Sp. 2. The Red Ash. F. pixbescens. Walter. Figured in Michaux, Sylva, III, Plate 119. In its appearance, the red ash so strongly resembles the white, that it is usually confounded with it. It is easily distinguished by the down on the recent branches and on the footstalks and lower surface of the leaves. The distniction is important, as the wood is less valuable than that of the white. It is found in nearly the same situations, delighting in a moist, rich, loamy soil, where it grows to a good size, though never to so great a height as the white ash. On the rich intervale land on the Connecticut River and its tributaries, it is often found over three feet in diameter, and fifty or sixty feet high. A few rods south of the great Celtis, in Springfield, I measured one in Sep- tember, 1840, which was ten feet four inches in circumference at the surface, and nine feet at three feet above. The red ash is a spreading, broad-headed tree, and rises to a considerable height only m the forest. The trunk is erect and branching, covered with a dark ashy or granite gray bark, with numer- ous longitudinal superficial furrows, not often running into each other. The branches are opposite, grayish, conspicuously dotted, the younger ones green, or ohve green ; and the recent shoots, with the footstalks and under surface of the leaves, clothed with a soft, velvety, grayish or rusty down. The last year's shoots are somewhat downy in appearance, but not in reahty. Near their extremity, in the axils of the last year's leaves, are the flower branches. They are, when the fruit is mature, three or four inches long, single, or in threes, dividing by nearly opposite divisions, and subdividmg, the sub- divisions bearing at intervals single or double pairs of fruit or keys, on short, thread-like stems. The keys are one and a half or two inches long, and two or three lines broad, cylindrical below, broader, flat and thin above, rounded and with some- times an abrupt point at the extremity. Closely adhering to the base is the slit calyx, ending in four jagged teeth. The leaves are opposite, ten to fifteen inches long, consisting 44 338 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. of three or four pairs of leaflets and an odd one, on a round footstalk, which is channelled atove and swollen at the base and at the articulations of the leaflets. The leaflets are three to six inches long and one to one and a half wide, on very short, compressed, downy footstalks, generally ovate-lance- shaped, acute or rounded at base, tapering to a long point, entire or obscurely toothed above, entire below, the upper sur- face smooth or somewhat hairy, the under surface paler and somewhat downy. The buds are rounded, almost concealed by the leaf-stalk, downy and of a dark rusty brown. In autumn, the leaves become russet. The fruit remains after the leaves have fallen, and, on the male trees, as is common on the other ashes, are unsightly excrescences from the sterile blossoms. Sp. 3. The Black Ash. F. sambucifoUa. Willdenow. Figured in Michaux, Sylva, III, Plate 122. The black ash is the slenderest deciduous tree, of any consid- erable magnitude, to be found in the forest, often attaining the height of seventy or eighty feet with a diameter scarcely over a foot. It is almost confined to swamps or the muddy banks of riverSj where the ground is saturated with moisture through the greater part of the year. In such situations, it often throws up its arrowy shaft almost without a limb, until its top reaches the sunshine, among the tail hemlocks, spruces, hacmatacks, birches and maples. Yet, when planted on an open plain, where the soil is rich and not too dry, it spreads abroad its limbs and forms an ample, round head. It is easily distin- guished from the other ashes by its sessile, serrate leaves, and its dark blue or black buds, and not by the color of the bark, in which there is not a striking difference. The trunk is of a dark granite gray, the bark rough, with small, superficial, ver- tical rugosities, which appearance continues in very old trees. The young shoots, which are very stout, are of a yellowish ashy gray, dotted with lighter dots, and next year becoming of a clear gray, somewhat darker on the older branches ; on these, the dots have the appearance of large warts. The semi- circular leaf-scars are large and conspicuous on the smaller XV. 2. THE BLACK ASH. 339 branches. The leaves, which come out late and fall early, are of a yellowish green, twelve or fourteea inches long, opposite, compound, with two to five pairs of leaflets, usually four pairs, and an odd one, on a leafstalk, which is large at the base, some- what flattened below the leaflets, and flattened or channelled above with a sharp-edged channel. The lateral leaflets are sessile, narrow, ovate-lance-shaped or oblong, rounded at base, gradually tapering to a long point, serrate, smooth but impressed at the veins above, paler and hairy along the lower part of the mid-rib beneath. The terminal one is regularly lance-shaped, on a short footstalk. The buds are short and round, terminat- ing in a point, and of a deep blue or black color. The flower branches are opposite, single or in threes, in the axils of the last year's leaves. They are from three to sis inches long, dividing irregularly, and not much branched. The flowers diifer from those of the other ashes in the absence of a calyx. The keys are a little more than an inch long, elliptic, obtuse or slighfly notched at the end, which is sometimes sur- mounted by the style, compressed and winged throughout. They are mature in September or October. In autumn, the leaves become russet. The wood of the black ash is remarkable for its toughness. On this account, it was preferred to every other, by the Indians, for the manufacture of baskets, and is still used for that pur- pose in preference to every kind of wood, except that of the trunk of a young white oak. When it is to be divided, it is beaten with mallets until the fibres are somewhat loosened, and it may be then separated into thin, uniform ribbons of any re- quired dimensions. It is also somewhat used and was formerly much more so, for chair-bottoms and grain-riddles, and for hoops. Its sap, procured by exposing a green branch to the fire, is a popular application for ear-ache. Of the other ashes that would flourish in our climate, the most valuable, doubtless, is the common European Ash, F. ex- celsior. This has been introduced and found to groAV as readily and as vigorously as any of the native species. It is considered, in England, as among the noblest and most beautiful of the forest trees, and next to the oak in the value of its timber. In 340 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. the neighborhood of London, the plants, at two years from the seedj may be procured at 3s. per 1000 ; transplanted plants, one foot or more in height, at IO5., about $2 25 per 1000. Some of the many yarielies, particularly the weeping ash, are prized for their beauty. The green ash may, hereafter, be found in Massachusetts, as it occurs in Canada. There are many other ash trees, probably thirty, but these are the best. FAMILY XYL THE HOLLY FAMILY. AQVIFOLIACEM. Be Candollc. This consists of evergreen or deciduous shrubs or trees, with alternate or opposite leaves, Avhich are often smooth and coria- ceous, and small, solitary or fascicled perfect flowers, or flowers wanting stamens or pistil, growing from the axils of the leaves. The calyx and corolla are imbricate in the bud before open- ing. The calyx has four or six divisions. The corolla four to six lobes, united at their base, and there arc as many stamens, inserted into it and alternate with its lobes. The ovary has two, six, or eight cells, with a pendulous ovule in each. The fruit is fleshy, and opens not spontaneously, with from two to six stones, each containing a pendulous seed. The plants of this family are found \\\ various parts of the world; three genera only in l^Uw England. Several of them have valuable properties. The bark and leaves of the European holly have been found eflicacious in intermittent fevers. The famous Jesuits' tea of Paraguay is made of the leaves of an- other species of holly. Five millions of pounds are annually produced in that country. An inferior tea is made from another species in Brazil The aborigines of the Southern States made great use of the infusion of a species of holly as a purifier of the system, and of that made from another plant of this family as an agreeable stimulant. The properties of a species of winter berry will be spoken of hereafter. Many of the species are favorites with the gardener, for their brilliant, evergreen fohage. XYI. 1. THE AMERICAN HOLLY. 341 XYL L THE HOLLY. ILEX, L. The hollies are evergreen shrubs or small trees, with leaves usually coriaceous, and often bordered with thorny teeth, and white, axillary flowers, commonly perfect, but often with the fertile and sterile on difftjrent plants. They are distinguished by their four-celled ovary, with four sessile stigmas, and their berry-like drupe, with four, one-seeded nuts. The hollies are found in North and tropical America, in the warmer parts of Asia, and a single species in central and northwestern Europe. Their wood is remarkable for its hardness, whiteness, and close- ness of grain, and for its susceptibility of receiving color and polish. There are about forty species in the genus. The American Holly. I opaca. Alton. Figured in Michaux, Sylva, II, Plate 84. The American holly is a handsome, low tree, with nearly horizontal branches, and thorny, evergreen leaves. The erect trunk is clothed with a smooth bark, of an ashy gray, resemb- ling that of the beech, but somewhat lighter. On the older trees, it is usually overspread with grayish parmclias and lecanoras, and other bluish, whitish, and gray lichens. The recent shoots are of a yellowish or olive gray, with a slight, downy powder, afterwards becoming of a clear gray. It is found growing in company with the red maple, the tupelo, the yellow birch, the black oak, and the cedar. Leaves* on short footstalks, evergreen, oval-oblong or elliptic, acute at both ends or somewhat angled at base, with several large teeth ending in stiff spines, leathery, smooth and shining above, paler or greenish yellow, with bright green veins, beneath. At their base, when recent, a pair of awl-shaped, brown sti- pules may be seen. The perfect or fertile flowers are solitary, at the base of the recent shoots, on stems half an inch long, beneath the base of which are a lanceolate, membranous, brown, fugacious scale, and two minute, pointed, more permanent ones at its sides; and above the middle are two appressed, minute, pointed, green 342 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. scales. The calyx has four triangular, pointed, cihate teeth. The corolla, four oblong, roundish, Avhite segments, with green- ish veins. The stamens are four, from the base of the corolla, between its segments, and two thirds as long. The ovary is large, egg-shaped, green, crowded with a sessile stigma, with four rounded angles. The berries are scarlet, contaui four stony seeds or nuts, and remain on the tree into the winter. It flow- ers in June. This tree is found plentifully at Quincy, at Cohasset, and especially at New Bedford, and on Naushon Island. It has considerable beauty, and is particularly valuable for retaining its bright green leaves through the year, and for the beauty of its scarlet berries. The leaves are seldom touched by an insect. On these accounts, it deserves cultivation as an ornamental tree. It has great resemblance to the European holly, which makes the most durable hedge of any plant whatever, and one which is kept in repair, when once established, at the least expense. The objection to it is the slowness of its growth. Our tree is commonly found on a rather dry, sandy, or rocky soil, but will grow on almost any. The European is found to do best on a rich, sandy loam, in an open forest of oak. It is propagated by seeds or by plants taken from the woods. The seeds do not germinate for more than a year after sowing; they are, there- fore, kept in moist earth for a year after gathering, after which they are sown at the depth of a quarter of an inch, in fine soil. The surface should be protected from heat and drought, by a covering of half-rotten leaves or litter. When transplanted, they should still be protected, for a while, from the heat of the sun. The best time for transplanting is early in spring, before the plant has begun to shoot. The wood of the holly is compact and of a beautifully close grain and satiny texture. The sap-wood is white, the heart- wood brown. Both are very hard, when seasoned, and sus- ceptible of a brilliant polish, in their natural state, and when colored ; and are used in as great quantities as can be procured, by turners, by screw-makers, by whip-makers for the handles of whips, by engravers, and by cabinet-makers for inlaid work. For these various uses, the wood is brought into Boston, in XVI. 2. THE WILD HOLLY. 343 pieces usually fifteen or sixteen inches long, and from one to six inches thick. From the bark of the European species bird-lime is made ; and the berries of our species, as well as of some others, have emetic properties. The American holly has not been found farther north than Massachusetts. By Michaux it had not been observed north of Long Island. It is found in all the Southern States, and westward as far as Tennessee. Seven or eight other species are also found growmg in the southern part of the United States. XVI. 2. WILD HOLLY. NEMOPANTHUS.^ Rafinesque. A genus of a single species, with sterile, fertile, and perfect flowers on the same or on distinct plants ; a very minute, four (or five) toothed calyx ; a corolla of four (or five) distmct, ob- long-linear, fugacious petals ; stamens four or five, longer than the corolla and alternating with its petals ; ovary hemispherical, with four cells ; style none, stigma four-lobed ; fruit a round, four-seeded berry. The Wild Holly. Mountain Holly. N. Canadensis. Michaux. A beautiful, slender shrub, rising to the height of six or eight feet, and in swamps sometimes to ten or twelve. The recent shoots are purple or ohve, with round, gray dots, which, after the second year, are scarcely to be perceived. The larger branches are greenish gray, growing darker and purplish, and finally, on the older stems, covered with various, white, gray and brown, membranous lichens. The leaves vary in shape, from a short, broad oval, to oblong, and inversely lance-shaped, tapering at the base, acute at the end, or rounded with an ab- rupt point, very smooth and entire, or with a few distant serra- * Rafinesque; in Silliraan's Journal, proposes the name Nemopa?iihus,wKich, he says, means "flower with a filiform peduncle," for this new genus. His name should be retained, as he wrote it, if at all, and his generic description, which was communicated in January, 1818, has priority to Prof. Dewey's, which was only sug- gesUdj according to Prof. Eaton, in that year. — Eatonh Manual^ p. 403, note. 344 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. tures, of a light green above, palei and finely reticulated be- neath. The flowers are very small, on long, slender, thread-like stalks, solitary or in bunches, at the base of a tuft of leaves or a young branch. The calyx is so small that it seems to be wanting. The corolla consists of four oblong, narrow petals, of pale white, which soon fall. The four stamens alternate with the petals, with rather large anthers on long, slender fila- ments. The berry is as large as a pea, of a beautiful pale crim- son color, ripe in August, and contains four, somewhat prisma- tic, stony nuts, in a yellowish pulp. It is supported by a stalk of the same color, an mch or more long. The flowers expand in May and June. The Nemopanthus is found in almost all the low, wet woods in the vicinity of Boston and on the southern side of Massachu- setts Bay, and in the middle of the State. It is found in Cana- da, throughout New England, and in New York and Michigan. XYL 3. THE WINTER BERRY. PEINOS. L. The winter berry is a genus of twelve or thirteen species of shrubs, some of them evergreen, some deciduous, natives of North America. They differ from the two preceding genera in having their calyx and corolla usually six-parted, with six sta- mens, and a berry with six seeds. Some of the most beautiful are natives of Massachusetts, and these, with a few others, are cultivated in Europe as ornamental shrubs. The three found here are the Black Alder, P. oerlkillatus^ with flowers and fruit in clusters in the axil of the leaves ; the Single-berry Black Alder, P. Imvigaius^ with its flowers and fruits larger and soli- tary ; and the Ink-berry, P. gldber, with evergreen leaves. Sp. 1. The Black Alder. P. verticillatns, L. Figured in Bigelow's Medical Botany, Plate 56. A handsome shrub, five or six, rarely ten or twelve, feet high, with crowded branches and leaves, conspicuous for its bunches of axillary blossoms, and of scarlet berries, remaining late in the autumn or even into the winter. The recent shoots are clothed XYL 3. THE SINGLE BERRY BLACK ALDER. 345 with an apple green bark, which, on the large branches, turns to a pearly gray, and on the older stems is of a polished and clouded dark color, whence the plant derives its common name. The leaves are two or three inches long and half as broad, lance- shaped, oval, or inversely egg-shaped, acute at both ends, often abruptly at the extremity, sharply serrate, smooth above, downy along the prominent veins beneath, on footstalks half an inch long. The flowers are white, the stamen-bearmg, in crowded bunches, of from three to twelve in the axils of the leaves, on stems one or two hues long, with minute brown scales at the base. The calyx consists of six small, appressed, rounded or jagged segments. The corolla is of one piece, wheel-shaped, endmg in six or seven, rounded, spreading, or recurved seg- ments, Just below the angles of which, within the tube, are the short stamens, with large brown anthers opening at the sides and discharging orange pollen. On the fertile flowers, which are single or crowded, on very short stems, the stamens are very short, and the false anthers are white and form a part of the iilament. The berries are of a bright scarlet, round, or slightly compressed, about a quarter of an inch m diameter, solitary, or in bunches of two or three, and remain long on the bush, "j'he persistent calyx, at the base, is of a darker color, and the stigma, which crowns the berry, is brown. The pulp is yellowish, and envel- opes six or eight lunate seeds. The flowers expand in June. The berries are ripe in September. The bark and berries of the black alder are somewhat bitter and astringent, and have been sometimes substituted for Peru- vian bark in the treatment of intermittent fevers. The bark has also been considered of great use, both taken internally, and employed as a wash, in cases of incipient gangrene and in the cure of eruptions on the skin. — See Blgelow's Med. Boi.^ Ill, 14L Sp. 2. The Single Berry Black Alder. P. Icbvigatus Pursh. Leaves and fruit figured in Abbott's Insects of Georgia, II, Plate 86. A beautiful shrub, six, eight, or ten feet high, with grayish branches, scattered with minute dots of i\\Q same color, and a smooth, alder-like trunk with brownish green bark, clouded at 45 346 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. intervals with light gray lichens. Leaves in tufts, or alternate on the upper shoots, on short petioles, lanceolate or broader towards the extremity, acute at both ends, often with a twisted acumination, margin slightly levolute, with a few appressed serratures, light green and shining on both surfaces, smooth, except a slight pubescence along the nerves beneath, from one and a half to two and a half inches long, and one half to three quarters of an inch wide. The staminiferous flowers are on footstalks from one third of an inch to one inch in length, in the axil of the leaves or bud scales ; fertile flowers on very short footstalks, in the axils of the leaves. The fruit, which remains on the stem during a great portion of the winter, is of a rich orange scarlet. It is solitary, three or four tenths of an inch thick, on stems as long as its diameter. The buds are very small. This plant grows in deep, wet swamps, in Cambridge, and many other parts of the State, and is attractive in June from the multitude of its white flowers, in autumn and winter from its large scarlet berries, and at all times from the glossy lustre of its leaves. Sp. 3. The Ink Berey. P. glaher, L. Leaves and fruit figured in Abbott's Insects, I, Plate 35. An elegant, delicate-looking, evergreen shrub, with slender branches, growing in a few sheltered places in Plymouth and Hingham, to the height of from two to eight or nine feet. The leaves are lance-shaped or inversely lance-shaped, an inch or more long, one third or one half an inch broad, tapering at base, terminating in an abrupt point ; slightly reflexed at the margin, with one or two large, rounded teeth on each side to- wards the end, polished on both surfaces. The flowers are solitary, in the axils of the leaves, on thread- hke, minutely hairy stalks, half an inch long. The calyx ends in six obtusely pointed lobes; the corolla in six or seven oblong, rounded segments, alternate with which are the white stamens, ending in brown anthers. Ovary green, low, conical, crowned with a broad stigma. XYIL THE MADDER FAMILY. 347 The elegance of the evergreen foliage causes it to be much sought after, to be mingled with bouquets in winter ; and for this purpose It is brought from considerable distances, and carefully kept m cellars sometimes for months. FAMILY XVIL THE MADDER FAMILY. BUBIA'CBM. Jtjssieu. This is a very extensive family, comprehending nearly two thousand species of trees, shrubs and herbs, with roundish or four-sided stems and branches, entire leaves, opposite or in whorls, with stipules between the leaves, often resembling leaves, and with regular flowers. This family is divided into many sub-orders and tribes, and, with the exception of that, {Stellaim^) which includes the Madder, Rabla^ and the Cleavers, Galium^ which is made a separate family by some writers, is a remarkably natural one. It is mostly confined to countries withm or near the tropics, a few species only occurring far to the north. The properties of diiFerent plants of this family are of the greatest import- ance. Madder, and several species of Galium yield valuable dyes and pigments. The roots of Dyers' Cleavers, G. tine- iorium, were employed by the North American Indians to give to the quills of the porcupine a red color, which neither sun, air, nor water would change. The seeds of some species of the same genus, are a successful substitute for coffee. The Peruvian bark, {kin-kina, ^'the bark of barks,'') the best febri- fuge known, is obtained from several species of Cinchona, na- tives of Peru, which possess, in very various degrees, the bitter, astringent and alkaline properties, which give them their virtue. Pinckneya pubens^ the fever bark of Carolina, is reputed to have properties similar to Cinchona. Coffee is the horny, albu- minous seed of Coffea Arabica^ the best known and most import- ant species of a numerous group. All the different kinds of coffee known in commerce, are varieties of this one species, originally brought from Mocha, or, according to Raynal, from the moun- 348 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. tains of Abyssinia, of which it is a native, and from which it was transported, about the middle of the fifteenth century, to the mountains of the happy Arabia. The East India coffee plantations are derived from a single plant raised in Batavia, from seed introduced from Mocha in 1690; and those of the West Indies are said to have been pro- duced, also, from a single plant, presented, in 1714, by the Dutch, to Louis XIV. This was multiplied in the Royal Gar- dens, whence three plants were despatched on board a ship des- tined for Martinique. Two of them perished in the long and dangerous passage, and the third was kept alive only through the self-sacrificing generosity of the Captain, Decheux, who shared with it his allowance of water. Probably the propaga- tion of no single plant has produced, in modern times, so great an effect upon the habits of mankind.-^ Ipecac, one of the most universal emetics, is the creeping, brownish, or grayish root of Cpphaelis Ipecacuanha^ {D. G, lY, 535,) of Brazil, where it is known by the name of Poijas. Several of the genera, Nauclea and Hymeriodi/clion^ furnish woods which vie with box and mahogany in delicacy and beauty ; of another, Siderodendron^ iron wood, the hardest of American woods, is the produce. Several others yield valuable fruits, and a still greater number are remarkable for their magnificent and often odoriferous flowers, and their beautiful foliage. The coloring properties of this family are found to reside chiefly m the root, the tonic and astringent properties in the lark, the valuable emetic principle in the root, the aromatic principle of the coffee, in the horny seeds. It is in correspond- ing parts of plants of this family, growing among ourselves, that WQ are to look for similar properties. The distinguishing characters of the family are, that the ovary is more or less completely united with the four or five-cleft calyx, into the tube of which the corolla is inserted; the sta- mens are equal m number to the lobes of the corolla, alternate with them, and^ growing from the throat of the corolla; and * The name affords a cunous instance of derivation. The Arabic name is Quahoueh, or Kakouek^ the Persian, Cakwa, the Turkish Cahvei/, French, Cafe, Enghsh, Coffee. XTIL 1. THE BUTTON BUSH. 349 that the ovary has, in some of the tribes, one, or rarely two ovaries, in others several. In this family there are two genera belonging to Massachu- setts : — Button Bush, Cephalanihus^ with flowers in a globose head ; Partridge Berry, MiicMlla^ flowers terminal, in twos, on a double ovary. In the sub -order, CirichonecB^ the third sub-tribe, in the divis- ion of Torrey and Gray, is CEPHALA^NTHEiE, — distinguished by its flowers and fruit being sessile and densely aggregated on a globose receptacle, the fruit dry and divisible into two or four parts. XVII. 1. BUTTON BUSH. CEPHALA'NTHUS, L. American shrubs, with oval or lanceolate, opposite or ternate leaves, short stipules, and flowers crowded on a globular, hairy receptacle, with a calyx tube in the shape of an inverted py- ramid, the border four-toothed, a tubular four-cleft corolla, four stamens, fruit inversely pyramidal, leathery, two- to four-celled, separating from the base to the summit into two to four, closed, one-seeded portions. The Button Bush. River Bush. C occidenidlls, L. Figured in Barton's Flora, III, Plate 91. The button bush is found along the banks of slow streams, forming little islets in muddy ponds, and in other situations in which its roots and the lower part of its stem are immersed in water for a considerable portion of the year. From stout, con- torted roots, often several inches in diameter, and from large, prostrate, root-Uke trunks, it rises with an erect or sinuous stem, to the height of from four to ten feet. On the recent shoots the bark is of a bright, polished, copper color, or olive green, or reddish bronze, with a few brown dots, and turns gradually to a light brown. Afterwards, it begins to crack, and fiom brown or purplish turns to a dark granite gray. The bark on the older stems is cracked, rough and gray, and often 350 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. covered with lichens. The recent shoots are tough ; the pith considerable ; the older wood light and brittle. The leaves are opposite, or in threes, of a broad-oval, or lanceolate, or ovate shape, very entire, acute at base, pointed at the extremity, sometimes wavy at the border, smooth on both surfaces, of a bright, shining green above, light and much reticulate, and sometimes downy on the veins beneath; and tough and leathery in texture. They are from three to five inches in length, of somewhat more than half that breadth, and are on stout, channelled, or bordered footstalks, from half an inch to an inch long. Between the footstalks are small, faded stipules, which leave a slight scar when removed. The globular heads of flowers are on round stalks from one inch to three mches long, terminal, or m the axil of the upper leaves, and hence solitary, or in twos, or threes, or fours, on the ends of the branches; or, as the leaves of the upper whorl are some- times very minute, they appear in terminal sevens. The flow- ers appear in June and July, sometimes in August, of a yellow- ish white, bristling with the long styles, and as they are closely arranged on every side of a small, terminal, globular, fleshy re- ceptacle, they form a spherical head, each flower being com- pressed into the shape of a four-sided, inverted pyramid. The calyx is short, green, tubular, externally invested with long, silken hairs, is angular from compression, and ends in four rounded lobes. The corolla, when freshly opened, is of a deli- cate white, but soon turns brown. It is a slender, tapering tube, hairy within, twice as long as the calyx, ending in four, rounded segments, with black points, on short footstalks, at the angles, just within which are the anthers, resting erect on the end of filaments which are attached to the tube of the corolla within. The style is twice as long as the corolla, tapering, and ending in an ovate stigma. '' Button bush, or river bush, is a frequent ornament of the water side, its insulated thickets furnishing a safe retreat for the nests of the black bird, {Oriolus phcBniceusy '^The ap- pearance of this shrub, on elevated ground, often indicates the presence of springs of water." — Bigelow Fl, 51. It is culti- vated in Europe for ornament, recommending itself by its sin- XVIL 2. THE PARTRIDGE BERRY. 351 gular mode of flowering, and by its flowers appearing at a season when few others are to be seen. It grows well in common garden soil, in situations moderately moist, and is readily prop- agated by seeds, by cuttings or by layers. The characteristic properties of the family, particularly its tonic power, undoubtedly reside in this plant. The inner bark of the root, according to Elliot, is of an agreeable bitter, and is often used, in the South, as a remedy for obstinate coughs. It has been recommended in afi'ections of the skin. Other prop- erties will probably be discovered. To another tribe, belongs a singular New England plant, named in honor of Dr. John Mitchell, a botanist of Virginia, — XYII. 2. PARTRIDGE BERRY. MITCHELLA. L. A genus including two species of smooth, creeping, ever- green plants, with opposite, ovate or rounded, short-stemmed leaves, and axillary or terminal flowers, which in one species are soHtary, in the other in pairs, with their ovaries united. The border of the calyx is conspicuous, four-toothed ; the co- rolla funnel-shaped, with a slender tube four-lobed in the bor- der ; four stamens, attached to the tube of the corolla ; ovary four-celled, surmounted by a slender, long style, bearing four stigmas ; fruit a berry, in one species round, in the other oblate- globose, with four, one-seeded nuts. The Partridge Berry. Creeping Mitchell a.. M. repens, L. Figured in Barton's Flora, III, Plate 95. A beautiful Httle creeping, evergreen plant, with its stem trailing along the ground about the foot of trees, in deep, shady, moist woods, in company, oftentimes, with GauUheria^ and the equally beautiful Linnc^a which it so much resembles. At dis- tances, it throws down hair-Uke roots; its terminal branches slightly ascending, and with the pairs of roundish leaves, almost completely covering the ground, and forming a carpet, enamelled in spring with the pearly, rose-colored, fragrant twin-flowers, and in autumn with the bright scarlet berries. The leaves are in twos, on short stalks, about the size of the 352 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. finger nail, roundish, often orbicular, kidney-shaped at base, rounded at the end, with the veins prominent, of a uniform dark green above, or variegated with a lighter spot and whitish veins ; the margin somewhat revolute ; under surface perfectly smooth. The flowers are rose-colored, or white, in pairs, the tubes of the corollas, hairy within, diverging from the united ovaries. The fruit, as large as a whortleberry, broader than it is long, and seeming to be made of two berries grown together, side by side, and crowned with their calyxes, scarlet, with a rather dry, whitish, almost tasteless pulp, containing three or four, small, flattened, lens4ike, stony seeds. Flowers in June and July. The frait remains on through the winter, and contributes to furnish food for the partridge, and other birds that remam in our climate. f^AMILY XYin, THE HONEYSUCKLE FAMILY. CAPKIFOLh A^CEM, JussiEU. This family consists of climbing, trailing, or erect, woody shrubs or under shrubs, and sometimes herbaceous plants, re- markable for their beauty, and some of them much valued, and universallv cultivated for ornament. These often frasfrant always beautiful plants, of which there are about eighty species, are natives of the northern parts of both continents, beyond or just within the tropics. The bark o^ many of them is astrin- gent; and a species of Lonicera is used in Chili to dye black. The flowers of the greater part are as remarkable for their de- licious fragiance as for their beauty. The fruit is usiially, in some degree, emetic or purgative. They are distinguished by their apparently jointed stems; simple, opposite leaves, with the footstalks of each pair com- monly united at base; their flowers perfect, regular, or more commonly irregular, five-parted, in pairs, or heads, with com- monly two bracts at the base of the flower-stalk; calyx adhe- rent to the ovary, with its border five-parted; corolla tubular, XYIII. 1. TWIN-FLOWER OF THE WOODS. 353 with its border five-lobed ; stamens five, sometimes only four, inserted in the throat of the corolla and alternate with its lobes; ovary three-, sometimes five-celled; fruit a one-celled, some- times three- or five-celled berry, with one or several seeds. The woody plants have a soft, light, more or less abmidant pith, wood usually brittle, and bark which becomes loose and stringy. There are four genera found native in Massachusetts : — The Twin-Flower, LlnncB^a^ an humble, trading, evergreen herb, with four stamens ; The Feverwort, Triosteum, an erect, simple, herbaceous plant with five stamens ; The Honeysuckle, Lonicera, a climber, with one- to three- celled, few-seeded berries ; and The Bush Honeysuckle, Dlermlla^ an erect plant, with one- to three-celled, many-seeded berries. XYIII. 1. THE TWIN-FLOWER. LINNMA, Gronovius. A genus containing a single species, which is a creeping, ever- green herb, indigenous to the northern part of the old and new world, with an ovate calyx-tube, four stamens, two of them longer, inserted into the base of the corolla, a three-celled ovary; and fruit, a dry, three-sided, one-seeded berry. The Twin-Floweh of the Woods. L, borealis, Gronovius. Figured in Hooker's Flora Londinensis, Plate 199. In the pine woods in the northern parts of New England, where moss-covered columns support, at a great height, a thick, close top, the shaded ground is often carpeted with the leaves of this delicate and beautiful flower, alone, or intermin- gled with moss. Its woody stem creeps to the distance of several feet along or just beneath the surface, the raised branches send- ing out pairs of very small, roundish leaves, and at intervals, a slender, erect thread, bearing a pair of modest, drooping, fra- grant flowers, white or tinged with a faint blush of rose-color or purple. The leaves are one fourth or one half an inch long^ 46 354 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. nearly orbicular or elliptic, with two or three rounded teeth on each side, and scattered beneath and on the margin with a few hairs. The stem is reddish. The almost capillary flower stem, the bracts at the base of each partial stem, as well as the calyx, are covered with minute, glandular hairs, which are also found on the inside of the corolla. The calyx ends in five lanceolate segments. Beneath the calyx is a pair, sometimes two, of slen- der, linear bracts. The country people call this plant twin- flower. Botanists have given it a name in honor of Linnaeus. How often, in the dark forests of both continents, in the northern parts of which it is widely spread, has the name of the great reformer and systematist been called to the mind of his fol- lowers by the sight of this interesting plant ! '^Linnaea," says Sir James Edward Smith, "is so called in honor of the great Swedish naturalist, Linnasus ; and appears, by the journal of his tour to Lapland, to have been chosen by himself to commemorate his own name, when he gathered it at Lyksele, May 29, 1732. Former botanists had called this elegant and singular little plant Campanula serpylUfbUa ; but Linn^us, prosecuting the study of vegetables on the only cer- tain principles, the structure of their parts of fructification, soon found this to constitute a new genus. He reserved the idea in his own mind till his discoveries and publications had entitled him to botanical commemoration ; and his friend Gronovius, in due trnie, undertook to make this genus known to the world. It was published by Linnaeus himself, in the Genera Planta- Tum^ in 1737, and the same year in the Flora Lapponlca^ with a plate ; being, moreover, mentioned in the Critica Botanica^ as ^a humble, despised, and neglected Lapland plant, flowering at an early age,' like the person whose name it bears." XTIIL 2. THE FEVER ROOT. TRIOSTEUM. L. A small genus, containing only four or five species of peren- nial herbs or low shrubs, found in North America and the xnountains of Central Asia, with opposite leaves whose stems are somewhat united at base, and flowers on short stalks or sessile in the axils of the leaves. The lobes of the calyx are XVIIL 2, THE FEVER ROOT, 355 long and slender, and form a permanent crown to the ripened fruit ; the tubular corolla is a little longer than the calyx, and somewhat unequal; and the berry is leathery and has three cells, and three or five, elliptic, bony seeds. The Fever Root. T, perfoliatum, L. Figured in Big-elow's Medical Botany, I, Plate 9. This is a hairy, coarse-looking plant, with upright, annual stems, from one to four feet high, proceeding from„ a large, hoirzontal, branched, perennial root. It is distinguished by its large, opposite leaves, the pairs crossing each other, and its brown, axillary, sessile blossoms, usually in clusters. It is found in shady places, in rich, moist ground. The calyx is of five linear-lanceolate, sharp, brown segments, per- sistent upon the ovary. Ovary round, sessile, green, covered with brown, headed, glandular hairs, with a thread-like bract on each side. Corolla of a dull, brownish purple, swelling at base, contracted just above, expanding towards the border, which is divided into five rounded, incurved, unequal segments. Stamens five, attached to the lobe of the corolla, hairy, yel- lowish white, with brown anthers. Style as long as the corolla; hairy, bearing a headed or shield-like stigma. Leaves two to six inches long and one to three broad, opposite, connate, in pairs, crossing each other, broad ovate, lanceolate, acuminate, entire, contracted towards the base, as if the petiole were winged, rough, veined, often waving, somewhat hairy above, velvety, pubescent beneath. Stem rough, hollow throughout. It flowers in June, and its orange berries are ripe in September. The fever root has long had reputation for its medicinal vir- tues. The root, in the form of powder, or as an extract, has pretty regular efi'ect as an emetic and cathartic. But, to be sure of its viitues, the practitioner must have it renewed every year, as it is thought to lose its efficacy from age. The stem and leaves seem to have much less active properiies. The whole plant is bitter, and, in small doses, has a tonic effect 356 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. XYin. 3. THE HONEYSUCKLE. LONICERA, L. A genus of climbing or erect shrubs with opposite branches, and leaves entire, opposite, and often growing together at base. The flowerSj which are often fragrant, are in sessile whorls or heads, or on footstalks, in the axils of the leaves. The species are divided by De Candolle into two sections. The first section embraces climbing plants with sessile flow- ers in whorled clusters or heads, and with leaves often connate ; the berries crowned with the persistent limb of the calyx, form- ing the genus Caprifblium of Jussieu. Among these are the splendid Scarlet Honeysuckle or Trumpet Honeysuckle, which has been very generally intro- duced and found almost perfectly hardy, although it is a native of the Southern States, and not found naturally growing north of New York, and ten other species, according to Torrey and Gray, natives of North America, of which the following belong to Massachusetts. Sp. 1. The Hairy Honeysuckle. L, hirsuta. Eaton. A perfectly hardy, climbing plant, found on damp, rocky banks, often growing to the height of fifteen or even thirty feet. Recent shoots reddish green, somewhat downy, or often nearly smooth. Branches reddish. Leaves on short, broad footstalks, which, in the upper leaves, are winged, and embracing the stem. The leaves are large, very broad-lanceolate or elliptic, or obovate, the upper ones pointed, the lower entire, rounded, sometimes rugose, from impressed veins above, ciliate on the reflex cd mar- gin, glaucous and soft, downy and hairy beneath. The upper pair completely grow together at base, like the upper leaves in other honeysuckles. They terminate in an abruptly prolonged point, and are ciliate on the margin, and hairy on the mid-rib beneath : but in surface and texture are so entirely unlike the other leaves, that they are more properly considered as connate bracts. The flowers are in single or triple terminal heads, made of from one to three or more whorls, on short footstalks; each whorl consists of about six sessile flowers. Calyx of five XVIII. 3. THE YELLOW HONEYSUCKLE. 357 minute, angular teeth. Corolla a tube, gibbous on the outer side at base, contracted above, and expanding with two tips, the outer one of a single oblong, reflected lobe, the inner of four, rounded and slightly reflected at the extremity. The flowers, covered with a glandular pubescence, are of a pale yellow without, and hairy and of a rich orange withni. The inner surface and the filaments below, hairy. Stamens a little longer than the corolla ; style ending m a round, flattened, green stigma. Berries orange. Found in the western parts of the State and in Sudbury. Flowers in June and July. Sp. 2. The Small-flowered Yellow Honeysuckle. L. par- vlflora. Lamarck. Stem light grayish. Recent shoots light glaucous, or green- ish gray, with slighfly projecting ridges. Leaves very glau- cous, almost white beneath, and often with an undulate mar- gin, giving them an appearance, at a little distance, of being armed with spines like the holly. Corolla yellow, tinged with purple. Berries orange. This is often an erect plant, of three or four feet, with no great beauty. It is perfectly hardy, as it is found growing abundantly in the western parts of the State. Flowers in June. To the first section also belong the Woodbine or Common Honeysuckle, L. pericly^menum^ a native of Europe, very gen- erally introduced into this country; and the Goat's Leaf Honey- suckle, L. CO pi^i folium. The Yellow Honeysuckle, L. flava, a native of the Southern States, has long been cultivated in Europe, and has thence been introduced here. It is valuable for its agreeable fragrance and the splendor of its large, yellow flowers. Still more desirable is the Evergreen Honeysuckle. This most beautiful of the American honeysuckles, is not found wild, so far as I know, in Massachusetts ; but as it is perfectly hardy, and more adapt- ed to ornament gardens and front doors than either of the others, it ought to be introduced to universal notice. The flowers are trumpet-shaped, the tube contracted in the middle, somewhat gibbous outwardly at base, enlarging up- wards and opening with five reflected lobes, the outer one some- 358 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. what larger and separate. It is of a rich scarlet without, tinged with orange within, and on the stamens, which are slightly pro- jecting. The flowers are terminal and in rather distant whorls, on long footstalks. The uppermost or two uppermost pairs of leaves are connate, forming a round or oblong leaf, through the centre of which passes the stem. The next leaves are four or five inches long and two or three broad. The lower ones much more narrow but often longer. They are ovate-oblong, or elliptic, smooth, glaucous beneath. Recent shoots green. Stem gray, rough, the bark separating in long, fibrous scales. The piant grows rapidly, throws out a multitude of branches, and has a smgularly rich appearance, from the deep green of its leaves and the splendor of its scarlet flowers. The second section includes erect or climbing planis, with flowers HI the axils of the leaves, berries in pairs, distinct or united, not crowned with the limb of the calyx, and with leaves which are never connate; XyUsteum of Jussieu. The most beautiful and fragrant of this division is the Chinese or Japan Honeysuckle, L, Chinensis^ not generally introduced, but as well deserving to be cultivated as any species whatever. Four species are found in North America, two of them in Massachusetts. Both have two minute bracts at the summit of the flower-stalk. Sp. 1. The Fly Honeysuckle. L. cilidta, Muhlenberg. A shrub five or six feet high, with a icw stragglmg branches, growing among rocks and m wet places in Essex woods. The stem is round, slightly ridged by a Ime running down from the base of each of the branches, giving it an ang-dar appear- ance. Bark striated, roughish, of a grayish ash color, clouded with brown. Branches opposite, forming a laige angle. Leaves opposite, on very short, somewhat hairy stalks, broad ovate, or lanceolate, sometimes heart-shaped, entire, pointed, of a soft green above, paler beneath, substance soft and leathery. Wood soft, gieenish white, very tough when young. Pith white, abundant, m small stems, occupying nearly half the diameter. XVIIL 4 THE BUSH HONEYSUCKLE. 359 Flowers in pairs. The corolla is of a pale greenish yellow, with a slight projection on one side of the tube. Berries in pairs, diverging, egg-shaped, red, one fourth of an inch long. The flowers are in twos, on a long footstalk, with two, slender, short, thread-like bracts at the base of each. Sp. 2. The Hairy Fly Honeysuckle. L. ccerulea, L. A rough looking bush, from one to four feet high, with crowd- ed, opposite, diverging branches, growing in bogs in the western part of the State. The leaves come out with the flowers. The flowers are on short stems, with long, slender bracts at the base of the calyx. From one calyx proceed two yellow corollas, bulging considerably outwards at the base of the tube, which ends in oblong, erect lobes. The leaves are oval or oblong, rough on both surfaces when young, but becoming smooth above when old. The berries, which are made up of two united ovaries, are blue, covered with a glaucous bloom. XVIII. 4 THE BUSH HONEYSUCKLE. DIERVILLA, Tournefort A genus of three or four species of erect shrubs, indigenous to North America and Japan, with opposite, ovate, acuminate, sharply serrate leaves, on short stems, with axillary flowers, two, three, or four on a stem, with two bracts at base. The calyx-tube is cylindrical, and contracted at the summit; the ovary is two-celled, crowned with a fleshy disk, which fills the throat of the calyx ; the fruit a crustaceous or leathery capsule, with two cells, two valves, and many seeds. The Three-flowered Bush Honeysuckle. D. trijida, Moench. A bush from two to four feet high, with a root somewhat creep- ing and horizontal, throwing up erect shoots. A projecting ridge running down at equal distances on the four sides of the stem, gives it a somewhat four-sided appearance. The recent shoots are green or reddish green, with the projection very conspicuous between the leaves. The stem is gray. The leaves are oppo- site, on short footstalks, ovate or oblong-ovate, rounded or acute 360 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. at base, beautifully tapering, acuminate, and serrate, smooth above, slightly fringed with bent hairs on the margin, and sometimes a little hairy on the veins beneath. The flowers, which are yellow, are terminal, or in the axils of the upper leaves; usually three on a stalk, of which the middle one is commonly sessile. The seed-vessel is very long, egg-shaped, with a long, taper point, crowned with the awl-shaped segments of the calyx. A variety occurs with the leaves narrower and thicker, much smaller, and constantly acute at base. FAMILY XIX. THE ELDER FAMILY. VIBUBNEM, Bartling. Closely allied to the Honeysuckle Family, with which it has, until recently, been united, this small family, embracing about eighty species, found, generally, in the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, is strikingly distinguished by its habit and mode of flowering. Many of the species have beauti- ful flowers and foliage, and are favorites in ornamental gardens. The snow-ball, so great a favorite in many countries of Europe and in this, is a sterile variety of Viburnum opiilus. The fruits are, generally, acid or astringent, sometimes purgative. The sweet flowers of the common elder, both of Europe and of this country, are sudorific, and the European species has been used as such from ancient times. They are packed in casks, by the French, with fruit, to give it an agreeable odor. Elder-berry rob, and wine, have long enjoyed, m England, an apparently well deserved reputation. The leaves and inner bark of these same elders are oflensive, and have emetic and particularly purgative qualities in a powerful degree. The fruit of some species of Yiburnum are austere and astringent; of others, not unpleasant to the taste, and capable of forming an article of food. The Wayfaring Tree, the Guelder Rose, and the Laurus- tinus, all species of Viburnum, are ancient favorites in England and other parts of Europe ; the latter for the precious property of flowering, in warm countrieSj through the winter. XIX. 1. THE PANIOLED ELDER. 361 The plants of this family are shrubs or small trees, with ap- parently articulated branches and young stems containing pith of extraordinary thickness and durability: simple or com- pound, opposite leaves : perfect and regular flowers in broad, terminal cymes; a five-cleft, persistent calyx, adhering almost throughout to the ovary: a five-lobed bell- or wheel-shaped corolla, with lobes alternate with the parts of the calyx; five stamens inserted in the tube of the coioUa and alternate with its lobes ; an ovary with one, three, or five cells, and an ovule in each ; and a fruit, which is a pulpy or fleshy drupe, with one or three, one-celled, one-seeded nuts. Two genera, the Eider and Yiburnum are found here, flower- ing shrubs or low trees, very widely diftased in distant regions of the northern temperate zone ; and, in IN^w England, the con- spicuous ornaments of the borders of fields and woods and the sides of enclosures, in the early part of summer. The Elder has compound leaves and a pulpy fruit with three nuts : the Yiburnum has simple leaves and a fleshy fruit with one nut. XIX. 1. THE ELDER. SA3fBUCUS. Tournefort A genus of about twenty species of shrubs or perennial herbs, with a penetrating odor. Leaves opposite, pinnate, with the leaflets serrate, cut or laciniate, with two stipules or glands at the base of each. Flowers white or somewhat flesh-colored, usually fragrant, in compound cymes. There are two species in this State. Sp. L The Panicled Elder. S. pubem, Michaux. This is usually a coarse-looking bush, four to six feet high, with a large, whitish stalk, becoming brown when old, dotted with rusty, oblong dots, which enlarge and give a rough and warty appearance to the older and darker part of the stem. The leaves are opposite, on large, round, fleshy footstalks, channelled above. The leaflets are five or seven, ovate-lance- shaped, rounded or acute, sometimes heart-shaped at base, 47 362 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. tapering to a long point, serrate, of a dull, dark green above whitish pubescent beneath. The common flower-stalk is stout, long, and channelled, bear- ing a cyme of several pairs of alternating opposite, horizontal stalks, repeatedly dividing by twos or threes, at as large an angle as possible, so as to form a pyramidal head or thyrsus, two or three inches long. At the fifth division, are the flowers in pairs or threes, on short stems. The fruit, which is ripe in June and July, is a round, scarlet berry, surmounted by the three stigmas and the five obtuse segments of the calyx, and containing a yellowish, unpleasantly tasted, liquid pulp, and three stones or nuts. The variety with seven leaflets, more uncommon, has its leaflets nearly sessile, and is usually a much taller plant. Drs. Torrey and Gray mention a variety found in the Catskill Mountains, with white berries. They have sometimes found the plant a small tree, eighteen feet high. The common variety is found m Worcester County, m the towns on every side of the Wachusett Mountain. Sp. 2. The Common Elder, S. Canadensis. L. Found in every part of the State and throughout Canada and the United States. It is a shrub, eight to ten feet high, growing in wet ground, and conspicuous in June and July for its broad cymes of white flowers. The leaf-stalks, flower-stalks and leaves are much smaller than in the preceding species. The stem is covered with a grayish bark, marked with prominent dots of the same color. Recent shoots smooth and green. Leaves opposite, compound, with a smooth stalk, channelled above. Leaflets from five to eleven, on short stalks, oblong, ovate or obovate or elliptic, round at base, tapering to a long, acute point, serrate with large, hooked serratures, paler be- neath, nearly smooth on both surfaces, when the fruit is mature, downy beneath when young. Flowers white, in broad cymes five to seven inches across, on long, channelled, tapering stalks, divided and subdivided by XIX. 2. THE GUELDER ROSE. 363 fives. Pedicel a slender, white thread, ending in a short calyx with five acute segments. Corolla a very short tube with five ovate, rounded divisions. Stamens five, short, attached to the corolla and alternating with its segments. Stigmas five, brown, sessile, on a conical ovary. The lower leaflets have often one or two leaf-like appendages. The berries are small, dark pur- ple, or nearly black, when ripe, with crimson juice. This plant has a near resemblance to the Common Elder of Europe, S, nigra, except that the latter is a tree of twenty or thirty feet in height. Sir J. E. Smith said of this, that the English ''uncer- tain summer is estabhshed by the time the elder is in full flower, and is entirely gone when its berries are ripe." The same might be said with equal truth of our elder, which, like that, flowers in June and ripens its fruit in September ; unless we take into consideration that transient return of soft weather and sunshine, called the Indian summer. Much use has always been made, in every part of Europe, of the medicinal and eco- nomical virtues of their elder. The same may be made of ours. An infusion of the juice of the berry is a delicate test for acids and alkalies.^ An infusion of the bruised leaves is used by gardeners to expel insects from vines. A wholesome, sudorific tea is made of the flowers. The unopened flower-buds form, when pickled, an excellent substitute for capers. The abund- ant pith is the best substance for the pith-balls used in electrical experiments,; and the hollow shoots are in great use with boys for pop-guns and fifes. XIX. 2. THE GUELDER ROSE. VIBURNUM. L. A genus of more than fifty species of shrubs or small trees, with opposite branches, often more or less distinctly angular ; opposite, undivided, or lobed leaves, with footstalks ; and white flowers in terminal cymes, those of the margin sometimes sterile and with the corolla much enlarged. * See Annals of the Lyceum of New York, p. 42. 364 WOODY PLANTS OP MASSACHUSETTS. Section First. — Flowers all similar and fertile- Sp. 1. The Naked Viburnum. Withe Rod. F. nudum, L. A slender, erect shrub, from six to twelve feet high, growing in swamps and wet woods from Newfoundland to Georgia. The recent shoots are dark green, with numerous minute, rust- colored scales. The older stems are covered with a light ash- colored bark. The fruit-stalks, leaf-stalks, under surface of the leaves, and the mid-rib somewhat above, are sprinkled with brown, rusty dots, or scales. The leaves are opposite, two or three inches long, very variable m width, on short, flattened petioles which nearly or quite embrace the smaller branches, varying from broad-lanceolate to ovai-elhptic, obovatc and sometimes rhomboidal, the extreme ones more or less atten- uated at both extremities, the lower ones obtuse at each end, entire, obsoletely serrate or crenate, coriaceous, smooth and shining above, beneath dotted with rusty brown scales. Foot- stalks rather long, channelled, and slightly winged. The flowers are white, or yellowish white, m terminal cymes, on a footstalk half an inch to two inches long. The branches, radiating from a single point, are flattened, channelled and an- gular, and much sub-divided, with linear, fugacious bracts at the base of the pedicels. Flowers crowded ; the calyx ending in five, thin, membranous, white, obtuse teeth ; the corolla small, cup-shaped, with obtuse segments. Filaments very long; an- thers small, yellow. The flowers expand in May and .lane. The fruit is apple-shaped, compressed, with the mmute calyx in the terminal cavity, one quarter of an inch long, of a deep blue color, and with a glaucous bloom; it is ripe in September. It has a sweetish taste and may be eaten. The stone is flattish, with an obtuse point, shghtly hollowed on one side and convex on the other. The slender, tough rods of the previous year are much used, in some parts of the country, to bind sheaves. Sp. 2. The Sweet Yiburnum. F. lentago. L. A beautiful, small tree, rising sometimes to the height of fif- teen or twenty feet, with rich foliage, and clothed, in June, with XIX. 2. THE SWEET TIBURNUM. 365 a profusion of delicate, showy flowers. The branches and re- cent shoots are of a grayish brown, dotted, and often with a scaly or dusty surface. The smaller stems and larger branches are of a dark purple, almost black. The branches are opposite, at large angles. The leaves are broad oval, or lance-ovate, acute, rounded or sometimes heart-shaped at base, acuminate, sharply serrate, smooth above, paler or ferruginous beneath ; the footstalk is rather long, channelled above, conspicuously margined with an irregular, waved or glandular bolder. The leaf-stalk, fruit-stalk, under surface of the leaf and the mid -rib above are set with ferruginous, glandular dots or scales. The leaves are often half bent backwards. The flowers are in terminal cymes, sessile in the axil of a pair of leaves or branches. Five or more stalks spring nearly from one centre, and diverging an inch or more, divide repeat- edl}^ into three or more shorter branches, at the base of which is often visible a minute hnear bract. The pedicels are very short, terminating m a round ovary, surmounted by a calyx of' five minute segments, above which rests a salver-shaped corolla of one petal, expanding with live oval rounded, rcflexed seg- ments of pure white. From the angles of these segments use the live stamens, with slender, tapering filaments, longer than the coiolla, and bearing on their point a short, yellow anther. The great number of the anthers, in a head of flowers, gives a yellow tinge to the whole, and a very agreeable fragrance is diffused; amidst the flowers are often seen the leaves rising. The fruit is large, often half an inch or more long, on stout stems, oblong, flattened, and, when ripe in October, turns from a rich scarlet to a shmmg blue black, covered with a glaucous bloom and crowned with the permanent calyx- segments, sur- rounding the stigma. It is not unpleasant to the taste. The nut IS oblong-oval, flattened, with an obtuse point, and grooved on both sides. The sweet viburnum is found from Canada to the mountains of Carolina and Georgia. There is a softness and richness about the flowers and foliage of the sweet viburnum, which distinguish it above all others of the same genus. It is hardly less beautiful in fruit, from the profusion of the 366 WOODY PLANTS OP MASSACHUSETTS. rich blue berries hanging down among the curled leaves, which are beginning to assume the beautiful hues of autumn. A tree of this kmd makes a fine appearance at the angle of a walk, or in the corner of a garden, as its delicacy invites a near ap- proach and rewards examination. With this delicacy of ap- pearance, it is a hardy plant, and may, sometimes, be seen on a bleak hill-side, where it has encountered the northwest, stormy winds, for a score of years. Sp. 3. Tee Akrow Wood. V. denidtum. L. An erect shrub or small tree, four to fifteen feet high, growing m every part of the State, and from Canada to Louisiana, in swamps and wet grounds, remarkable for the yellowish green color and the large teeth of the leaves. The old stems are near- ly black, and, from the damp places in which the plant grows, are often covered with thin, whitish lichens. The recent shoots are yellowish green, smooth and obscurely four -angled, with a few brownish dots. The stem in young plants is grayish pur- ple above, darker below. The branches are opposite, at rather sharp angles. The leaves are opposite, often reflexed, on red- dish green, channelled footstalks, which are half an inch or an inch in length. They are broad-ovate, or inversely egg-shaped, on the flowering branches nearly orbicular, on the growing shoots much longer, rounded or heart-shaped at base, pointed or acuminate at the extremity, conspicuously toothed, the teeth ending m a rather blunt point, yellowish green and shining above, hghter beneath, with strongly prominent veins, downy at the axils. In October, they become of a dark crimson. The flowers are white, in terminal cymes, nearly flat above, on grooved, obscurely four-angled footstalks, enlarging upwards, and two or three inches long; from three to seven, angled, light yellowish-green branches, radiating from a common point on the central stalk, and afterwards branching somewhat irreg- ularly. The ultimate flower stalk very short Calyx ending in minute, white teeth. Corolla in one piece of five, expanding, rounded petals, with erect or diverging stamens at the angles within. Styles short, white. The fruit is of a dark lead color, when ripe, roundish-oval, crowned by the five brown, crushed XIX. 2. THE ARROW WOOD. 367 teeth of the calyx, surrounding the triple or apparently single stigma. The young shoots of this tree are said by Marshall, {Arbus- trum^ p. 160,) to have been generally used by the natives for arrows, whence it is known by the name of arrow wood. Sp. 4. The Maple Leaved Arrow Wood. 7. acerifblium, L, A slender, low shrub, not often more than five or six feet high, remarkable for the resemblance of its leaves to those of the red maple. It is found m rocky woods throughout the State, and from Canada to the country beyond the Mississippi. The stem is erect, with a brownish bark, and very infrequent wart4ike, whitish dots. Recent shoots of a lighter brown or pale green, and with the leaf-stalks and flower-stalks downy and scattered with hairs. Branches opposite, ascending at a sharp angle. Leaves opposite, from two to four inches long, and of nearly equal breadth, rounded or heart-shaped at base, three-lobed, with large, irregular teeth, waved, smooth or some- what hairy, and impressed at the veins above; lighter and downy, and hairy, particularly on the veins and veinlets be- neath; the lobes divergmg, separated by abroad, shallow notch, and ending in a prolonged, often bluntish point. The leaf- stalks appressed and swellmg at base, round, one inch or less in length, with scattered hairs and somewhat downy, and with colored, linear, pointed stipules at base, or assuming the form of glands higher up. The terminal leaves are often entire, without lobes, and broad-ovate or roundish in shape. The flowers are in terminal cymes, on round, smooth, or slightly pubescent stalks, gradually enlarging, and about two inches long, with two hnear, perishing bracts at the end. The partial footstalks, about six in number, radiate from one point, and repeatedly and somewhat regularly sub-dividing by threes or twos, terminate in pairs of very short flower-stems. The flowers are tinted with pale purple before opening. The calyx ends in five small, obtuse, appressed, colored teeth. The corolla is white, cup-shaped, with five ovate, pointed or rounded, re- flexed segments. Stamens on tapering filaments, twice as long as the corolla, bearing a large, short, yellow anther. The ber- 368 WOODY PLANTS OP MASSACHUSETTS. lies are oval, a third of an inch long, pointed, compressed, oval, Uue-black when ripe, and very disagreeable to the taste. The nnt is of the same shape, slightly grooved. Section Second, — The flowers in the margin of the cymes miicJi larger than the others and sterile. Sp. 1. The High CRANBERPtY. Cranberry Tree. F. opuhis. L. A handsome, low tree, five to ten feet high, ornamented throughout the year with flowers or fniit. In May or early in Jmie, it spreads open, at the end of every branch, a broad cyme of soft, delicate flowers, smi'ounded by an irregular circle of snow-white stars, scattered, apparentljT", for show. From the common axil of the upper pair of leaves, a stout, furrowed footstalk, one or two inches long, separates into five, six, or more, radiating branches, from each of which, after successive similar sub-divisions, proceed a number of crowded flowers, diverging, on short, partial footstalks, from a single, central point. Each perfect flower is a white cup of a single piece, with a border of five round lobes, sitting in a green calyx with a few obsolete teeth, and bearing, from its base, within, five upright stamens, twice as long as itself, which support whitish anthers, opening from the top. The germ is a short, white, conical body, terminating in two or three minute stigmas, and seeming, when the corolla is gone, immediately to surmount the calyx. At the base of the flower-stems and branches, are long, linear, brown, fugacious bracts. The outer florets are on longer stalks, barren, salver-shaped, of five larger, unequal, obovate, rounded lobes. The leaves are opposite, from two to five inches long, straight, rounded or acute at base, three-nerved, and with three very divergent, acuminate lobes, and large, unequal, obtuse teeth, strongly veined, paler beneath. The footstalks are three fourths of an inch to an inch in length, with one or two glandular sti- pules below, and a few glands near the base of the leaf and towards the bottom, the lower ones hair-like. The fruit, which is red when ripe, is of a pleasant acid taste, resembling cranberries, for which it is sometimes substituted. XIX. 2. THE WAYFARING TREE. 369 Drs. Torrey and Gray have sliovni that there is no essential difierence between this plant and the European Guelder Rose^ V. opulus^ a variety of which, propagated by gardeners, is the well-known Snow Ball Tree, Sp. 2. The Wayfaking Tree. Hobble Bush. F. lantanbides. Michaux. Fig^ured in Audubon's Birds, II, Plate 148. This plant received its specific name, lajiianbides^ from us resemblance to the English Wayfaring tree, F. laniana^ the tree which William Howitt addresses, when he says, — " Wayfaring tree ! what ancient claim Hast thou to that right pleasant name ? # -iff! ^ -^ *• Whate'er it be, I Ioyc it well ; A name, methmks, that surely fell From poet, m some evening dell, Wandering with fancies sweet." — Book of the Seasons, p. 115, That tree rises to the height of eighteen or twenty feet, and has an ample head of white flowers. Ours, less fortunate in its name, is a stout, low bush, found in dark, rocky woods, and making a show, in such solitary places, of a broad head of flowers, the marginal ones often an inch across. It has large, opposite, very diverging branches, often declimng to the ground, and a dark brown bark, scattered with a few grayish, wart-like dots. The recent shoots, flower-stalks and leaf-stalks are pro- fusely clothed with a brown, rusty down, which gradually dis- appears from the branches, except towards the joints. The buds come out in threes, of which the midd}e one often contains flowers and leaves, the side ones leaves only. They have no scales, but are, instead, clothed with a close, rusty tomentum, which gives them the appearance of leather. The leaves are from four to six inches in length and breadth. The leaf-stalks have an appendage at base, which, though gradually shrivelhng, is very large at first, forming a broad wing near the base, and terminating in awl-shaped points. The leaves are roundish, heart-shaped at base, ending in a short, abrupt point, and unequally serrate on the margin. They 48 370 WOODY PLANTS OP MASSACHUSETTS. are nearly smooth above, but beneath, downy on the veins, which are thereby rendered strikingly distinct. The primary veins, which are prominent, branch only on the lower side, and are intersected at right angles by the parallel secondary veins, forming a beautiful net-work. The cymes or heads of flowers radiate from two or more points, the partial footstalks having at their base, linear or strap- shaped, leathery, deciduous bracts. The fruit is ovate, large, of bright crimson color, turning afterwards almost black. The minute calyx occupies the terminal cavity. The nut is oblong- oval, with an obtuse point, flattened, and grooved on both sides. FAMILY XX. THE HEATH FAMILY. ERICA' CEM. Few families embrace a greater variety of extremely beautiful plants than this. Few are so universally the favorite objects of cultivation. They recommend themselves to the cultivator by their hardiness, many of them being natives of this or of similar climates, by their showy and lasting flowers, and often by their evergreen leaves. There are three, very distinct sub-divisions of the family: the Heaths, the Rhododendrons, and the Andro- medas. The Pyrolas and Monotropas, still more distinct, are by some authors considered as formmg a separate family. Of the true heaths, we have no native species. The greater part of them are indigenous to the Cape of Good Hope, whence they have been most extensively introduced into the conservatories of Europe and America; a few are natives of Europe. Of the other allied tribes we have many representatives in New Eng- land. Distinguished by their singular beauty, peculiar ap- pearance, and usually their social or gregarious habits, they are found in all climates and in almost all parts of the world, except New Holland, in which their place is taken by their near allies, the Epacrideee. The plants of this family are shrubs, under shrubs, or trees, with leaves mostly entire, coriaceous and sempervirent, without XX. 1. THE ANDROMEDA. 371 stipules. The flowers are usually perfect, symmetrical and regular. The calyx is usually four- or five-cleft ; the corolla four-parted, rarely five-parted, with the parts alternate with those of the calyx; the stamens are as many as the segments of the corolla and alternate with them, or twice as many, in- serted in the base of the "corolla, or in the edge of a disk at the bottom of the calyx; anthers two-celled, opening by a terminal pore or cleft, and with often a pointed bristle projecting above or below. The ovary is free, with cells as numerous as the segments of the calyx and alternate with them, and many-seed- ed; or rarely one-celled. The fruit is capsular^ or rarely berry- like, and generally many-celled and many-seeded. In their properties, they are almost universally more or less astringent and diuretic, and many of them abound in tannin. But the different tribes have different properties. The heaths of the north of Europe are used by the inhabitants to tan leather, to dye yarn, as an ingredient in beer, and as a material for thatching ; and the seeds afford food to many kinds of birds. Most of the plants of the Rhododendron group are of a doubtful character, and to some animals several of them are poisonous. The fleshy berries of some of the Andromeda group are an agreeable and healthy article of food. Honey made by bees that feed on the flowers of the European heaths is said to be of an inferior quahty, and that from bees fed on some species of rhododendron is considered poisonous. The pleasantly acidu- lous berries of the Strawberry Tree, A'rbutiis unedo^ are eaten in the south of Europe, and in Corsica an agreeable wine is pre- pared from them. Its bark is very astringent, and, in Spain and the East, is employed in tanning. THE ANDROMEDA TRIBE, ANDROME'DEM, Don, Shnibs with a capsular fruit and deciduous corolla, XX. 1. THE ANDROMEDA. ANDRO^MEDA, L. Humble shrubs, found in North America and also in northern Asia and Europe ; with a five-cleft calyx, with acute segments, simple at base ; a globose corolla with a contracted mouth ; and ten included anthers with bearded filaments, and shortj one- awned anthers. 372 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. The Water xiisDROMEDA. A. polifblia, L. It was for this modest and delicate plant, "which is a native of the north of Europe as well as of this country, that Lin- neeus selected the poetical name of the genus. The follow- ing IS the account which himself gives of it in his '^Tour m Lapland," I, 18S. ^'Andromeda pohfolia was now (June 12,) in its highest beauty, decorating the marshy grounds in a most agreeable manner. The flowers are quite blood-red before they expand ; but, when full grown, the corolla is of a flesh- color. Scarcely any painter's art can so happily imitate the beauty of a fine female complexion; still less could any arti- ficial color upon the face itself bear a comparison with this lovely blossom. As I contemplated it, 1 could not help think- ing of Andromeda, as described by the poets ; and the more I meditated upon their descriptions, the more applicable they seemed to the little plant before me ; so that, if these writers had it in view, they could scarcely have contrived a more appo- site fable. Andromeda is represented by them as a virgin of most exquisite and unrivalled charms; but these charms remain in perfection only so long as she retains her virgin purity, which is also applicable to the plant now preparing to celebrate its nuptials. This plant is always fixed on some little turfy hillock in the midst of the swamps, as Andromeda herself was chained to a rock in the sea, which bathed her feet, as the fresh water does the roots of this plant. Dragons and venomous serpents surrounded her, as toads and other reptiles frequent the abode of her vegetable resembler, and, when they pair in the spring, throw mud and water over its leaves and branches. As the distressed virgin cast down her blushing face through excessive affliction, so does this rosy-colored flower hang its head, grow- ing paler and paler till it withers away." " At length, comes Perseus, in the shape of summer, dries up the surrounding water, and destroys the monsters, rendering the damsel a fruit- ful mother, who then carries her head (the capsule) erect.'' This, as it is found here, is a low shrub, a foot or more in height, growing naturally in boggy places, but capable of being successfully cultivated in any common, moist soil. The stem XX. 2. THE DWARF CASSANDRA. 373 is clothed with a grayish bark, with a few short leafy branches near the top, and with umbels of droopnig, snow-white or flesh- colored flowers at or near the end. The branches are slender, and covered with a pearly, sometniies reddish bark. The leaves are on short petioles, narrow, lanceolate^ much revolute at the edges, pouited, glossy green above, of a pure glaucous or whit- ish color beneath. The short, pearl-v/lnte flower-stems spring from the bosom of ovate, concave, pom ted bracts of the same color. The short, acute, persistent segments of the calyx are white, tipped with red. The corolla is five-angled, neaily glob- ular, almost closing at the mouth, with the obtuse segments revolute. A famt, rosy tinge is often spread over the whole flower. The stamens are veiy short, with brown anthers, which open in two terminal pores, and are tipped with short, awl-like bristles. The round ovary terminates in a club-shaped stisma. Flowers In June. It is found on the edse of Richards' Pond, in Brookhue ; on tussocks in a bog in Richmond, and elsewhere. This plant, like others of its kind, may be prop- agated by dividing the root or by layers. Several other species, which had been included m the genus Andromeda, have been elevated by Don into new genera; A. calyculaia to Cassandra ; A. paniculaia to Lyonia : and A. 7xiremdsa to Zenobia. Their great difference in habit and appearance seems to authorize a change made on botanical grounds. XX. 2. THE CASSANDRA. CASSANDRA. Don. A genus of two species of low shrubs, covered with a fine pu- bescence, which makes them look as if sprinkled with dust. The leaves are leathery and persistent : flowers white. The calyx is five-leaved, with two bracts at base: the corolla oblong, enclosing ten stamens, with anthers which terminate m tubes. Both species are cultivated ui Europe for their beauty. The Dwarf Cassandka. C. calyculaia. D. Don. A low, leafy, evergreen shrub, from two to five feet high. The bark on the principal stem and larger branches is very 374 WOODY PLANTS OP MASSACHUSETTS. smooth, and of a remarkably dark copper color. The recent shoots are covered with a close, brownish down, which is not entirely removed till the end of three or four years. The leaves are alternate, on very short petioles, oblong-lance- olate, often larger towards the extremity, rather obtuse, obso- letely serrate and somewhat revolute at the margin, shining above and dotted with scaly dots, which beneath arc rust- colored. The flowers are m racemes, on the ends of the branches, in the axil of last year's leaves. These leaves are much smaller than those not supporting flowers, and are formed later in the previous season. They dimmish in size to the extremity of the branch, where they aie only two or three lines long. The flower-stalks are short and stout, and, at the time of fruit, are arranged in two rows. Just below the calyx are two very short, rounded, acuminate bracts. The segments of the calyx are five, pointed, with a membranous border, coriaceous, per- sistent, and protecting the fruit, and closely covered with white scales. Corolla white, egg-shaped, somewhat five-sided, contracted towards the mouth, ending in five slighdy reflexed, rounded, brownish teeth, between which the point of the pistil shows itself. Stamens ten, opening from the base of the corolla; filament ribbon-shaped, white below, gradually tapering to a brownish thread. Pistil persistent, tapering, gradually dying down to the capsule. Fruit a capsule, round, flattened, opening late by five valves, two-coated, the external, dark, coriaceous, the internal, whitish yellow, and remaining on the branches until the appearance of the flowers of the succeeding spring. Anthers brown, of two long, conical tubes, opening at the point. It forms large beds in the edge of swamps or boggy meadows, where it opens its abundant and showy racemes in April, among the earliest flowers of spring. XX. 3. THE LYO^NIA. LYO^NIA, Nuttall. A genus so named by Mr. Nuttall to commemorate the name of John Lyon, an indefatigable collector of North American plants, who fell victim to a dangerous epidemic, amidst those XX. 4 ZENOBIA. 375 savage and romantic mountainSj which had so often been the theatre of his labors. — Nuitall^ Genera I, 266. It consists of a few North American shrubs, with entire or denticulate, membranous or downy leaves, and rose-colored or white flowers in lateral or terminal panicles: distinguished from the preceding by having the anthers opening lengthwise, and by their five-angled, five-celled capsules, with five valves having their margins closed by five other, external, narrow valves. The Panicleb Lyonia. L, paniculaia, L. A bushy shrub from three to eight feet high, conspicuous in the early part of summer for its long and crowded panicles of white flowers, and afterwards for its persistent, five-cleft seed-vessels. The root is strong and tough. Its stem and irregular branches are covered with a light pearly, ash-colored, stringy bark, which on the last year's shoots is reddish, and on the recent shoots light green, and often downy. The leaves are in bunches, or alter- nate, on short, appressed stalks, lance-shaped, elliptic or in- versely egg-shaped, entire, or minutely serrate, acute or acumi- nate at each end, smooth above, lighter and downy beneath. Flowers in an irregular, terminal, compound panicle, with small leaves at the base of the branches, and hnear, brown, very fugacious bracts; partial footstalks, thread-like, downy. Calyx greenish, of five teeth, scarcely distinguishable by the eye from the corolla to which it closely adheres. Corolla white, nearly globose, with five minute, reflected teeth almost closing the orifice. Anthers with doubly curved filaments, biingmg the anthers round the base of the pistil, which is nearly as long as the corolla. Lyonia inarldna^ — A7idr6meda Qnariana of our botanists, an- other beautiful plant, is found in Rhode Island, and probably will be in Massachusetts. XX. 4. THE ZENOBIA. ZENOBIA. D. Don. North American, evergreen shrubs, bearing racemed flowers, with a five-lobed calyx and bell-shaped corolla, with ten sta- 376 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. mens, whose anthers have long, tubular cells, ending in two awns. The Clustered Zenobia. Z. racemhsa. De Candolle. A low shrub, four to six feet high, with irregular, straggling branches, much resembling the whortleberry bushes. Leaves on very short petioles, broad-lanceolate or oval, acute at each extremity, serrulate, of nearly the same color on both surfaces, somewhat downy on the veins beneath. Flowers in regular racemes, one to three, or four inches long, on the ends of the floral branches, and usually protected by the leaves ; they are all turned downwards and have been likened to rows of teeth. Partial flower-stalk very short, with two small, colored bracts at base. Calyx of five lanceolate, pointed, greenish or brownish white segments, embracing the corolla, and, after that is fallen, closely adhering to the ovary. Corolla oblong-cylindrical, contracted at the mouth, semi- transparent at the line of the segments, wiiicli arc rounded and diverging or revolute at the extremity. Filaments dilated at base, short, white, tapering to a brown point, supporting the brown anthers, which are cleft, each division having two awns. Style exserted. The ovary becomes a dry, globular capsule, which opens in five recurved valves, surrounded by the persist- ent calyx and bracts, and remaining usually till the flowers of the ii%-^i year appear. This IS a beautiful but much neglected plant. Few exotics have such elegance of appearance. Few are so little known. This, like the plants of the previous genera, may be easily cul- tivated. They require a peat soil or sandy loam. Don says of them, ^^ Being very ornamental, they are desirable shrubs in every garden. They are propagated by layers or by seeds. The seeds should be sown in pots or in pans, in sandy peat soil; they should be covered sUghtly with earth, as they are ex- tremely small."— ffe/L Sijs,, III, 83L Oxydendrmn arboreum, Andromeda arlbrea of American bot- anists, is a handsome, small tree, belonging to this group, which might be easily introduced here, as it grows freely a little far- ther south. XX. 5. THE ALDER LEAYED CLETHRA. 377 XX. 5. THE CLETHRA. CLE^THRA. L. The name is the Greek word for the alder, which the plants of this genus resemble in their leaves. They are mostly Amer- ican shrubs with alternate, deciduous leaves, and white, bract- eate flowers in axillary or terminal spikes. The calyx is five- parted, persistent; corolla so deeply five-parted as to appear five-petalled ; stamens ten, with pointed anthers; capsule en- closed by the calyx, with three, many-seeded cells, which open in the middle. The Aldee Leaved Clethra. C. almfblia, L. Poorly figured in Catesby's Carolina, I, QQ. A shrub from two to eight feet high, showing a long spike of white, fragrant flowers towards the end of summer, when most other shrubs have long cast their blossoms. It grows naturally and abundantly by slow streams, or in islets in deep bogs, where it can, at most seasons, bathe its feet in water. The flower -stem is of a whitish green and downy, below which the shoot is of a faint reddish color, covered with a gray down. The stem at last becomes dark purple, striate with gray. The leaves are inversely egg-shaped, gradually tapering at base to a short, downy footstalk, pointed, and serrated with pointed serratures from below the middle to the extremity, smooth, downy on the mid-rib above, a little hairy on the mid-rib and primary veins beneath. Flowers in long racemes, terminal, or from the axils of the upper leaves. Cup of five short, hollow, ovate, pointed, white, downy segments, which are persistent, and, after the fall of the corolla, close round and protect the ovary. Petals apparently five, oblong, concave, rounded at the extremity, twice as long as the calyx, white with hues of green. Stamens ten, long, cylindrical, unequal. Anthers with two di- verging lobes, pointed at the apex, opening by pores below, at length inverted, orange-brown. Ovary round, downy. Style as long as the stamens. Stigma three-parted. Capsule obtusely triangular, opening by the sides of the three cells, and contain- ing many small angular seeds attached to the partitions. 49 378 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. This beautiful plant may be easily cultivated, and is much improved by cultivation, the spikes being increased in length and in the size of the flowers. It grows readily in any garden soil, and may be propagated by layers or cuttings. There are several other species of clethra which might be in- troduced, especially the acuminate^ the panicled^ and the doivny^ which would doubtless flourish, as they are natives of the higher parts of the Southern States, and have been successfully culti- vated in tlie open air in England. The first of these is a small tree. They all continue in flower from July to October. XX. 6. THE GROUND LAUREL. EPIGAE\i. L. Creeping, tufted, roughish, evergreen, American under- shrubs, with alternate, entire leaves, and fragrant flowers in dense, ax- illary and terminal racemes. The calyx is deeply five-parted, with three bracts at the base ; the corolla salver-shaped, villous within, with a five-parted, spreading border ; stamens ten, with anthers openmg inwards from top to bottom ; capsule five-celled, many-seeded, encircled by the persistent calyx. There are two species, one found on mountain tops, in the Antilles, the other here. The May Flower. E, ripens. L. Often from beneath the edge of a snow-bank are seen rising the fragrant, pearly, white or rose-colored, crowded flowers of this earliest harbinger of the spring. It abounds in the edges of woods about Plymouth, as elsewhere, and must have been the first flower to salute the storm-beaten crew of the May Flower on the conclusion of their first terrible winter. Their descend- ants have thence piously derived the name, although its bloom is often passed before the coming in of the month of May. The trailing stem runs along for several feet just beneath the covering of leaves on the surface of the ground, throwing out from the sides or joints, at distances of two or three inches, bunches of fibres or long fibrous roots, and ascending flowor- and leaf-bearing shoots, which usually enlarge upwards. The extremities spread on the ground, brown, hairy and rough. The XX. 7. THE BOXBERRY. 379 flowers are in terminal, crowded, sessile clusters or corymbs. At the base of each partial footstalk is a whorl of three, con- cave, lanceolate, hairy, green bracts, ending in a long point. Just above is the calyx of five narrow, subulate segments, half as long as the tube of the corolla. The rose-colored or white pearly corolla is a long tube, very hairy within, the extremity expanding into five rounded lobes. On the throat appear the yellow anthers, opening from top to bottom, and resting upon slender filaments, hairy towards the base, proceedmg from the bottom of the tube. Leaves alternate. Footstalks hairy, half as long as the leaves, channelled above. Leaves oblong, cor- date, rounded at the extremity, and often mucronate, ciliate on the margin, coriaceous and evergreen, smooth and shiny above; veinlets impressed; shiny and somewhat hairy, espe- cially on the mid-rib and veins beneath. Stigma headed, five- pointed ; style straight ; ovary ovate, hairy. The flower buds are formed in August. The May flower is found as far north as the Saskatchawan, roughout Canada ai Carolma and Georgia. throughout Canada and Maine, and thence to the sand hills of XX. 7. THE BOXBERRY. GAULTHE^RIA, L. A genus named by Kalm, the favorite pupil of Linnaeus, in honor of Gaulthier, a physician and botanist of Quebec in Canada. It contains, according to De Candolle, about forty species, the greater part of which are found in North and South America, especially in Mexico, some on the mountains of Central Asia and Java, three in New Zealand. They are shrubs and under shrubs, sometimes low trees, with alternate leaves, and axillary or terminal, often fragrant flowers, white, rose-coloredj or scar- let. The calyx is five-cleft, with two bracts, distinct or united, beneath ; corolla ovate, with a short, revolute, five-cleft border; stamens eight or ten, with hairy filaments, and anthers bi-lobed at top, each lobe two-awned ; ten scales, distinct or united, in the bottom of the cup ; capsule depressed, globose, five-furrowed, five-valved, five-celled, many-seeded, invested at base by the calyx, which sometimes becomes berry-like. 380 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. The Chequer Berry. Partridge Berrt. G. procumbens, L. Figured m Bigelow's Medical Botany, Plate 22. Audubon's Buds, with the Wood Wren, II, Plate 179. A delicate, fragrant, evergreen plant, growing in the deep shade of other evergreens, throwing up from a creeping root a tuft of ihree or four, sometimes seven or eight leaves, and nearly as many flowers. Stem an inch or two high, dotted with white dots, downy, with one or two linear, brown, abortive leaves near the surface of the ground. Leaves elliptical or obovate, pointed at each extremity, or sometimes rounded at the end with a delicate, reflected, mem- branous border, and a few distant teeth or serratures cndmg often in a bristle. They are of a leathery texture and of a pol- ished dark green above, Ughter below, supported by a short, rather stout, often hairy petiole. Flowers of a pearly white, solitary, from the axil of the leaves, on white or reddish, slender, hairy or downy footstalks, one third or one half an inch long. Calyx double ; the exterior of two very short, broad, concave, pointed bracts, the interior ending in five or six triangular teeth. Corolla monopetalous, conical, broad at base, and gradually diminishing towards the top, where it suddenly contracts and terminates in five or six rounded teeth, nearly closing the orifice. Filaments very short, white or pink, hairy without. Anthers as long as the filaments, set upon their inner side, brown, large at base, divided half way down, each division terminated with two pointed bristles or awns. Style nearly as long as the corolla, uniform, surmount- ing a five-sided, or rounded, greenish ovary, which rests on a deep green disk with ten projecting teeth. The flower-stalks bend down, so that the flowers and fruit hide themselves under the leaves. Flowers in May and also in the end of summer and in au- tumn ; and the fruit is ripe in autumn and in spring. The berry is of a bright scarlet, pleasant to the taste, but rather insipid. It is often eaten in the spring when no other berry is to be found. Its importance to the partridges and other birds who XX. 8. THE COMMON BEAR BERRY. 381 hybernate in our climate, gives it its most common name. It is also called Chequer Berry, Box Berry, Ivory Plum and Mountain Tea. The whole plant has a pleasant, aromatic flavor, similar to that of the black birch. The leaves are sometimes employed as a substitute for tea, or added to communicate an agreeable flavor. An essence and an oil are extracted from the plant, which possess, in a high degree, the astrmgent, warming and tonic properties of the leaves. An infusion of the leaves has been successfully em- ployed to restore the action of the breast, when that fountain had been dried up. This plant is found from Quebec, in Canada, to the moun- tains of Carolina. XX. 8. THE BEAR BERRY. ARCTOSTA'PHYLOS, Adanson. A genus of twelve or thirteen species of low shrubs with alter- nate leaves, terminal, bracteate racemes of white or flesh-colored flowers, and red or black fruit, natives of North America, chiefly the mountains of Mexico, and rocky woods and sunny mountain tops of northern Europe and Asia. Calyx five-parted, persist- ent ; corolla ovate-pitcher-shaped, with a short five-toothed, re- flexed mouth. Stamens ten; filaments hairy, dilated at the base ; anthers compressed, opening by two pores at the apex, with two reflexed awns on the sides ; ovary depressed-globose, girt with three fleshy scales ; style short ; stigma obtuse ; drupe globose, five-, six-, nine- or ten-celled; cells one-seeded. The Common Bear Beeey. J., uva ursi. SprengeL Figured m Blgelow's Medical Botany, I, Plate 6. A shrubby, evergreen plant, trailing upon the ground or on rocks, and forming large, close mats, on dry, sandy plains or rocky hills. Stem woody, with a grayish bark, which peels ofi" in patches. Young shoots ascending, clothed with a brown- ish, downy bark. Leaves crowded towards the end of the branches, alternate, inversely egg-shaped, obtuse at the end, wedge-shaped at base, smooth on both surfaces, shining above, 382 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. paler and reticulate beneath, with a fringe of soft hairs on the margin, on a short, downy footstalk. Flowers drooping, in a terminal cluster. Flower-stem short, with a lance-shaped, per- sistent bract at base, and two short concave ones just above. Calyx of three to five, reddish, rounded segments, which re- mam and invest the base of the ripe fruit. Corolla pitcher- shaped, flesh-colored, pellucid at the base, hairy inside, with a contracted mouth of five short, refiexed segments. Anthers short, dark purple, opening with terminal pores, and tipped with two long, crimson, refiexed bristles; filaments thick at bottom, tapering, hairy. Stigma short, cylindrical. Ovary green, orbicular, resting on a flattened, purple torus. Berries globular, of a deep red, filled with a tasteless, mealy pulp, and a drupe made up of five wedge-shaped nuts. They remam on through the year, and serve as food for partridges and grouse. This plant abounds in the Alps and Pyrenees, and in all the northern and mountamous parts of Europe, as well as in this comitry. Every part of the plant is very astringent. In Swe- den and Russia it is employed in great quantities in tanning, in the preparation of morocco, and sometimes for dying wool an ash color. In Iceland, according to Sir William Hooker, it is used to impart a deep brown, and a black color. ^' A deep brown dye is produced by boiling the cloth in water, with a quantity of the leaves of sortllyng or A'rhutus uva tirsi^'^ (for six hours, in an iron pot.) To make it afterwards black, it is boiled with a paste of earth called 5or/a.=^ In medicine, it has been found efii- cacious in diseases afiecting the urinary passages and in those of the kidneys. THE RHODORA TRIBE. REODO'REJB. {BesemUmg Wiodhra.) Don. This section contains many of the most showy and orna- mental evergreen or deciduous plants known, and several of the most beautiful are natives to our climate. They are distin- guished by having fiat leaves with the mid-rib callous, and flower-buds with imbricated scales resembUng the cones of pines. * See Journal of a Tour in Iceland, p. 215 of the 2d ed. XX. 9. THE ROSE BAY. 333 XX. 9. THE ROSE BAY. RHODODE'NDROK L. Shrubs or trees, mostly evergreen, with alternate, very entire leaves, and showy, purple, hlac, rose-colored, white or yellow flowers, in terminal corymbs, growing naturally on the moun- tains of Europe and Asia, in North America, and on the continent and islands of India. Many of the species have been much culti- vated for their beauty, and many curious and beautiful varieties have been formed by hybridizing. The Tree Rose Bay, jR. arhb- reimn^ found on the mountains of Nepaul, at a height of not less than ten thousand feet above the sea, has natural varieties, with purple, intensely red, rose-colored, and white flowers. ^^ They attain the size of very large forest trees, and are noble objects at all times. They blossom simultaneously in April, in which state the beauty of them surpasses all description, the ample crown of the trees being entirely covered with bunches of large and elegant blossoms." — Wallich^ PL As. Rar. The flowers are eaten by the natives, and are formed into a jelly by Europeans. The Alpine Rose Bay, R. ferrugineum^ which grows in the pasture-lands amongst the Alps and Appenines, has extremely beautiful flowers of lilac, inclining to rose-color, of a disagree- able odor. The leaves are considered poisonous, and a weak infusion of them acts powerfully as a sudorific. The Pontic Rose Bay, R. Poniicnm^ a native of Lebanon and the moun- tains of Asia Minor, has flowers of nearly the same color, the odor of which is considered by the inhabitants of the coast of the Black Sea as unwholesome, and the honey made by bees feeding on the flowers has, since the time of Xenophon, been considered poisonous, producing vertigo and nausea in those who eat it. Pallas denies that this property of the honey is owing to the efiect of the flowers of the rose bay, and attributes it to the flowers of Azalea Pontica, which, he says, grows plen- tifully among the bushes of rhododendron, and which is known to render honey deleterious. The Purple Rose Bay, iJ. puni- ceum, so called from the color of the flowers, is a magnificent tree of the mountains of the north of India. Its leaves are often covered with a sugary substance, which hardens to the appear- 384 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. ance of varnish. The rose bay of Mount Caucasus has lilac- colored flowers ; the Golden-flowered, R. chrysmiJmm^ a low shrub with flowers of citron yellow with orange dots, is spread extensively in Russia and Siberia, where a decoction of its leaves is a celebrated remedy for rheumatism and afi'ections of the skin. In small doses, it is sudorific ; in large, poisonous. The Daourian and the Kamtschatka rose bays, very low shrubs with rose-colored flowers, and the Chinese, R. Fndicum, of pur- ple, flesh-color, rose, white or yellow, are, with all those above- mentioned and some others, cultivated in Europe and in this country. The species indigenous to the United States are the American Purple, R, piirpuretim, the Catawba, the Dotted, R, punctdtum, all which are much cultivated and highly prized ; Pursh's, the Lapland, — and the American, R. maximum^ one of the most beautiful, and the only true rhododendron found growing spontaneously in Massachusetts. The leaves of the Bell-flower Rose Bay, R. campdmilatiim^ are used as snuff by the natives of India. The same use is made of the leaves of i?. maximum in this country ; and the snuflf is considered effica- cious in catarrhs and other afi'ections of the head. The rhodo- dendron has a five-parted calyx; a five-lobed (rarely seven- lobed) corolla which is fannel-shaped, bell-shaped, or rarely wheel-shaped, with the limb either equal or somewhat two- hpped, the upper lip being broadest and usually spotted. The stamens are five or ten, (rarely six to nine, or fourteen,) free from the corolla and commonly declined and projecting ; with anthers opening by two obUque, terminal pores. The ovary has five or ten cells, with many ovules ui each. The capsule is five-celled, five-valved, rarely ten-celled, ten-valved ; the seeds numerous, compressed, winged, attached to the central axis. The Common American Rose Bay. Dwarf Rose Bay. R. maximum. L. Figured in Bigelow's Medical Botany, Plate 51 ; in Audubon's Birds, II, Plate 103 ; and in Michaux, Sylva, II, Plate 67. The rose bay, as it occurs growing spontaneously in this State, is a low, spreading plant, with its lower branches lying XX. 9. COMMON AMERICAN ROSE BAY. 385 on the ground, and its central stems rising to the height of from three to six or seven feet. It forms round or straggling clumps or islets in the swamps where it is found. In more southern States, it sometimes rises to the height of twenty or twenty-five feet, with a diameter of four or five inches. The stem is gray- ish, and rough with loose, broken flakes of bark. The recent shoots are large, and, with the leaf-stalks, are yellow or of a yellowish green color, often covered with white dust. The older branches are dark purple and soon turn gray. When the leaves first begin to expand, they are of a reddish color and covered with an abundant red down or cotton. When fully expanded, they are smooth, of a shining light, afterwards dark green above ; when several years old, they become brown, coarse and rough. Their lower surface is pale or rust-colored. They are from three or four to eight or nine inches long/and one or two broad, elliptic-oblong, romid, obtuse, or acute at base, with a very entire, shghtly renexed border, and ending in a rather sharp, entire point. Their texture is firm, tough and leathery, and they are supported on very stout footstalks, flat- tened or hollowed above, half an inch or an inch long. The flowers are in round, thyrse-hke, crowded clusters, from four to eight inches broad, on the ends ot^ the branches. The large, conical, flower-buds are formed in September. Just be- fore expandnig they are one or two inches long, and an inch broad, invested with a large nximber of concave, rhomboidal, pointed, more or less colored scales, one of which protects each separate flower-bud, and^tnong which the richly colored corolla is seen at intervals. As the flowers expand these scales fall off, leaving numerous ^cars at the base of the common flower- stem. Each flower is supported by a stalk one or two inches long, which, as well as the calyx leaves, is covered with a vis- cid or glutixioiis down, and has long, thread-hke, downy bracts, on each^ide at the base. The calyx is divided into five une- qual, rounded segments, of a delicate texture. The corolla is of ooae piece, Avith a border expanding from a short tube into five unequal, oblong, rounded segments, the upper one of which IS largest and has its cavity mottled with numerous small, yel- low or greenish or orange-colored spots. The color of the corolla 50 386 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Taxies in different exposures and on different plants, with every shade of rose and flesh-color to pure white. The stamens are ten, very unequal, inclining towards the lower side of the flower, of the color of the corolla, on slender filaments, which are larger and densely covered with silky down near the base. The anthers consist of two short sacks, openiag at the apex with round, bordered pores, and discharging white pollen. The ovary is roundish, surmounted by a curved style which gradu- ally enlarges upwards and terminates in a broad, five-sided, stigmatic surface. The capsule is egg-shaped, five-angled and five-celled, with numerous, minute seeds. The rose bay is found as far north as the town of Standish, on the borders of Sebago Lake, m Maine. It grows in great abundance m an extensive swamp m Biedfield, not far from Charles River, and m a smaller one in Attleborough. It every- where delights in deep, moist shades. In the Northern States, it occurs only at intervals, in protected situations. It is of more frequent occurrence in the Middle States, and in the deep valleys among the higher ranges of the AUeghanies, especially in Virginia, it becomes so abundant, according to Michaux, on the sides of the mountain torrents, as to form impenetrable thickets, in which the bear finds a secure retreat from the pur- suit of dogs and hunters. Pursh describes three marked varieties of the American Rose Bay. The first, with rose-colored flowers, found in the moun- tains, by rivulets and lakes, from Canada to Carolina, flowering in June and July: the second, with smaller flowers perfectly white, m the shady cedar swamps of I^^w Jersey and Dela- ware, flowering in July and August; the third, with purple flowers, growing on the highest mountains ol Yirgmia and Ca- rolina, near lakes, and flowering in May and Jun<^. This last grows to a large size, with a stem eighteen inches in diameter, and foliage thrice the size of any other variety. He coj[>siders it as approaching the Pontic Rhododendron. The two former varieties, which differ only in the color and size of the flowers, are to be found in Massachusetts. The Dwarf Rose Bay is readily cultivated, if planted in the peat or bog soil which is everywhere to be found in New Eng- XX. 9. THE SWAMP PINK. 387 land, and if care be taken to protect it from the scorching heat of summer, and to place it in a sheltered situation where it shall not be exposed to the severest winds of winter. It richly de- serves a place in every garden. It is the most beautiful native flower of Massachusetts, and is singularly well fitted to ornament a parlor. A flower-bud not beginning to open has been placed in a vase, where it opened its flowers as well as if left on the stem; and the flowers contmued fresh and beautiful more than fifteen days. Section Azalea. — The Azaleas diifer from the true Rhodo- dendrons in having only five stamens, and their leaves decidu- ous. They differ still more ia habit and properties. The flowers are large and fragrant, and, in the ^different species, they are yellow, white, flesh-colored^ jrose-red, or variegated, and covered externally with hairs or with a glandular pubes- cence. The Pontic Azalea, the one longest known and culti- vated, has yellow, orange or white flowers, which exhale a fragrance similar to that of the honeysuckle, but stronarer, and reputed unwholesome. Sp. 1. The Swamp Pink. Wilb Honeysuckle. R. viscbsum. Torrey. Azalea viscosa. L. Figured in Audubon's Birds, II, Plate 115. A flowering shrub, growing abundantly in open woods or on their borders, in low, wet grounds, in most parts of New Eng- land. Springing from a small root, with an ashen or slaty and various colored or clouded stem, seldom more than an inch in diameter, and throwing out branches in imperfect whorls or stages, this beautiful plant rises to a bushy head at six or eight feet from the ground. In the end of May, the season at which the flowering begins, it is remarkable for its large, cone- like flower-buds, composed of many scales, which, opening and falling, expose to view bunches of fragrant, irregular flowers. The leaves are alternate, or in tufts of five or six, at the end of the branchlets which encircle the flower-stalk. They are in- versely egg-shaped, pointed at the end with a brown, callous 388 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. point, reflex and ciliate on the margin, smooth and sometimes shining above, with the mid-rib bristUng beneath and tapering at base to a short stalk. The flowers are six to twelve, in a diverging whorl or termi- nal corymb, their stems, when few, issuing from nearly the same point. At the foot of each green or colored flower-stem, are a white, hollow, obovate, bract-Uke scale, nearly as long as the stem, and one or two fugacious, thread-like bracts, much shorter. The stem and flower are covered with glandular, sometimes glutinous hairs. The calyx is usually short, with five rounded or pointed, ciliate or hairy teeth. The corolla is a white or scarlet, oblique tube, set with brownish, viscous hairs, and expanding into Ave unequal, reflexed, pink segments, of a pure white, or sometmies with a tnit of flesh color within. Three or four stamens are usually longer, and one or two shorter than the corolla, with scarlet threads, downy below and smooth above, bending upwards and supporting a liglit, rust-colored, linear anther, opening obliquely at the extremity by two round pores. The ovary, at flowering, is a five-sided pyramid. The style is scarlet, slightly hairy, a little longer than the stamen, with a capitate stigma. The fruit, which often remains on the stem till the flowers of the succeeding season appear, is a dry, five-celled, many-seeded capsule, with valves opening from the centre and top, and having the persistent, sickle-shaped style at the end of the central axis. There are many permanent varieties of this plant in its native state, diflering m the color and viscidness of the flowers, the shape of the calyx-segments, and the color of the leaves. The most marked are Var, 1. — Glaucum of Pursh, in which the leaves are green above and glaucous beneath. Var. 2.— Leaves pale above and glaucous beneath, with the teeth of the calyx long, spatulate and reflexed. Var, 3.— Leaves glaucous on both surfaces and with later flowers. Few flower plants have been more valued and cultivated in European gardens than this. None more readily hybridizes with the other rhododendrons and azaleas. In Loddige's Cata- XX. 9. THE RHODORA. 389 logue for 1836, more than one hundred hybrid varieties are enumerated, most of them beautiful. Sp. 2. The Upright Honeysuckle. R. nudiflbrum, Torrey. Azalea midijibra, L. Figured in Abbott's Insects of Georgia, I, Plate 27. A low, spreading shrub, distinguished from the last by its broader and fuller leaves and more highly colored flowers. These are in bunches of six or more, radiating from one or two points. The flower-stems are longer than the tube, deeply col- ored and set with short hairs. Calyx of five, oblong, short se- pals, unequal, with a row of hairs on the edge. Tube of the corolla dark red, border shorter and of a fainter color. The very prominent stamens are of a dark maroon color, as is the still longer style. Stigma rounded, dark purple. This is found in the southern part of the State, towards the borders of Rhode Island, and in several parts of Worcester County, but far less abundantly than the last It, however, grows as freely in the open air, and shows the same tendency to produce varieties and the same facility in hybridizing. Nine distinct varieties, native or occurring m cultivation, are de- scribed by Don, and forty-three additional ones are enumerated in Loddige's Catalogue. The rhododendrons grow in almost any soil, if in a situa- tion protected from the cold winds of winter and the burning sun of summer ; and I have seen the maximum flourishing where exposed to both. But they do best in a somewhat close and tenacious soil, rather moist. They may be propagated by cuttings, by layers or by seeds. The latter mode is considered best ; the seeds to be sown in peat soil or in fine, sandy loam, in a shady border. When transplanted, they should have a ball of earth left adhering to the roots. THE RHODORA. RHODO'EA. L. From rhodon, a rose. Calyx five-toothed; corolla two-lipped; stameus ten; cap- sule five-celled, five-valved : leaves deciduous. 390 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. The Canada Rhodora. jR. rhodbra, Don. Rhodbra Cana- dmsis, L. An early flowering shrub, from one to three feet high, distin- guished for its copper-colored stem and glaucous leaves, and clusters of naked flowers coming out before the leaves appear. The recent shoots are straight and erect, of a light brown, some- times hairy, enlarging gradually to the extremity. The shoots of the preceding year are covered with a porcelain-like cuticle, which peels off, and leaves, on the older branches, and irregular, crooked stems, a bright, copper-colored, smooth bark. The leaves are borne on short footstalks, narrow, lance-shaped or oval, acute at each extremity, revolute at the margm, pale green or glaucous above, lighter and glaucous and downy beneath. The flowers are in little tufts at the end of the branches. The stem is very short and somewhat hairy. The calyx is very minute. The purple or rose-colored corolla is deeply cleft, and seems to consist of two narrow petals, round at the end, and one broader, ending in three lobes. The three are slightly united at base. Stamens ten, as long as the corolla, with fila- ments somewhat hairy below, sustaining short, roundish, purple anthers, opening by two terminal pores. Ovary bristly. Style purple, longer than the stamens, supporting a large stigma. The capsules are half an inch long, divided into five cells by valves which open inwards, the partitions being formed by the margins of the valves turned inwards. At the time of flower- ing, the leaves are just beginning to be visible, covered with hairs, pushing from the very small, scaly leaf-buds. This plant, which flowers in April or May, is found in the neighbor- hood of Boston, and not unfrequently in wet land in other parts of the State. It also occurs in Newfoundland, in Maine, and in Connecticut. XX 10. THE AMERICAN LAUREL. KA'LMIA, L. A small genus of beautiful, flowering, American plants, named by Linnssus in honor of Peter Kalm, a favorite pupil, a travel- ler and distinguished botanist. The leaves are alternate or in XX. 10. THE AMERICAN LAUEEL. 391 ternate whorls, and evergreen, except in the species, K. cuneata^ in which they are deciduous; the flowers in terminal clus- ters or compound corymbs ; the buds are naked. The flow- ers are rose-colored, purplish or white. The calyx is five- parted; corolla salver-shaped, with a five-lobed border with ten horn-like projections on the lower surface, in the cavities of which above, the anthers nestle. Stamens ten, with anthers opening by oblique pores. Capsule five-celled, many-seeded, the partitions formed by the borders of the valves. Five species are known, two of them in Carolina and Florida, the other three in New England. Most of the species are considered poisonous; one of them, the narrow-leaved, is known to be fatal to lambs, and gets its common name thence. Mr. Nuttall thinks it not improbable that the deleterious honey sometimes complained of, may have received its injurious property from the flowers of the Kalmia latifblia, Kalm, who paid much attention to the genus, says that the leaves of this species are found to be poisonous to calves and lambs, and deleterious to cattle, sheep and horses ; while they are the food of stags when the snow covers the ground and hides other provision from them. The occasionally poisonous quality of the flesh of partridges has been attributed to their feeding on the buds of Kalmia ; but Wilson, the ornithologist, says he has eaten freely and v/ithout ill consequences, upon the flesh of these birds, when their crops had been found distended with Kalmia buds. Dr. Barton con- siders the Kalmia deleterious to the human system, and says that the Indians made use of a decoction of the leaves to destroy themselves. Dr. Bigelow, who has collected the facts in relation to this subject, and himself made experiments and chemical anal- yses to ascertain the properties of Kalmia latifbUa^ is inclined to think that "the noxious efiect of the Kalmia upon young grazing animals, may be in some measure attributed to its indi- gestible quahty, owing to the quantity of resm contamed in the leaves." 392 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Sp. 1. The Mountain Laurel. Clamoun. Spoonwood. K, laiifblia, L. Figured in Bigelow's Medical Botany, I, Plate 13 ; also in Catesby's Carolina, II, Plate 98 ; Abbott^s Insects, I, Plate 37 ; and in Audubon's Birds, I, Plate b5. This extremely "beautiful shrub occurs in various parts of the State; on the shores of Massachusetts Bay, at Cohasset, in several points on both sides of Buzzard's Bay, in the neighbor- hood of Newburyport and Lowell, in many parts of Worcester County, on every side of Wachusett, and in the towns on both declivities of the Green Mountains. In the deep, shady ravines of these mountains, it sometimes attains a height of fifteen or even twenty feet, with a diameter of three or four inches. In most other places, and especially on open ground, it rarely ex- ceeds four or five feet in height On an open, rocky pasture of many acres, south of Meeting-house Pond in Westboro', it forms large, close, clumps or islets, intersected by plots and alleys of grass. In June and July, when every one of these innumerable green islets is crowned with white or rose-colored flowers, and cattle are feeding on the grass or lying under the few oaks which are scattered through the pasture, — the whole, with the lake and its fringe of trees, is worth going out of one's way to see. The Indians called this plant clammm. It is sometimes called spoonwood, rarely calico bush ; most frequently, mountain lau- rel, or broad-leaved Kalraia. The stem of the mountain laurel is slender, with branches in twos or threes, or in imperfect whorls. The bark on the recent branchlets is of a yellowish green, which in a year begins to turn brown, and afterwards becomes ash-colored. The epider- mis on the older stems easily and often peals ojff in long plates, leaving a brownish or grayish bark. The principal stem in old stocks is covered with a grayish brown, entire bark, cleft regu- larly with long, smooth clefts. This difference in bark often gives the branches the appearance of having been grafted. The leaves are scattered, opposite, or in whorls or tufts, from two to four inches long, and two fifths as broad, oval, acute at each XX. 10. THE MOUNTAIN LAUREL. 393 extremity, very entire, polished above, somewhat reflexed at the edge, -with the mid-rib prominent, of a soft^ leathery texture, on footstalks one quarter or one third of their length. The flowers are in terminal heads which crown the last year's leavesj and consist of two or three stout stems proceeding from the axil of as many leaves, and giving off from one to three pairs of opposite branches. The partial flower-stalks are an inch or more long, covered with glandular hairs. Bach branch and partial stalk has a short, pointed bract at its base., and a shorter ovate one on each side. The calyx is persistent, of five, short, ovate, pointed segments, covered with glutinous hairs, and green, with colored tips, expanded till the corolla has fallen, after which it embraces the ovary. The corolla is monopetalous ; before opening it has the shape of a ten-angled casket j on ex- pansion it becomes salver-shaped, with a short tube and a bor- der of five, triangular, raised lobes. The stamens are ten, with white filaments, bent back and nesthng their brown anthers in little cavities in the side of the corolla. On being touched, they escape with a spring and bend over, around the pistil. The anthers open with two oblique, terminal pores. The color of the corolla varies from a pure white to a rich rose. The border of the tube within is painted with a waving, rosy hne, and there is a delicate pencilling of purple above each depression for the anthers. The ovary is round, green, with white, glandular hairs, and an erect^ club-shaped pistil, longer than the stamens, and remaining after the corolla has fallen. The capsule is glob- ular, imperfectly five-angled, set with glandular, glutinous hairs, five-celled and five-valved, with numerous minute, compressed seeds, attached to the central axis. The wood of the mountain laurel is very smooth, close- grained and hard, and that of the root is marked with red lines. It is substituted for box, is well adapted to the turner's use, and for the engraver on wood, and is employed in making the han- dles of small tools, screws, boxes, and musical instruments. Found in nearly all parts of the State, and from Canada to Florida. Flowering in June and July. Easily cultivated in a moist soil, and richly deserving a place in every American gar- den. 51 394 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Sp. 2. The Naeeow-leayed Kalmta. K, angustifolla. L. figured in Catesby's Carolmaj I, Plate 117, where it is called Chamaedaphne sempervireBs. Audubon's Birds, II, Plate 195. A low, evergreen shrub, usually half a foot or a foot high, rarely two feet, forming often small tufts or patches in low grounds. The stem is ascending, covered with a brown bark, shining through the thin, membranaceous silvery epidermis, in. recent shoots of a light reddish green. Branches often in threes. Leaves in whorls of three, entire, lance-shaped, revo- lute on the margin, with the mid-rib very prominent beneath, shimng green above, paler and often rusty beneath, of a soft, leathery texture, those of the previous year browner and harder. Flowers in corymbs, in from three to twelve whorls of three, in the axils of the persistent last year's leaves, and surmounted by the new leaves. In each axil is a panicle consisting of about three imperfect whorls of three flowers. At the base of each flov/er-stem is a small linear bract, and two smaller ones on the sides. The flowers are very beautiful, of a deep rose- red. From its supposed poisonous efi'ect upon lambs, this plant is often called iamb-kill or sheep-kill It is found from Hudson's Bay to Georgia. There are many slight varieties of this plant, some of them remarkable for leaves glaucous beneath and somewhat so above. Sp. 3. The Glaucous Kalmia. K. glauca, Alton. Figured in Audubon's Birds, 11, Plato 193. An almost aquatic plant, with a long, straggling stem, with a greenish brown, smooth bark, and slender, two-edged, opposite branches, or three-edged in whorls of three. The leaves are opposite, or in threes, nearly sessile, hnear-lance-shapcd, entire, obtuse or pointed, wedge-shaped at base, revolute at the edge, of a brilliant dark green above, whitish or glaucous beneath. Flowers in terminal corymbs, made of alternately opposite pairs, or m threes, from the axil of a small leaf or bract, with two lateral scales. Footstalks thread-hke, three fourths of an mch long. Calyx persistent, with five long, obtuse, brown segments. XX. 11. THE LABKADOK TEA. 395 Corolla pale rose-colored, with cavities to receive the ten an- thers, which are supported on stamens proceeding from the cen- tral portion of the corolla, with filaments surrounded by a circle of hairs at the base, and brown anthers. This plant is found in Richmond, in Berkshire, and in a few other places in the State. Dr. Alexander pointed it out to me in Hubbardston, growing with Ledum, in an open, sphagnous swamp, which had been used as a reservoir for a mill-stream, and had thus been kept full of water nearly throughout the year. When I gathered these plants there, the swamp was overgrown with a most abundant growth of Cassandra calycu- lata^ covering the surface with a purplish brown hue. Amidst this the sphagnum had formed masses a foot or two above the general level, on which the Ledum and Kalmia were growing; their long, prostrate, root-like stems penetrating to a consider- able distance in the spongy mass. On the edges were Rhodora and Andromeda: the general, more wet level was occupied by cotton grass, and the dry banks by narrow-leaved Kalmia, huckleberries and other shrubs that avoid the water. It is found from near the Arctic circle in Canada to Pennsylvania. The flower oi Kalmia glauca has been compared to a minia- ture parasol, the corolla to the covering, the stamens to the ribs, and the style to the handle. XX. 11. THE LABRADOR TEA, LE^DUM. L. A genus of two species of low, evergreen undershrubs, with alternate, coriaceous leaves, more or less revolute, downy be- neath, odorous when crushed; and white flowers in terminal corymbs, — found in cool, wet places, in the northern regions of both continents. The calyx is five- toothed; the corolla has five spreading petals : stamens five or ten ; capsule five-celled, many- seeded, with five valves opening from the bottom upwards ; seeds numerous, linear, with a membranous wing on each side. The species which is common to the two continents, has a bitter and astringent taste and narcoiic properties. In Russia, the leaves are used in tanning, and are substituted for hops in beer, which has, in consequence, the property of causing headache and ver- tigo. One species is found in Massachusetts. 396 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. The Broad-leaved Ledum. Labrador Tea. jL. latifolium. L. Figured in Audubon's Birds of America, II, Plate 191. A low, evergreen, branching shrub, with the recent shoots and under surface of the leaves densely covered with rust- colored wool. The older branches are reddish brown or cop- per-colored ; the stem is nearly black. The leaves are on very short footstalks, lance-shaped, obtuse, with the border much revolute, of a light green above, and covered with a rusty down or wool beneath. Flowers erect, in crowded, terminal corymbs, on slender, somewhat downy stems, rising from the bosom of a short, concave bract, covered with resinous dots. The calyx is minute, with five obtuse teeth. Corolla oi five, oblong, rounded, white petals. Stamens from five to ten, as long as the petals, on slender filaments, with small, white, or yellowish anthers opening by two terminal pores. Ovary roundish. Style white, turning red, as long as the stamens, persistent, with a small stigma. The capsule is oblong-oval, crowned with the style, and supported by the calyx, nodding until it begins to open, which it does by five valves at bottom, when it is inverted and pendent. The leaves growing on branches near the ground, axe sometimes nearly destitute of wool, and are flat, short, ellip- tical, and scattered with resinous dots beneath. The root or subterranean stem is large, and throws out numerous, wool-like radicles. Flowers in May and June. In Labrador, its leaves have been used as a substitute for tea. It is found in all the countries north of us, and in sphag- nous swamps in Pittsfield, Richmond, and Hubbardston, in this State. The ledum may be cultivated in a peat soil or sandy loam, and is readily propagated by layers or by seeds. XXL THE WHORTLEBERRY FAMILY. 397 FAMILY XXL THE WHORTLEBERRY FAMILY. VACCmiEM, De Candolle. The whortleberries and cranberries take the place, through- out the northern part of this continent, of the heaths of the cor- responding climates of Europe; and fill it with not less of beauty, and incomparably more of use. This family includes erect or creeping shrubs, with numerous, irregular branches, simple, alternate leaves, on short stalks, sometimes coriaceous and perennial, and flowers solitary or in racemes. The charac- teristics are nearly those of the previous family ; calyx adherent to the ovary, entire, or with from four to six lobes, with which the equally numerous lobes of the corolla alternate ; the stamens double that number and distinct, with two-horned anthers open- ing by pores, or short slits; ovary four- or five-celled; style and stigma simple ; berry crowned by the persistent limb of the calyx, succulent, four- or five-, or eight- or ten-celled; cells one- or many -seeded ; seeds minute. This family has usually been made a tribe of the Heath Family, from which it diflers essentially only in its juicy fruit surmounted by the calyx -segments. Most of the plants which it comprehends bear pleasant and wholesome fruits, and are found chiefly in the temperate, or on mountains in the warmer regions of America. Some are found in Europe ; some on the continent and islands of Asia, and on islands in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. The leaves and bark have astrin- gent and tonic properties. Many species deserve cultivation for their beauty. Three genera are found in Massachusetts : — The Whortleberry, with erect stems, ovoid corollas, and agreeably acidulous fruit ; The Cranberry, with creeping stems, expanded or revolute corolla, and acid fruit ; and The Chio genes ^ with creeping stems, bell-shaped corolla, and white, pleasant fruit with a chequer -berry flavor. 398 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. XXI 1. THE WHORTLEBERRY. VACCFNIUM. L. A genus of nearly eighty species of shrubs and undershrubSj rarely small trees, occurring most numerously in North America, and less frequently in tropical America, Madagascar, northern India, the Sandwich Islands, middle and northern Europe and northern Asia, with alternate, sometimes evergreen leaves, and solitary or racemed flowers and fruit. Most of the species bear edible and wholesome berries. The bark and leaves of the three European species are very astringent, and have been much employed in tanning. The fruit of the Bilberry, Y, myr- iillus^ the best of the three, is highly esteemed for its agreeably acidulous taste. Vinous and alcoholic drinks and vinegar are prepared from it. The juice, with hme, verdigris, and sal am- moniac, furnishes the painter a beautiful purple color ; with sulphate of copper and alum, it gives a blue, of no great perma- nence, but often used in the preparation of colored paper. The name whortleberry^ originally given to this species, is derived from the Saxon heort-berg or heorot-berg^ the hart's berry. Similar uses are made of the Bog Whortleberry, K uUglnbsum^ of Europe, which is inferior in flavor. Of the leaves of this, with Lycopbdium alpinum, the Icelanders make a yellow dye for woollens. Most of the whortleberries in New England change their leaves in autumn to different deep shades of scarlet and crimson, contributmg, more than any other family, to the peculiar rich- ness of coloring which characterizes our woods at that season. Sp. 1. The Black Whoktleberry. F. resimsum. Alton. A shrub from eighteen inches to three feet high, rather erect ; much branched; the branches slender, and, when young, pu- bescent. Stem mahogany color, beneath a semi-transparent, pearly epidermis. Leaves on lateral or terminal branches, with short petioles, oblong-oval or elliptic, very entire, mostly obtuse, thin, profusely dotted beneath with atoms of yellowish resinous matter, giving a yellowish green color to the lower surface. Flowers on short, lateral racemes, with minute, lance- XX. L THE DANGLEBERRY. 399 olate, colored bracts near the base of the stalks. Calyx yel- lowish green from the resinous dots ; segments acute ; corolla small, five-angled, ovaie, conic, contracted at the mouth, of a dark, dull red, with sometimes a tinge of pale yellow below. Stamens shorter than the corolla. Style projecting beyond the corolla. Stigma capitate. The berries are globular, of a shin- ing black color, and sweet A horizontal section shows them to have ten cells, in each of which is one hard, stony seed ; only two or three of the whole number coming to perfection. This fruit is more firm than that of any other species, and is more valued in market. The common variety has black, shining berries j and leaves green on both surfaces. A second variety has similar leaves and berries covered with a blackish or brownish bloom, and very sweet. A third variety has somewhat glaucous leaves, and berries covered with a glaucous bloom. A fourth variety has larger berries, of a bluish color, with a bluish bloom, and very rich to the taste. There are other varieties, differing in color as in fruit. Those I have mentioned are the most strongly marked. In consequence, apparently, of the stmg of some insect, the flower of this whortleberry sometimes expands to twenty or thirty times its natural size, and becomes of a fieshy texture, resembhng the fungus-like excrescence common on the Swamp Pink, Rhododmdron viscosum. All the leaves on the end of a branch are sometimes affected in the same manner. This whortleberry is found on rocky hills, and flowers in May. It occurs from Canada, and the shores of Lake Huron, to the mountains of Georgia. Sp. 2. The Danglebeeky. F. frondosum. L. This is easily distinguished by its loose mode of flowering, and its large, pale leaves, which are glaucous beneath. It is a spreading bush, three or four feet high, with a crooked, much branched, light ash-colored stem. The recent shoots and fruit- stalks are of a light, pale green, or of a pale reddish yellow; the branches and stem of a mahogany or bronze color, unequally 400 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS, covered with a pearly epidermiSj which gives it an ashy color. The leaves are on very short petioles, oblong, elliptic, or obo- vate, obtuse, with a callous, whitish point, revolute on the mar- gin, lighter beneath. The flowers hang dangling on slender strings from one to three inches long, with an ovate bract at base, and two minute bracts on opposite sides, about the middle. The calyx-segments are appressed and acute; the corolla a broad bell, like that of the lily of the valley, with five, short, angular segments, completely reflexed. The style is as long as the corolla ; the stamens considerably shorter. The fruit is large, bluish, rather acid, ripening late. It is rarely found in abundance ; where it is procured in sufficient quantities, as in some parts of Worcester County, it is used for puddings. This species conies to greater perfection m a warmer chmate. In Pennsylvania, its berries are preferred to those of any other whortleberry. It is found in moist situations, by the side of lakes and on the edges of woods. Sp. 3. The Bush Whoetlebeery. F. dumbsiim, Andrews. A shrub one or two feet high, distinguished for its shining leaves, which are sessile, broad-lanceolate or obovate, wedge- shaped, acute, entire, mucronate or ending in a short, abrupt, awl-hke point, conspicuously dotted above with resinous dots, and set, as are the recent shoots, with short, numerous, glutinous hairs, which, on the margin, give it a ciliatc ap- pearance. The stem and older branches are covered with an ash-colored, roughish bark : the recent branches are brownish, downy and somewhat viscid with a few glandular hairs. Ra- cemes of five flowers, leafy, covered witli the same glutinous hahs. Each pedicel proceeds from the axii of an oval leaflet, and is furnished, about its middle, with one to three bractiola^. The segments of the glandular calyx are rather large, somewhat acute, and fringed. Corolla large, wax-white, often with a tinge of pink, rounded or funnel-shaped, remarkable for its five pro- minent, keel-like angles, with the segments obtuse and recurved. Anthers very long, brown, cleft nearly to their base into two !ieed]p-like threads, resting on the top of a short, fleshy, white XXI. 1. HIGH BUSH WHORTLEBERRY. 401 filament. Style as long as corolla. Berries large, black, crowned with the persistent calyx. Found at Manchester, rare. Flowering in July. Sp. 4. The Deer Berry. F. stamineum. L. A bush about two feet high, with numerous, slender, tapering, somewhat downy, green branches, which afterwards turn brown. The leaves are oval or elliptic, often somewhat heart-shaped at base, acute at the end, slightly revolute on the margin, conspic- uously veined, glaucous and somewhat downy beneath, on very short, downy footstalks. The largest are two inches long and one broad. The flowers are conspicuous for their very long, straight anthers, projecting far beyond the short, spreading, white corolla, with pointed lobes : at the base of each flower- stem is an ovate leaf, much smaller than the other leaves. Berries greenish, afterwards white, pear-shaped. Found at Southampton lead mine (Oakes), and elsewhere, in the western part of the State. Flowers in May and June, and ripens its scarcely eatable fruit in September. Sp. 5. The High Bush Whortleberry. Swamp Whortle- berry. F. corymbbsum. L. A shrub from four to eight or nine feet high, forming large, handsome clumps in swamps and moist woods, and maturing its fruit later than the upland species. It is crowded with irregu- lar, straggling branches, which are downy and somewhat angu- lar when young. The bark on the branches and stem is of a bronze or copper color, bleached, where exposed to much light, to a gray. It gradually becomes rough, and cleaves off. On the smaller, it is yellowish green, clouded with dark purple, and closely scattered with whitish dots. The leaves, at the time of flowering, are narrow, lanceolate, egg-shaped or inversely egg- shaped, or elliptic, and often very downy beneath, and pale green or purplish. They afterwards become much broader, without increasing in length; smooth on both surfaces, but somewhat downy along the mid-rib and often on the primary veins, of a soft green, paler beneath. The short, flower -bearing branches, the 52 402 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. growth of the previous year, are nearly leafless. The flowers are crowded towards the extremity, pendent or nodding, in short racemes, on stems one quarter or one third of an inch long. At the base of each stem are from one to three yellowish, mem- branous bracts, the middle one broad, hollow, rounded. The segments of the calyx project a little, are rather acute, and glau- cous, with a reddish edge. The corolla is very large and showy, white, often tinged with purple, nearly cylindrical, contracted at the mouth, with tooth-like, spreadmg segments. The fila- ments are hairy, as long as the anthers. The anthers are at- tached above the base, the terminal distinct tubes opening to- wards the top obliquely. The berries are large, black, with a bluish bloom, sweet, with a very agreeable acidulous taste. The flowers appear in May and June, and the fruit ripens in August and September. There are many varieties, differing in the size of the bush, which changes according to the soil, and in the size and color and shape of the corolla. The Black Swamp Whortleberry, ( F. disomorphum of Mi- chaux and Bigelow,) has leaves smaller and later; corolla much smaller and crowded, and berries very black and shining, crowned with an erect calyx; a variety with narrower and more acute leaves, with glandular serratures. Sp. 6. The Blue Whortleberry. F. virgatum, Muhlenberg. A shrub from one to three feet high, distinguished for the soft, light green of its leaves. Branches approaching to straight, or less crooked than in the previous species. Bark of the twigs yellowish green, sometimes clouded with dark purphsh, very closely set with whitish dots, sometimes warts. Leaves on the lower, lateral branches, sessile, broad elliptic, or obovate wedge- form, with a brown acuminatiou ; waving, reflexed, often ob- tusely denticulate, smooth, of a light green, often purphsh, with a glaucous tinge, lighter beneath. Flowers on terminal and lateral branchlets, above the leaf-branches, on racemes, with few or no bracts, or fugacious or very minute bracts. Teeth of the calyx rather acute, standing out, often red. Corolla ovate or XXI. 1. THE LOW BLUEBERRY. 403 cylindric, yellowish white, often tinged with red, with spreading segments. Filaments shorter and less hairy than in the last. This is a common species, growing on high ground and most luxuriantly in the openings in rocky woods. The fruit is very sweet, the berries large and covered with a hght bluish bloom. The flowers are much more richly colored than those of other species, and the plant has a more elegant appearance. It is distinguished from any variety of the last species, by the veins and ribs of its leaves being usually perfectly smooth. It is distinguished at once from the next species, by its pale green leaves and by being twice as high or more. The fruit-branches are two or three inches long or more^ without leaves, sometimes several together on a stem, so that a large part of the plant seems leafless, but covered with fruit. The flowers open in May and June ; the fruit is ripe in August. Sp. 7. The Low Blueberky. F. Pennsylvanicum, Lamarck. A very low and much branched undershrub, covering the ground in extensive beds, on open, level pastures or in high pine woods. The branches are a little angular, with the bark of a light green, closely set with white, raised dots, and with a hairy line running down on each side. The leaves are sessile, oval-lanceolate, acute at both ends, thin, finely serrate, shining on both surfaces, with the margin and mid-rib hairy under a microscope. The fascicles of flowers are terminal, or on the upper part of the branches, while the leaves are below. The bracts are often scarlet. The teeth of the calyx are green, acute, and spreading ; the corolla is white, often with a reddish tinge ; style equaling or surpassing the corolla ; filaments short, rather hairy. The berries are blue, with a glaucous bloom, and very sweet. From its situation and exposure, the berries ripen earlier than those of any other species. They are soft, and easily bruised and injured in bringing to market, and liable, when in mass, to speedy decay. They are, therefore, less valued in market than those of some other species, though they are very delicious and not liable to the objection which is made to the black whortle- 404 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS, berry on account of its numerous, stony seeds. They are par- ticularly suited to be preserved by drying, and, when prepared in that way, are equal in value to the imported currants, as an ingredient in cakes and puddings. There is a variety of this whortleberry growing in the same situations and forming like it large beds, distinguished by its leaves of a darker green and shining black berries. This lowest and earliest of the blueberries delights in a thin, sandy soil, and carpets the ground in the openings in the pitch pine woods, with beds of rich, soft green, which in May and June are decked with a profusion of beautiful flowers ; in July and August are loaded with delicious fruit, and in October turn to a deep scarlet and crimson. Its rich, tender fruit feeds im- mense flocks of wild pigeons and numberless other animals. It is a peculiar blessing to the arid and otherwise barren, sandy plains, and helps the poor inhabitants, especially in seasons of scarcity, to eke out their bread -corn, to which it makes a whole- some and most agreeable addition. Sp. 8. The Cowbeeuy. V. vitls id(Ba, L. This plant, so far as I know, occurs in only one spot in Mas- sachusetts, which is in a pasture in Dan vers, where it was found by Mr. Oakes in 1820, or before. It has some resemblance to the cranberry, but the leaves are larger and the branches larger and shorter. It has a creeping, woody root, with as- cending angular branches a foot or more long. The leaves are coriaceous and shmmg, like those of box, but darker. The flowers are pale pink, four-cleft and with eight stamens. The berries are blood-red, acid and austere. In the north of Eu- rope, where it abounds, it is used as the cranberry, but is infe- rior ] formed into a jelly, it is thought superior to currant jelly, as a sauce for venison or roast beef, or as a remedy for colds and sore throats. XXI. 2. THE COMMON CRANBERRY. 405 XXI. 2. THE CRANBERRY. OXYCOCCUS. Persoon. A genus of three North American species, one of which is also European, of creeping or rarely erect plants, with small, alternate, evergreen leaves, and red berries of a pleasant, but extremely acid taste. The calyx is four-toothed; the corolla has four long, narrow, revolute segments; the stamens are eight, with tubular, two-parted anthers ; the berry is four-celled and many-seeded. The erect species grows on the highest moun- tains of Carolina, and bears transparent, scarlet berries, of an exquisite flavor ; the other two species are found here. Sp. 1. The Common Cranberry. O. macrocarpus. Pursh. Figured in Barton's North American Flora, I, Plate 17. Stem prostrate, creeping, near the surface of the earth, to the distance of two or three feet, and throwing out numerous, thread-like roots. Flowering branches erect, with iiow^ers and fruit from the lower part of the shoot, or sarmentose, and erect at the extremity, the bark on the older shoots shivering off in threads, smooth, or sometimes downy, recent ones light brown. Leaves on very short footstalks, oval, oblong, entire, or with distant, indistinct teeth, sometimes minutely downy at the end when young, revolute at the margin, green above, whitish be- neath, seldom half an inch long. Flower-stalk thread-like, in the axil of a shortened leaf, an inch long, reflected at the end, downy, with two small, ovate, pointed bracts at the flexure, be- yond which the footstalk is more attenuated, downy and green. Flowers noddmg, calyx short, persistent; corolla pale-red, very long, revolute; anthers projecting, very long, somewhat downy below, divided above into two tubes, which open by a somewhat oblique pore. Fruit of a bright scarlet color, globular or pear-shaped, with the four blunt teeth of the calyx adhering to it ; four-celled, with numerous seeds attached to the central division. It often re- mains on the vine through the winter, so that it is not uncom- mon to find flowers and mature fruit on the same plant. 406 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS, The cranberry is found in every part of the State, in large "beds in boggy meadows. The berries are gathered in great quantities, and used for making tarts and sauce, for which pur- pose they are superior to any other article, especially as they have the advantage of being kept without difficulty throughout the winter. Their quality is much improved by being allowed to become perfectly ripe on the vines. Great quantities of the berries are exported to Europe. Found from the Arctic sea-shore to New Jersey, and from Newfoundland to the Rocky Mountains. Sp. 2. The Eueopean Ckanberry. O, palustris. Persoon. This plant, which has been found by Mr. Oakes on Nan- tucket, in Pittsfield, and near Sherburne, has so near a resem- blance to the common cranberry, that it would be taken by most persons for a small variety of it. It is distinguished by its very small, pointed leaves, rarely a fourth part of an inch in length, and the short ovate segments of the corolla. It is the common cranberry of the north of Europe, where it grows in turfy, mossy bogs, particularly on mountains. Its berries are apphed to the same purposes as our cranberry, and great quantities are sent from Kussia to the more southern countries. XXI. 3. THE MOUNTAIN PARTRIDGE BERRY. OHIO' GENES, Sahsbury. A North American genus of a single species. " The limb of the calyx is four-cleft ; the corolla broadly campanulate, deeply four-cleft; stamens eight, included, inserted into the margin of the even disk; filaments very short and thickened, ovate, gla- brous ; anthers of two ovate-oblong cells, fixed by the base, not awned on the back ; each 2-cuspidate at the apex, and opening longitudinally along the inside from the summit to below the middle. Ovary four-celled, free only at the convex summit ; style slender. Fruit white, crowned with the hmb of the calyx, four-celled, many seeded.''— A. Gray :=^= from the mamiscript of the K A. Flora. * I ov:e It to the kindness of Prof. Gray that I have been allowed to copy from Ins manuscript, the above generic description, which fixes, for the first time, the THE TRUMPET FLOWER FAMILY. 407 O. hispidula. Gray. An evergreen plant, with a woody stem, creeping on the earth or beneath the decayed leaves, within deep, shady woods, and sending out numerous, prostrate, filiform branches, rough with appressed, ferruginous bristles. The flowers are soHtary, on short, recurved stems, in the axil of a leaf, with two ovate, con- cave, hispid bracts. Calyx of four pointed segments, surmount- ing the ovary and forming a part of the succulent berry. Co- rolla small, white, bell-shaped, somewhat four-sided. Berry white, eatable, juicy, and of an agreeable subacid taste, with a pleasant chequer-berry flavor. The whole plant has the aro- matic taste and smell of GauUMria procumbens. The leaves are about one third of an inch long, nearly orbicular, acute at the end, rounded or acute at base, reflexed at the margin, smooth above, paler and scattered with stiff hairs beneath. Flowers in May and June. Mr. Tuckerman tells me that this plant is abundant on the sides of the White Mountains, where it forms, with its creeping stems, large, thin mats, beneath which, when lifted up, the pleasant berries are found in luxu- riant profusion. This plant evidently takes its place between Oxycoccus and Gauliheria^ the former of which it resembles in habit, the latter in properties. The Tri?mpet Flower Family, Bignonidceca, a rather large family of trees, climbing shrubs and herbaceous plants, with large, trumpet-shaped, showy flowers, contains three genera, — two Trumpet Flowers Bignonia and Tecbma and the Catalpa, which are somewhat extensively introduced as ornamental plants, but are not found growing naturally in this State, nor probably in any part of New England. position of a plant, which, ever since its first detection, has been wandering from genus to genus, suing in vain for admittance at the gates of four old genera and two new ones, and at last obtaining, from his faithful examination of its case, a character, a habitation and a home, m a seventh. 408 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. CHAPTER V. PLANTS WITH THE PETALS AND STAMENS GROWING FROM THE CALYX, EXCEPT IN CORNtTS. FAMILY XXn. THE C0RNI1S FAMILY. CORNA'CEJS, Be Candolle. This family contains trees or shrubs and perennial herbs, with opposite, rarely alternate, entire leaves, pinnately veined and without stipules, and with flowers in umbels or cymes. The calyx coheres with the two- or rarely three-celled ovary, and has a small, four-toothed border. The corolla is of four deciduous petals, growing from the top of the calyx-tube and alternate with its teeth. The stamens are four, alternate with the petals. Fruit a two-, rarely three-celled drupe, with soUtary seeds, and *3rowned with the remains of the calyx. The plants of this family are found in the temperate and cooler regions of both continents, particularly in North America and NepauL TNione of tue family are hurtful. They are generally bitter and astringent; and the bark and leaves of several, particularly of Coimus florida and C sericea^ have been used with efficacy in fevers. The berries of some species, as, for example, of C, Canadensis^ are edible, but not very pleasant. The wood of the cornels is hard and close-grained, and is used in Europe for cogs, in mill- wheels, and for other small articles formed by the turner : and in this country as a substitute for box-wood. XXII. THE CORNEL. CO'RNUS, Tournefort. Shrubs or small trees, with entire, deciduous leaves, minutely rough with appressed, bicuspidate hairs, and white or rarely yellow flowers. The trunk is sometimes subterraneous, throw- ing up annual, herbaceous branches. There are about twenty species, of which eleven are, according to Torrey and Gray, found in America, north of Mexico, two are found in Mexico. three in Nepaul, one in Japan, two are common to Europe and XXII ALTERNATE-LEATED CORNEL. 409 Asia, and one is found in all the northern parts of both con- tinents. The bark is very bitter and tonic. Hardy plants, some of themhighly ornamental, easily propagated by seed, by Slickers, or by layers or cuttings. Section FmsT,— Flowers in cymes, without an involucre. Sp. 1. The Alternate-leaved Cornel. C alternifblia. L. A beautiful shrub, six to eight feet high, sometimes a graceful small tree of fifteen, twenty, or even twenty-five feet, throwing off, at one or more points, several branches which, slightly ascend- ing, diverge and form nearly horizontal, umbrageous stages or flats of leaves, so closely arranged as to give almost a perfect shade. It is distinguished from the other species by having its leaves and branches alternate. Recent shoots of a shining light yellowish green, with oblong, scattered, lenticellar dots. The older branches of a rich, polished green, striate with gray, the strias at last occupying almost the whole surface, and only at intervals allowing the then purple bark to shme through. Leaves alternate, on long, round, channelled footstalks, oval or elliptic, acute or wedge-shaped at base, with a long acumma- tion, entire, somewhat revolute at the margin, dark green, shin- ing, deeply channelled above, glaucous or hoary, with silken, bicuspidate hairs beneath. Flowers m an irregularly branched head or cyme ; the partial footstalks not rising from one point, as in others of this genus, but alternate and very unequal ; calyx with four very minute teeth, and, like the pedicels, hairy. Corolla of four oblong, pointed, white, or pale yellow, reflexed segments; stamens four, longer than the corolla, large, tapering, with yellowish white anthers; style short, with a capitate stigma. Fruit blue-black. A beautiful plant, with a great variety of character. It grows naturally in moist woods or on the sides of hills j but when cultivated, flourishes in almost every kind of soil, and even in very dry situations. It flowers in May and June, and the fruit ripens in October. 410 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. It is sometimes five inches in diameter. It is found from Canada to Carolina, and westward to Kentucky. Sp. 2. The Round-leaved Cornel. C. circindta. L'Heritier. A spreading shrub, usually not erect, from four to six, some- times eight or ten feet high, with straight, slender, spreading branches. Recent shoots green, profusely blotched with purple, and verrucose near the leaves ; older shoots pale yellowish green or purplish, thickly dotted with prominent, wart-like dots, or sometimes smooth. Branches opposite, spreading at a large angle, yellowish green, blotched and clouded with purple. Leaves opposite, nearly round, with an abrupt acuminatioUj rather rough, with very deeply impressed veins above, glaucous beneath with whitish down, veins very prominent. The lower and terminal leaves on the fertile stems, are very large, four or five inches long and nearly of the same breadth ; the upper leaves smaller and less orbicular. Flowers in terminal, open, spreading, rounded cymes, on rather short, downy stalks. Pe- tals lanceolate or egg-shaped, pointed, white ; style short, stout, green, persistent, with a capitate stigma. Fruit blue, turning to a whitish color. It flowers in May, and its fruit ripens in October. Found from Canada to the mountains of Virginia. Sp. 3. The Red-stemmed Cornel. C. siolomfera. Michaux« A handsome plant, conspicuous at all seasons of the year, but especially towards the end of winter, for its rich red, almost blood-colored stems and shoots. The main stem is usually prostrate upon the ground, beneath withered leaves, throwing down roots and sending up slender, erect branches. These sometimes rise to the height of eight or t^n feet, but usually five or six. The bark is smooth, of a dark purplish or sanguine red, sparsely scattered with large, brown, wart-like dots. The leaves are large, ovate, rounded at base, suddenly tapering to a short point, roughish on both surfaces, whitish beneath. The fruit is white or lead-colored. Nuttall says, '' The fruit of this species, though bitter and unpalatable, is eaten by the XXII. THE SILKY COHNEL. 411 savages of the Missouri, from whence it (the plant) seems to extend across the continent and appears again in Siberia." Torrey and Gray show that the Siberian plant is another spe- cies, C. alba. It occurs plentifully in swamps in Berkshire ; ^nd is found from Newfoundland, through Canada and the Northern States to latitude 42^, and west to Ohio.— PZ. N. A., I, 650. Sp. 4. The Panicleb Cornel. C. paniculdta. L'Heritier. A slender plant, from four to eight feet high, growing by the borders of fields and woods, in dry situations, and along the banks of streams and on hill-sides, and making a beautiful appearance when in flower. It has an upright stem, and slender, erect, oppo- site branches, coyered with a grayish bark. The recent shoots are of a pale yellowish green with a brown tinge, sparsely dot- ted with brown. The leaves are ovate-lanceolate, tapering at base, and ending in a fine long point, on short footstalks doubly channelled above. On both surfaces, are visible, with a magni- fier, numerous close-pressed, minute hairs. The under surface is whitish. The cymes, or heads of flowers are very numer- ous, on long, slender, pale yellow stems, with irregular branches. The calyx-tube is covered with a white, silky down, and ends in minute, recurved, hairy teeth. The margin of the ovary, which fills the cup, is purple or red. The petals pointed, lance- shaped, white. Stamens erect, white. Style club-shaped. The fruit is pale white, small, depressed, globose, like an apple, the short style standing in the terminal cavity. Flowers in May and June. Fruit matures in August and September, when the fruit-stalk is of a delicate pale scarlet. Sp. 5. The Silky Coknel. C. sericea. L. A showy, erect plant, somewhat spreading, growing along the banks of streams, and in wet meadows and on moist hills, by fences, five to ten feet high. The branches and upper part of the stem are purple, sprinkled, on the older stocks, with rusty gray, and often entirely gray or brown. Recent shoots green, or purplish green, and, with the leaf- and fruit-stalks, usually 412 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. invested with a silky dowiij especially above, but sometimes almost smooth. The leaves are opposite, two or three inches long, sometimes more, but less than half as brood, ovate-lanceolate, obloug or eUiptic, rounded or tapering at base, ending in a rather long point. They are dark green, entire, nearly smooth or Avith a few hairs above, paler, with ferruginous hairs, particularly on the mid-rib and veins beneath. The footstalk is half an inch long, round, plain and purple above, hairy. The shoots from the root are green and downy, and bear larger and rather smoother leaves. The upper leaves, particularly those next the flower-stalk, are very broad, those below and on the other branches, longer and narrower. The cymes are terminal, numerous, on round footstalks, an inch or more in length, silky or downy, flat or hollow above, not large. Calyx oblong, downy, with long, lanceolate, acute, greenish segments; petals tapering, bluntly pointed, yellow without, white within. The stamens are as long as the petals or longer, bearing large anthers. The style, which proceeds from a purple ovary, is large and ends in a head. Bat little of the fruit is matured. The berries, particularly the abortive ones, retain the four lanceolate segments of the calyx and the capitate style. The bark of the silky cornel possesses, according to Dr. Bar- ton, the same properties as that of the Fiowermg Dogwood, and has often been successfully used as a substitute for Peruvian bark. This plant is very abundant in the neighborhood of Boston and in the middle of the State. It occurs from Canada to Georgia and Louisiana. It flowers in May and June, and ripens its fruit in September. XXII. THE FLOWERING DOGWOOD. 413 Section Second. — Trees ^ with flowers in heads ^ stirrotmded by whorls of colored^ fetal-like leaves. Sp. 6. The Flowering Dogwood. C. florida. L. Fruit and leaves figured in Abbott's Insects of Georgia, II, Plate 73. Repre- sented in Audubon's Birds, in flower, I, Plate 8 ; m fruit, I, Plate 73 ; the leaves, II, Plate 122. Michaux, Syiva, lea\es, flowers and ripened fruit, I, Plate 48. Bigelow's Medical Botany, Plate 28. The Flowering Dogwood is the most beaiitiiiil and showy of its genus. The flowers are very numerous, and when they are expanded in May, the tree is conspicuous at a great dis- tance, shining through the woods, or showing like a flower among the green delicate foliage. It is a round-headed, small tree, usually twelve or fifteen feet high, but often rising to twenty-five or thirty, with a diameter of nine or ten inches. The recent shoots are of a grayish or purplish green, covered with a fine, soft, dusty down : those of the previous ^fear are purple, marked with rings, afterwards becoming a light gray, which, in the larger branches, is closely striate with brown. The stem is rough, with short, broken ndgcs, produced by- crooked furrows, between which the bark is sometuiies divided in a somewhat regular manner into small, square, polygonal, or roundish plates. The leaves are large, four or five inches long, and two or three wide, of a round-oval form, with an abrupt, prolonged termina- tion, and abruptly tapering at base to a short, channelled foot- stalk. They are entire, smooth above, with depressions at the nerves, whitish beneath, hairy along the mid-rib and veins, and with scattered, bicuspidate hairs between. In May, or the beginning of June, it is decked with a profu- sion of large, showy, white flowers, forming a conspicuous orna- ment of the early summer woods. The flowers are at the ends of the branches, supported by a club-shaped footstalk. They are twelve or more in a head, sur- rounded by a whorl of four large, floral leaves, usually taken for the flower and constituting its principal beauty. Each floral leaf is petal-like, nerved, obovate, wedge-shaped at base, round- 414 WOODY PLANTS OP MASSACHUSETTS. ed at the end, and notched by the elevation of the hard, colored point, about which is often a shade of flesh-color or purple. The individual flowers are very small, sessile, crowded on a conamon receptacle, with a few minute, rounded scales at their base. A calyx of one green piece, investing the ovary and ending in four obtuse teeth, contains four slender, reflexed, oblong, fugacious, greenish-yellow petals, four erect stamens with oblong anthers, and a persistent, capitate style, somewhat shorter, rising from a brownish, circular disk. The fruit is in bunches on the enlarged, club-shaped footstalk, of a bright scarlet, oblong-egg-shaped, crowned with the dark purple calyx. They are bitter and unpleasant, but, when touched by the frost, help to furnish food to the robin and other birds that remain with us during winter. At the time of maturity, they appear in the fork of two opposite branchlets, which end in the casket-shaped flower -bud of the succeeding year. The leaves early begin to change to a purple, and turn to a rich scarlet or crimson above, with hght russet beneath, or to crimson on a buff or orange ground above with a glaucous pur- ple beneath. These, surrounding the shining scarlet bunches of berries, make the tree as beautiful an object at the close of autumn as it was in the opening of summer. The Flowering Dogwood is of slow growth, and the wood is hard, heavy and solid, of a fine, close texture, and suscep- tible of a beautiful polish. It is often called box-wood, and is employed as its substitute, and for the handles of chisels, ham- mers, and other instruments, and for the cogs of wheels, and other articles made by the turner. The bark is very bitter, with something of an aromatic taste. According to Dr. Bigelow, it acts on the human system as a tonic, an astringent and an antiseptic, approaching in its efl^ects to the character of the Peruvian bark. For this it has been substituted and employed with great success in the treatment of intermittent and other fevers. From the bark of the smaller roots the Indians obtained a good scarlet color. The smaller branches, stripped of their bark and used as a brush, are said to render the teeth extremely white. XXn. THE DWARF CORNEL. 415 Section Thied. — Plants with herbaceous stems, and flowers in an umhel'like cyme^ surrounded by a petal-like involucre, Sp, 7. The Dwakf Cornel. Bunch Berry. C. Canadensis. L. Figured in Audubon's Birds, II, Plate 164. A handsomCj humble plant, growing in low, damp woods and in swamps, conspicuous in May and June fox its showy, white flowers, and in autumn for its round bunches of red berries. Stem simple, erect, or ascending, four to six inches high, from a creeping root, square, the membranous projection of the angles formed by the decurrent base of the leaves. Leaves op- posite, in alternate pairs. Near the root they are thin, narrow, clasping, membranous. At the surface is a pair of bract-like, purplish, pointed scales, with veins of deeper purple, one quar- ter to half an inch long. Above is a larger pair, and at the top is a pair still larger, in whose axils are two pairs of smaller leaves. All these upper ones are nearly sessile, rhomboidal, tapering rapidly to a point at each extremity, entire, ribbed or veined, somewhat hairy above, shining and of a lighter green beneath. Flowers numerous, very small, in a terminal umbel, surrounded by four, white, roundish, rhomboidal, or broad-ovate, pointed, nearly sessile, expanded bracts, resembling petals. Calyx with four, minute teeth. Corolla with four, oblong, pointed, revolute segments. Stamens four, divergmg, bearing white anthers. Style as long as the stamens, purple, surround- ed by a dark purple disk. The scarlet berries are well known to children, being pleasant, but without much taste. They are sometimes made into puddings. But their chief value is to the birds, as they seem not to be affected by the frost, and remain on the stem into the winter. 416 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. FAMILY XXIII. THE WITCH HAZEL FAMILY. EAMA^ MELA^CEM. LiNDLEY, A family embracing shrubs of Madagascar, Japan, the Cape of Good Hope, China, and North America ; an iron- wooded tree of Persia and the Caucasus ; a poplar-hke tree of India, and a tree with the aspect of a cherry-tree, of Assam. Alternate, deciduous feather- veined leaves; a bark often sprinkled with stellate pubescence ; deciduous stipules ; small axillary, or ter- minal white or pale yellow flowers ; a calyx four- or five-cleft ; petals sometimes wanting, sometimes four or five, spirally con- volute m the bud, alternate with the calyx-segments, linear, deciduous; eight or ten stamens, four or five fci tile, alternate with the petals, with anthers opening with a valve sometimes deciduous, four or five scale-like and sterile, (perhaps petals) ; ovary, adhering to the calyx, two-celled, with usually solitary seeds, and two styles; a leathery or woody, two-beaked, two- celled capsule, are its characteristics. A single /American genus, Foihei^gilla^ wanting petals, has fragrant flowers, with numer- ous fertile stamens. Properties unknown. There is a single genus in Massachusetts. THE WITCH-HAZEL. HAMAME^LIS, L. Involucre three-leaved, three-flowered. Calyx deeply four- parted, invested with two to four roundish scales. Petals four, linear ; stamens four, alternate with the petals ; anthers open- ing with a lid : scales four, opposite the stamens ; capsule woody, two-horned, with one black, shining seed m each of the two cells, opening at top by two elastic valves. Flowers Rteule or fertile on one or difierent plants. The Common Witch-Hazel. M Virgbimna. L. Figured m Barton's Flora, III, Plate 78. Catesby's Birds, Plate 102, '' The variegated appearance of the American forests during the months of autumn," says Dr. Bigelow, Fl. 61, " has been repeatedly noticed by travellers. Among the crimson and yel- XXIIL THE COMMON WITCH-HAZEL. 417 low hues of the faUing leaves there is no more reraarkable object than the -witch-hazel, in the moment of parting with its foliage, putting forth a profusion of gaudy, yellow blossoms, and giving to November the counterfeited appearance of spring. It IS a bushy tree, sending up a number of oblique trunks, about the size of a man's arm or larger." The union, on the same mdividual plant, of blossoms, fading leaves, and ripe fruits, not very common in any chmate, and occurring in no other instance in ours, led Linnaeus to give to this American plant, a Greek name significant of the fact of its producing ^' flowers together with the fruit.'' The witch-hazel is usually found within or on the borders of moist woods, or among the scattered trees and shrubs which often clothe the steep banks of small streams. It rises to the height of from ten to twenty feet. In Essex woods, Mr. Oakes pointed out to me one which exceeded twenty-two feet, and was ten inches in circumference. The stem, which is seldom erect, is covered with a brownish, ash-colored, rather smooth bark; the branchlets of a hghter brown, with orange dots. The branches are long and pliant, with an upward curvature. The secondary branches are regularly alternate and lateral, those at the distance of one third its length from the end of a branch being longest. The leaves are lateral and alternate, or collected in tufts on the ends of the branches. They are on very short foot-stalks ; irregularly obovate or rhomboidal, ine- quilateral, the lower side larger, lower on the stalk and half- heart-shaped, the upper side narrower, and rounded or wedge- shaped at base ; acuminate, irregularly toothed or sinuate, the four or five principal veins on each side forming large teeth, downy, at last smooth above, with a ferruginous, stellate pubes- cence on the mid-rib, footstalk and veins beneath, the upper surface a dull green, the lower brighter and more shining. Stipules lanceolate, acute, coriaceous, half as long as the foot- stalk, which IS one fourth or one third as long as the leaf At the time when the flowers are expanding, the leaves become of a delicate leather yelJow. The flower-buds are already formed in August. The flow- ers expand, sometimes as early as September, or as late as 54 418 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. April, but usually in. October or November, and stand, three or four together, nodding on the end of a brown, downy footstalk, one quarter or one third of an inch long, in the axil of the falHng or fallen leaf, from an involucre of three to five, round, concave, russet, downy scales. Each flower is supported by a single, dark brown, ovate scale, like the scale of a bud. Within this are two or three similar scales or bracts, surroundmg the calyx. The calyx is divided into four segments, russet and downy without, and yellow within, ovate, rounded and ciliate. There are four, long, linear, crumpled, yellow petals, at whose base, within, are short, incurved, yellow scales. Alternate with these are the four fertile stamens, curved inwards, and with their anthers projecting on each side like wings, and open- ing by iids. From the centre diverge two short, slender styleSj surmounting the downy, ovate ovary. The fruit is a double nut, invested, below the middle, by the persistent, swollen, four-parted calyx. The capsular covering bursts elasticaily in two, disclosing the two nuts covered with shining, blackish, crustaceous shells. The wood is white, flexible, and of a fine, close texture. The bark has the reputation of having efficacy in allaying pain, and is^ said to have been applied by the native Indians for that purpose, to tumors and inflamed surfaces. They also applied a poultice of the inner bark to remove inflammation of the eyes. It is found in moist woods, from Canada to Louisiana. As it produces flowers late in autumn and even in winter, it is deserving of cultivation. It may be propagated by layers or by seed, and it will grow readily in any tolerable soil, in a somewhat moist situation. XXIV. THE CURRANT FAMILY. 419 FAMILY XXIV. THE CURRANT FAMILY. GROSSULA'CSJS, Db Candolle. This family includes only one genus, which comprehends the Currants and the Gooseberries. They are either spiny or un- armed shrubSj natives of the mountains, hills, woods and thick- ets of the temperate regions of America, Europe and Asia, hut "unknown within the tropics, or in any part of Africa. They are found particularly about mountains. Most of the species produce agreeable, refreshing, sub-acid fruits. The Black Cur- rant, Rlbcs nigrum^ a native of Siberia and northern Europe, is cultivated for the pleasant tonic and stimulant properties pos- sessed by a jelly made of its ripe fruit. The Red Currant, Ribes rubmm, found wild in the mountainous woods of Britain and other northern countries of Europe, and in the northern part of America, and the White, which is a variety produced from this by cultivation, are, in most places, justly valued for their uses in cookery, as a dessert, and as affording a cooling and wholesome drink. The common Gooseberry, R. uta crispa or grossularia, a native of the same regions, but hardly known m gardens on the continent of Europe, while the size and richness of Its fruit are the pride of English, especially Lancashire horti- culture, IS generally but rather unsuccessfully cultivated here for its use in tarts and pies, and sometimes as a dessert The Missouri Currant, R. aureum, has been introduced on account of the luxuriance of its growth and the beauty and fragrance of the flowers; and another from California, R. speciosum^ which has been erected into the genus Robsonia^ deserves to be introduced. Fifty-three distinct species are described by De Candolle :— Prodromus, III, 477—483 ; sixty-six in Don's Gardening, III, 177_192 ; twenty-eight in the Flora of North America, I, 544 —553, as natives of this country, several of which latter are not mentioned by the writers above-named. Characters of the Family a7id of the Genus.— Calyx adher- ing to the ovary, bell-shaped or tubular, colored, marcesceat, 420 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 5- (rarely 4-) cleft; at length spreading or reflexed. Petals distinct, small, alternate with the segments of the calyx, and growing from its throat. Stamens alternate v ''th the petals; anihers turned inwards. Ovary i-celled, with nuiiicr^us ovales. Styles 2, (very rarely 3 or 4,) distinct or muted. Fruit a berry, crowned with the remains of the flower, 1-celled, many- seeded. Seeds suspended by long threads. Embryo minute, situated in the sharper extremity. Leaves alternate, palmately veined and lobed, without stipules, sometimes sprinkled with resinous dots. Flowers in racemes. — Flora of N. A., I, 544. D 0., Prodromus^ III, 477. There are four species of gooseberry and two of currant found native in Massachusetts, of which the specific characters arc taken, with slight changes, from the N. A. Flora, as I have not been able sufficiently to study and compare the species for my- self. Sp. 1. The Prickly Gooseeekry. R. cijnosbatL L. Stems either unarmed or prickly ; sub-axillary spines 1 — 3 ; leaves cordate, roundish, 3 — 5-lobed, more or less pubescent, the lobes cut-serrate ; racemes few-flowered, the pedicels divaricate ; tube of the calyx cyhndrical, very broad and short, slightly contracted at the mouth ; the segments reflexed ; stamens and style slightly included ; style undivided, hairy at base ; fruit prickly or rarely unarmed. — Flora, N. A. 546. Bigelow, 91. I) C, III, 479. Woods and hill-sides from Hudson's Bay to Kentucky, and west to the Rocky Mountains, and near the sources of the Platte. —Fl Sp. 2. The Common Wild Gooseberky. R. hlrtelluni. Michaux. Stems prickly or naked ; sub-axillary spines usually solitary and very short ; leaves roundish, cordate, 3 — 5-lobed, toothed, pubescent beneath; peduncles very short, deflexed, 1 — 3-flowered ; calyx-tube bell-shaped, smooth, hairy at the throat withm ; the segments twice the length of the petals, nearly equalling- the stamens and 2-cleft hairy style ; fruit smooth. — Tlora, N. J.., R. tiiflorum, Bigeloio, 90. The recent shoots are green, shining, brownish or ashen, afterwards, when older, dark purple, the cuticle peeling ofl' and leavmg the stem unarmed. Usually 3 prickles are found at the base of each leaf. XXIV. THE SWAMP GOOSEBERRY. 421 Found in rocky places from Hudson's Bay to Massachusetts, and west to Lake Superior. — Fl Sp. 3. The Round-leaved Goosebekey. R, rotundifoUum, L. Stem not prickly; sub-axillary spines short, usually solitary ; leaves round- ish, 5-lobecl, nearly glabrous, shiPing above ; the lobes short and obtuse, in- eisely toothed ; fruit-stalks slender, 1 — 2-flowerGd, glabrous ; calyx cylindrical and narrow, glabrous, as well as the ovary ; the segments linear-oblong, a little spreading, twice the length of the tube ; filaments projecting, glabrous, twice or thrice the length of the broadly spatulate, unguiculate petals ; anthers round- ish ; style deeply 2-parted, as long as the stamens, hairy below ; fruit small, smooth. — Flora ^ N, A,, I, 547, Flowers in June. A shrub 3 or 4 feet high, with spreading, recurved branches ; the spines occasionally absent. Leaves small, truncate or slightly cordate or often a little cuneiform at the base ; the lower surface, as well as the short petioles, often somewhat pubescent. Fruit about the size of the black currant, at length purple, delicious. — Flora, K. A, No native gooseberry promises so much as this. The intro- duced species often refuses to flourish in our gardens, even with careful cultivation. It is not perfectly adapted to our soil and climate. But this native one is, and if the art of cultivation can make as great a difference in it as has been made in the wild European gooseberry, the fruit will be the finest of the kind in the world. The cultivated species, on its cold, northern, native mountains, is small, hard, hairy and acerb. Cultivation points at its large, beautiful, firm, sweet, delicious fruit, as the triumph of art. This change has been produced by long and careful culture. What may not be made, by similar efforts, of a fruit perfectly suited to our climate, which, m its natural state, is pronounced delicious ! Found in mountainous and rocky places from Massachusetts to the mountains of North Carolina, and west to beyond the Rocky Mountains. Sp. 4. The Swamp Gooseberry. R. lacustre. Poiret. Young stems very prickly ; sub-axillary spines several, weak ; leaves cordate, 3 — 5-parted ; the lobes deeply incised ; racemes 5 — 9-flowered, loose ; calyx rotate; stamens about the length of the petals ; style short, glabrous, 2-cleft; ovary glandular, hairy ; fruit small, hispid. — Flora, N. A. In mountain swamps. Flowers in June. Stems 3 or 4 feet high. Petioles 422 WOODY PLANTS OP MASSACHUSETTS. hairy. Peduncles slender, nodding, pubescent. Fruit dark purple, unpleasant to the taste. This species differs from the other native g-ooseberries in its many-flowered racenaes. — Flora. Dr. Bigelow describes it as a handsome shrub with dissected leaves. The older branches are smooth, v^^ith one or more deflexed, axillary spines. Young branches hispid, with small, reflexed prickles. Petioles slender, villous, with scattered hairs. Leaves deeply 5-lobed ; the lobes cut and toothed like those of some geraniums. — Florula, 91. Striking for its very deeply cut leaves. Found m mountainous swamps from New York and Massachusetts, north to near the Arctic circle ; and in the mountains of Oregon and California. — Flora, Sp. 5. The Laege -FLOWERING Currant. E.Jloridum. L^Heritier. Leaves sprinkled on both sides with resinous dots, sharply 3 — 5-lobed, sub- cordate ; the lobes acute, doubly serrate ; racemes pendulous, pubescent ; bracts linear, longer than the pedicels; calyx tubular-bell-shaped, glabrous ; the seg- ments oblong-spatulate, about the length of the tube; style undivided; fiuit ovoid-globose, black, glabrous. — Flora, N. J.., I, 549. Dn Bigelow says of it : This is a common wild currant, having its leaves generally in five lobes, toothed at the edge and covered on both sui faces with small, whitish, glandular points, just visible to the naked eye. Petioles fringed with compound hairs. Racemes pendulous, downy, many-flowered. Calyx tubular-campanulate, with recurved segments. Petals greenish-white, straight, a little reflexed at point. Fruit black, watery and insipid. Woods. May. — Florida^ 90. Found in woods from Canada, in latitude 54^, to Virginia and Kentucky. — Flora. Sp. 6. The Mountain Currant. R. prostratum, L'Heritier. Stems reclined ; leaves deeply cordate, glabrous, 5 — 7-lobed ; the lobes somewhat ovate, acute, incisely doubly seriate; racemes erect, slender ; bracts small, much shorter than the bristly, glandular pedicels ; calyx rotate, the seg- ments obovate ; style deeply 3-cleft ; petals spatulate, very small ; ovaues and fruit clothed with glandular bristles ; fruit roundish, red. — Flora, K A. 549. Br. Bigelow describes it : Stem procumbent, lootmg. Leaves mostly flve- lobed, toothed, smooth on both sides, the veins of the younger ones pubescent beneath. Racemes erect, the peduncles and germ covered with glandular hairs. Calyx hemispherical, the segments patulous, greenish with purple stris. Pe- tals wedge-shaped, shorter than the calyx. Stamens converging, anthers black. Style as long as the stamens, bifid. Berries hairy. The berries when bruised have the odor of Skunk's Cabbage.— F/orw /a, 90. Found on hills and rocky places from Newfoundland, and throughout Can-, ada, from latitude 57°, to Pennsylvania, and west to Lake Superior and the Rocky Mountains. — Flora. XXV. THE CACTUS FAMILY. 423 FAMILY XXV. THE CACTUS FAMILY. CACTACE^. Perennial, shrub-like or arborescent plants, of peculiar appear- ance and structure. The root is woody and fibrous. The trunk hemispherical, or cylindrical, branched or jointed, angular, rib- bed, winged, or with mammillary projections, or plane; — fleshy, with a thick, mostly green, smooth bark, and mterspersed with few or numerous woody fibres. The leaves are usually want- ing and their place supplied by bundles of thorns. The flowers, often large, splendid and fragrant, consist of a calyx of many divisions, partly colored and petal-like, proceeding from the ex- terior of the ovary and passing by imperceptible gradations into the petals, which are very numerous, and arranged spirally or in several series. Within these, and, like them, proceeding from the lining of the calyx -tube, are the numerous, slender stamens. The base of the calyx is the 1-celled ovary, containing a great number of ovules attached to seed-nourishing projections from the walls. The style is single, and terminates in 3 or more stigmas. The fruit is a fleshy, umbilicated berry, in the pulp of which the numerous seeds, enclosed m a double integument, nestle. The fruit is pleasantly acidulous, eatable, and, in its native tropical climates, grateful. De Candolle enumerates about 180 species, all indigenous to America, and most of them to the warmest regions, where they delight in warm, arid situations, exposed to the sun. Some species have been perfectly naturalized on the coast of the Med^ iterranean, and many are cultivated in conservatories, for their singularity or the extreme beauty of their flowers. A species of cactus is sometimes used in the south of Europe as a hedge. Another species, Opuntia coccinillifera^ a native of Mexico, sus- tains the cochineal insect, from which is obtained the beautiful scarlet of such importance in commerce. Some species are found on the sandy wastes at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. A single species occurs in Massachusetts. 424 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS, THE INDIAN FIG. OPU'NTIA. Tournefort. Shrubby plants with articulated branches ; the joints mostly compressed and dilated, bearing fascicles of prickles or bristles, arranged in a quincuncial or spiral order. Flowers, yellow or red, sessile, arising from the cluCEM. Adrien de Jussieu. A family of trees and shrubs, with aromatic, bitter, and pun- gent bark, leaves without stipules, alternate or opposite, simple, or, more commonly, miequally pinnate, with pellucid dots ; and gray, green, or pink, axillary or terminal flowers. They are found most abundantly in America, particularly in the tropical regions, also m Africa and its islands and in India and China. Flowers sometimes perfect, usually fertile and barren on difier- ent plants. Sepals 3 to 9 ; petals as many, or wanting; stamens as many or twice as many. Seed-vessels 2 or more, on the receptacle, distinct, or more or less miited ; seeds 1 or 2 in each cell or seed-vessel, smooth and shining. The only genus found in Massachusetts is THE PRICKLY ASH. XANTHO'XYLUM. L. This is a genus of forty or fifty species of plants, chiefly American, and principally found within the tropics. Some of the species are powerfully sudorific and diaphoretic, and re- markable for their power in exciting salivation. Some furnish XXXY. THE PRICKLY ASH. 509 remedies to fever ; others are used in dyeing yellow ; and the wood of such as grow large enough is valuable for hardness and beauty. It contains trees or shrubs, having usually prickles on the branches and on the leaf-stems and the mid-rib of the leaflets. The leaves have from 3 to 13 leaflets. The flowers are small, and greenish or whitish ; the petals longer than the sepals or wanting ; stamens in the sterile flowers long, in the fertile, scale-like ; ovaries 1 to 5, distinct ; seed-vessels crusta- ceous when mature, with or without a stalk, 2-valved, 1- or 2- seeded. The Prickly Ash. X. Americanum, Miller. Figured in Bigelow's Medical Botany, Vol. Ill, Plate 59. When growing by itself, this is a low, much-branched, round- headed shrub or small tree, with an erect stem covered with a rather smooth, light gray, or, on the old stems, dark gray bark. The recent shoots are brown, with a pulverulent surface. The buds are low, broad and romid, of a crimson brown, with 2 short, sharp-pointed, stipular prickles or thorns just beneath. The leaves are made up of from 3 to 13 nearly sessile, ovate-oblong, acute, almost entire leaflets, somewhat downy beneath, and oftentimes armed with prickles, which are mostly near the base of the leaflets. The flowers expand in April or May, be- fore the leaves, in short umbels, from the axils of the leaves. Each fertile flower has from 3 to 5 ovaries on short stalks, which, when mature, become so many 2-valved capsules, each containing a shining, blackish seed. The valves are covered with a pitted, brown or reddish rind, fragrant, when rubbed, with an agreeable, lemon-like, aromatic odor. The bark is bit- ter and pungent, and has been much used, in tincture, or in powder, in rheumatic afiections. The wood is of a yellow color, whence Mr. Golden gave it the name Xanthoxylum, which signifies yellow wood. I have found it growing m only one place, on a southern slope in Medford. It is there very abundant, growing single, or in little clumps or thickets, to the height of four or five feet When cultivated, it is sometimes twenty feet high. 510 WOODY PLANTS OP MASSACHUSETTS. FAMILY XXXYI. THE LINDEN FAMILY. TILIA^^CEM, Jussieu. More than thirty genera belong to this family, including as many as two hundred species, of which five sixths are found within the tropics. More than twenty of the genera contain trees or large shrubs, but a great portion of the species are un- important plants with pretty, sometimes beautiful, pink or white flowers. All have a mucilaginous, wholesome juice ; the berries of some are eatable ; all are remarkable for the toughness of the fibres of the inner bark. The wood is generally very light and soft, but applicable to important uses. They have alternate leaves with deciduous stipules; and axillary flowers with a calyx of 4 or 5 sepals, a corolla of 4 or 5 petals, with glands or scales at base, and numerous distinct stamens ; the ovary of 2 to 10 united seed-vessels, with styles united and stigmas dis- tinct. The fruit is dry, or, very rarely, like a drupe, or berry, with usually several cells, sometimes a single cell, containing one or more seeds. The only genus of this family belonging to Massachusetts is THE LINDEN OR LIME TREE. TFLIA. L. This includes nine or ten species of trees with heart-shaped leaves, and a tough, fibrous bark, with cymose flowers, the stalk of which is attached to a large, colored, leaf-like bract. The flowers have 5 sepals, 5 petals, and numerous stamens m 5 parcels, the central one in each parcel usually transformed into a petal-like scale. The ovary is sessile, globose, villous, 5-celled ; the cells with 2 ovules. The fruit is coriaceous, paper-like, or woody, nearly romid, 1-celled, 1- or 2-seeded. The species are found in the temperate regions of America, Europe and contiguous Asia ; and, for the beauty of the broad, umbrageous head, the toughness and pliability of the fibres of the inner bark, the adaptedness of the soft wood to the uses of the sculptor, and the sweet fragrance of the flowers, these trees have long been familiar favorites with the inhabitants of those regions. XXXVI. THE LINDEN TREE. 511 There are several species in Europe, by some writers consid- ered as varieties of a single species, of which individuals are among the most remarkable trees in that region for age and size. One of unknown age, which has given its name to an ancient town in Wirtemberg, has a circumference of 54 feet, and branches extending in every direction 100 feet, and sustained by 108 wooden and stone pillars. A lime tree in Berkshire, England, known to be more than 200 years old, has a diameter of 22 feet 10 inches at 1 foot from the ground. The honey made by bees feedmg on the flowers of the Euro- pean lime tree, is very excellent. An infusion of the flowers has long held, and deservedly, wide reputation as an anti-spas- modic medicine. The sap yields a considerable proportion of sugar, and is made, by fermentation, into an agreeable vinous liquor. A substance like chocolate has been made of the ripe fruit, but has the mconvenience of not continuing sweet. The wood was used by the ancients, according to Pliny, for buck- lers, on account of its flexibihty, hghtness, and resiliency ; and the bark, to cover cottages, and form baskets ; and the inner bark was employed, under the name Phily^ra^ to write on, and also, as in modern times, as a material for mats. The European Lime tree has been long cultivated in this country, and is per- fectly adapted to our climate. Only one species is foimd growing naturally in New England; three others occur in the Western and Southern States ; which do not remarkably difler from ours. A beautiful variety of the European species, called the Golden-twigged, would be a valu- able addition to our ornamental trees. The Linden Tree. Lime Tree. Bass Wood. T. Americana. L. Figured in Michaux, Plate 131 ; and in Loudon's Arboretum, V, Plate 24. From a powerful root which penetrates deep or spreads wide, this tree rises to a considerable height, with an even, erect, pil- lar-like trunk, and many branches. When growing freely by itself, it often assumes a conical form of strikmg regularity. Standing, as it often does, on the side of a steep hill, with its feet almost in the water, it throws out branches horizontally, 512 WOODY PLANTS OP MASSACHUSETTS. with large, richj thick masses of foliage, forming a beautiful and striking object -when seen from a distance. The bark is less rugged than that of almost any other tree, — except the beech ; — on the young shoots, it is of a dark brown or brownish-gray color, which gradually changes, on the larger, to a light ash gray. The dark color of the young shoots, by which it is readily distinguished from the European species, has gained for it, in England and France, the common name of the Black Lime Tree. The leaves are roundish in their outline, heart-shaped or obliquely trimcate at base, inequilateral, — the side nearest the branch the largest, — acuminate, serrated with sharply acuminate serratures, smooth on both surfaces, with minute tufts of russet down at the axils of the nerves and veins beneath ; of a deep green above, paler beneath, of soft, membranaceous texture, four or five inches long and equally wide. In autumn, they turn to a lemon yellow color. The leaf-stalk is half the length of the leaf, and smooth. Flower-stalk as long as the leaf, smooth, twice or thrice trichotomous at the end, rising from the upper axil of the leaf, pendulous, attached, for half its length, to an oblong, membranous, ribbon-like, pale-straw-colored bract, as long as itself. The flowers, which are from 9 to 27, are yellow- ish-white and very fragrant. The fruit is a woody or bony, pubescent, roundish, gray nut, one fourth of an inch in diameter, containing one seed. It flowers in July and August, and ripens its fruit in October. The wood of the lime tree is soft and white, and of a fine, close grain. It is softer and more tough and pliable than almost any other wood, and is much used for the panels of carriages and wagons. It is also used by cabinetmakers for the bottom and sides of drawers, and for similar purposes. Where pine is scarce, bass wood boards are used as a substitute, by house-car- penters, for interior finishing. For certain purposes, it is prefer- able to pine, on account of its very great toughness and pliability. It is, therefore, much used by stair-builders for the curved ends of stairs. It is well adapted to carving and turning. Small boxes and wooden bowls are sometimes turned of it, and, on the Ohio River, Michaux says it was formerly employed as the material XXXTL THE LINDEN TREE. 513 from which the figure-heads for prows of vessels were carved. It forms a better charcoal than most of the soft woods. The charcoal made from the European lime tree, which ours very much resembles, is said to be preferred even to that of the alder, in the manufacture of gunpowder. In some parts of the country, the bark is separated, by maceration, into fibres, from which a coarse cordage is made. In Russia, mats are manufactured from the inner bark of the European tree, similarly prepared, divided into narrow strips and dried in the shade. These are often im- ported into this country and used for bmding packages, and by gar- deners for confining plants, or for tying bundles. In Sweden, the fibres of ihe bark serve for fishing nets ; in Carniola, they are con- verted into a rude cloth which serves the shepherds for clothing. The flowers of the lime tree are remarkable for their agree- able fragrance, which is often perceptible at a considerable dis- tance. They are the favorite resort of bees, which travel some miles through the woods to reach them, by paths which seem to be as well known and as constantly traversed, as the more visible ones on the ground below. Invisible as they are, the travellers upon them are sometimes waylaid by the bee-hunters. The lime forests of Lithuania have a similar attraction for the bees of that country, which extract thence a honey said to be preferred to every other, and to command a three-fold price. As an ornamental tree, the lime is to be recommended where the object is to obtain a great mass of foliage and a deep shade. No other native tree surpasses it in the abundance of its foliage. The appearance of the tree in winter shows the reason. The branches divide and sub-divide into very numerous ramifications, on which the spray is small, thick, and set at a large angle. This becomes profusely clothed with leaves, which are large and of a deep green. It also has the advantage of being easily transplanted and of growing readily on almost every kind of soil, though it flourishes best on a rich, rather moist, loam. These qualities adapt it admirably for being used as a screen, or as a shelter to protect more tender trees against the wind. It might, therefore, be planted to supply the place of the native forests, in situations where fruit trees are suffering from being deprived of this protection. Its growth is very rapid, it bears 66 514 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. pruning almost to any extent, and may be trained to grow as tall or as low and bushy as may be required. It may be propagated by layers, by shoots, or by seed. The following method is recommended by Hunter, the editor of Eve- lyn, as successful in raising from seed : — ''The seeds being ripe in October, let a dry day be made choice of for gathering them. As these grow at the extremity of the branches, it would be tedious to gather them with the hand ; they may, therefore, be beaten down by a long pole, having a large winnowing sheet, or some such thing, spread under the tree to receive them. When you have got a sufficient quantity, spread them in a dry place for a few days ; then having procured a spot of rich gar- den ground, and having the mould made fine by digging and raking, let it be raked out of the beds about an inch deep. These beds may be four feet wide, and the alleys a foot and a half. After the mould is raked out, the earth should be gently tapped down with the back of the spade, to make it level ; then the seeds should be sown, at about an inch asunder, all over the bed, gently pressing them down, and covering them about an inch deep. In the spring of the year, the young plants will make their appearance ; when they should be constantly kept clean from weeds, and gently watered in very dry weather. In this seminary, they may stand for two years, when they will be fit to plant in the nursery ; at which time they should be care- fully taken up, their roots shortened, and the young side-branches, if they have shot out any, taken oiF. They must be planted in the nursery ground in rows, two feet and a half asunder, and one foot and a half distant in the rows. There they may stand till they are of proper size to be planted out for good ; observing always to dig between the rows every wmter, and constantly to keep the ground free from weeds.'' As plants raised from seed are of comparatively slow growth, the French gardeners, accordmg to Du Hamcl, employ the fol- lowing mode of propagation, which may be easily practised in our native forests, where this tree is remarkable for the abund- ant shoots from the stumps. They cut an old tree close to the ground, which soon sends up a multitude of shoots. '' Among these, they throw a quantity of soil which they allow to remain XXXTII. THE ROOK ROSE FAMILY. 515 two or three years, after which they find the shoots well rooted, and of a sufficient height and strength to he planted at once where they are iinaliy to remain." This mode is also practised with the elm. Hunter gives the following directions for forming layers from shoots of the American lime :— ^' When the layering of these is to be performed, which ought to be in the autumn, the strong two years' shoots must be brought down ; and if they are stiff and do not bend readily, they must have a gentle splash with the knife near the bottom ; a slit should be made at the joint for every one of the youngest twigs, and their ends bent backwards that the slit may be kept open. This being done, the mould must be levelled among the layers, and the ends of them taken off to within one eye of the ground. The business is then done ; and the autumn following they will have all good roots, many of which will be strong, and fit to plant out for good, whilst the weakest may be removed into the nursery ground, in rows, to gain strength." The lime tree is fomid from Canada to Georgia ; most abun- dantly on the shores of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. I have observed it, in almost every part of this State, sometimes grow- ing vigorously even in the most sandy and exposed situations. It appears to be very little affected by the sea-breeze, and might, probably, without much difficulty, be made to grow on Nan- tucket and amongst the sands of Cape Cod. I cannot give the dimensions of many large trees of this kind. Mr. Austin Bacon, of Natick, has favored me with the account of one of a size somewhat remarkable. It is 16 feet 6 inches in circumference at the ground, and 13 feet 4 inches at 4 feet. Near by is another of almost equal dimensions. FAMILY XXXVII. THE ROCK ROSE FAMILY. CISTA'CJSM. JUSSIEU. This family is of interest to florists and gardeners for the great beauty, variety and elegance of its flowers. It con- 516 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. tains herbs or low shrubs, with simple, usually entire leaves, generally opposite, — ^in a single genus partly alternate, — and with or without stipules. The flowers are perfect; yellow, white, rose-colored, or red ; transient, usually lasting, except in Hudsonia, but a day, often but an hour. The calyx is of 5, persistent sepals, the 2 outer usually much smaller, sometimes bract-like, sometimes wanting, the 3 inner imbricated and some- what twisted before opening. The corolla has 5 petals, — ^I'arely 3, — sometimes none, — crumpled before opening, and twisted in a direction opposite to that of the sepals. The stamens are numerous and distinct, with short anthers. The ovary is made of 3 to 5 united vessels, surmounted by a single style and 1 or more stigmas. The fruit is a many-seeded capsule, with from 3 to 5 valves, with imperfect divisions at the middle of the valves, bearing near the central line the seeds, which are smooth and angular, with a curved or spiral embryo in the midst of mealy albumen. The properties are not known, except in cer- tain species, which exude an odoriferous, balsamic resin, called labdanum or ladanum. The CistacecB are mostly confined to the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, and abound especially in the countries bordering on the Mediterranean Sea. A few species are found in Mexico and the United States. The genera found here are Helianthemum^ Lechea^ and Hudsonia. XXXYH. 1. THE SUN ROSE. HELIA'NTHEMUM. Tournefort. This genus contains a large number of beautiful species, much cultivated, delighting in dry and sunny situations, and therefore chosen, together with the Rock Rose, Cistics^ to ornament rock- work, and plots in dry, sandy soils. The 2 exterior sepals are very small and bract-hke, or wanting. The petals are 5, rarely 3, sometimes none ; the stigmas 3, large, fringed, more or less united into one. The capsule is triangular, 3-valved, with few or many seeds attached to central threads or on imperfect divi- sions projecting into the cell. XXXYIL 2. PIN-WEED. 517 The Canada Sun-Rose. H. Canadinse. Michaux. Figured in Sweet's Cistace^, Plate 21. Flowers of two kinds; the primary or terminal, large and petaliferous flowers few or solitary, on peduncles scarcely longer than the flower, the petals about twice the length of the calyx ; secondary flowers axillary, very small, nearly sessile, sohtary or somewhat clustered, on short, leafy branches, the petals very small or none, and the outer sepals usually wantmg; leaves oblong or somewhat lanceolate, with revolute margins, and, as well as the sepals, and often the branches and peduncles, canes- cently tomentose.— r. ^- G., Flora, I, 151. An erect, downy plant, about a foot high, found in dry, sandy places, among rocks, and remarkable for its flowers of two kinds. The earhest, which appear in May and Jmie, are ter- minal or lateral, sohtary, and look hke a miniature yellow rose, with 3 or 5 wedge-shaped petals, and many stamens inclined to one side ; the 2 exterior sepals are linear, the 3 interior broad- oval, pointed, concave, domiy without. The individual flowers are fugacious, but succeed each other from day to day. The later flowers as above described. There are two marked varieties in the neighborhood of Bos- ton : — -The one is smoothish below, with hair m scattered tufts, stem very slender, leaves rather rigid and smooth above ; flowers solitary, in the angle of the upper leaves, appearing in May and June : H. Ca7iadhise of Pursh. On the other, the hairs are short, densely tufted, the stem short, leaves downy or dusty on both surfaces ; flowers in ter- minal cor3mibs, succeeding each other in June and July : H, ramuliflbrum, Pursh? XXXVII. 2. PIN-WEED. LECHR^A. L. An American genus of a few species of perennial, much- branched herbs with woody roots, and small, brownish-purple flowers in racemes or panicles ; and entire, alternate, opposite or whorled leaves, without stipules. The sepals seem to be 3, the 2 exterior being very narrow and bract-like ; the petals are 3, 518 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. small and narrow ; stamens usually 3, sometimes more ; capsule incompletely 3-celled, S-valved, with 3 other apparent valves within, 1- or 2-seeded. Found on dry, rocky hills, and sunny fields. Sp. 1. Large Pin- Weed. L. major, Michaux. A stiff, hairy plant, with a purple, brittle, erect stem, one or two feet high. The leaves are reJflexed at the margin, downy, whitish beneath. The lower branches spread on the ground in tufts, with small, roundish leaves. The stem has longer and more pointed leaves ; the upper branches, lanceolate leaves ; the flowers are small and very numerous, densely crowded on the sides of the upper branches, and succeeded by 3-sided, roundish capsules, about the size of a large pin's head. Sp. 2. Thyme-leaved Pin- Weed. L, thymifoUa, Pursh. A plant about a foot high, with a stout, erect stem, and nu- merous, somewhat whorled branches, forming a small pyramidal head, with sharp, straight, narrow leaves, the whole covered with whitish wool. It is intermediate between the last species and the next. It is found in sand on the sea-coast. Sp. 3. Small Pin-Weed. L. minor. Lamarck, A plant smaller than the two preceding species, resembling them strongly, but distinguished by being less hairy, by having its flowers and capsules larger, and by having a somewhat more slender and delicate appearance. The capsules arc nearly glob- ular, about the size of a grain of mustard, XXXVIL 3. THE HUDSONIA. HUDSO^NIA. L. An anomalous American genus of three species of excessively branched, woody, tufted, heath-like under-shrubs, with small, stifi; sessile, awl-shaped or needle-shaped, densely imbricated, persistent, downy leaves, without stipules; and small yellow flowers with reddish calyx, on the ends of very short branches. Sepals 5, xmited at base, the 2 outer ones awl-shaped and mi- nute, the 3 inner oblong, expanded at flowering, forming a tube XXXVII. 3. THE HUDSONIA. 519 in fruit. Petals, 5. Stamens 9 to 30. Capsule oWong-obovate, slightly 3-sided, 1-celled, 3-valved, usually 3-seeded. Sp. 1. The Downy Hudsonia. H. tommtosa, Nuttall. Figured in Sweet's Cistaceae, Plate 57. A creeping, under-ground stem extending to no great distance, and throwing out many long, tapering roots, branching with thread-like fibrils. The stem rises a few inches from the ground, erect or bending downwards, and throwmg out innumerable short branches, thickly clothed with a sad, whitish or glaucous down, and close set leaves of the same color. Leaves very short, lanceolate, pointed, imbricatCj and closely embracing the stem, — covered with down of a whitish color, through which the greener surface mdistinctly appears. Among these appear in May, yellow flowers, on very short, slender stalks, at the ends of the little branches near the extre- mity of the stem. The sepals look like the continuation of the leaves, being covered with down without, but yellow or reddish within. The petals are yellow. Stamens from 9 to 18, with roundish anthers. It flowers from May to July. In some places near the coast, in Essex County, this plant covers the sand, where scarcely any other would vegetate. Sp. 2. The Heath-like Hudsonia. H. ericoides. L. Figured in Sweet's Cistaceae, Plate 36. This is much less downy than the last, and the slender, awl- like leaves, three or four hues long, spread a little, and are cov- ered with longer and thinner hairs. It is from six to twelve inches high. The old, persistent leaves give the stem a brown color. The floweis are like those of the last species, and have from 9 to 15 stamens. It is found in Martha's Vineyard and on Nantucket, flowering in May and after. 520 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. FAMILY XXXVIII. THE BARBERRY FAMILY. BERBERIDA'- CEJS. R. Brown. A family containing eleven or twelve genera of herbs or shrubs of very various appearance and character, frequently thorny, with alternate, petiolate, pinnate or simple leaves, often with spiny or pointed serratures, with yellow, white or red flowers ; mostly natives of mountainous places in the temperate parts of the northern and southern hemispheres, and of the mountains of tropical America. The sepals are deciduous, from 3 or 4 to 9, in 1, 2, 3 or 4 series, often colored ; the petals as many as the sepals and opposite them, or twice as many, frequently glandu- lar or appendaged at base within ; stamens as many as the petals and opposite them or twice as many, with their anthers opening with recurved valves, that is, each lobe of the anther opening at the edge throughout, except at the upper point, where it remains attached and rises to allow the pollen to escape ; filaments often irritable. The ovary is solitary, 1-celled. Berry or cap- sule 1-celled, 1- or few-seeded. The berries of some of the species abound in an agreeable oxalic acid ; the bark of the same is bitter and astringent. Others have purgative properties. THE BARBERRY. BERBERIS. L. A genus of about forty species of shrubs, belonging to the tem- perate regions of both hemispheres, or to high mountains within the tropics ; either with the primary leaves wanting or changed into single or compound spines in the axil of which the second- ary leaves, formed by the developement of the leaf-buds and simple, are in rosettes or tufts ; or with the primary leaves de- veloped and pinnate ; often with minute stipules ; flowers yellow, with irritable filaments. The sepals are 9, in 3 scries, the 3 exterior, small, bract-like; the petals 6, with 2 glands at the base; stamens 6; stigma orbicular, nearly sessile; fruit a 1- to 9-seeded berry with erect seeds, The wood of the root and the inner bark of the stem are of a bright yellow, and abound in XXXVIII. THE COMMON BARBERRY. 521 yellow coloring matter. The frnitj leaves and young shoots contain a great deal of oxalic acid ; the hark of the root is hitter and astringent. Many of the species are cultivated in the gardens of Europe for the heauty of their flowers and foliage. Of these the most valuable are the Chinese, the Emarginate-leaved, the Nepaul, and two heautifal evergreen species, with compound leaves, na- tives of Oregon, and brought thence by Lewis and Clark, which would doubtless flourish in our climate. These were separated from the barberry, by Nuttali, under the name of Mahbnia. A third, more beautiful than all, comes from the mountains of California. All the species throw up numerous suckers, by means of which they may be readily propagated, as they may also by seed. The Common Bakbekry. B. vulgaris. L. Figured m Audubon's Birds, 11, Plate 188. Every one, who is an observer of nature, must have been struck, in June, with the beauty of the arching upper shoots of the barberry, springing from a mass of rich green, and sustain- ing numerous, pendent racemes of splendid yellow flowers. It is hardly less attractive when its blossoms have been succeeded by clusters of scarlet fruit. The barberry is a bush of usually four or five, but often seven or eight feet in height, and two or three inches in diameter, with a whitish or light-gray, shining bark on the recent shoots, and a much darker gray on the old stems. The principal stem is upright and very much branched towards the top. It is armed with single or sometimes triple spines, in the axil of many of which, at intervals of an inch or more, are tufts of leaves, from the centre of some of which issues a raceme of flowers. The leaves are inversely ovate, with numerous, bristly, soft serra- tures. It flowers in May and June, and the scarlet berries ripen in autumn, but often remain on the plant through the winter. The roots are very long and crooked, and covered with a wrinkled bark ; the wood within is of a bright orange or yellow, and very soft. The wood of the stem is also yellow ; it is hard and brittle, and little used, in this country, except in dyeing 67 522 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. yellow. But it is much sought for by turners, on the continent of Europe, on account of its unusual and beautiful color. The pith is white. The barberry is found growing in exposed situations, on the borders of woods and along road-sides, in gravelly soil, in many parts of Massachusetts and New England, along the coast ; as also in Canada and Newfoundland. The remarkable irritability in the stamens of the common barberry, as well as in those of some other species, was first noticed by Kolreuter. ''The stamens, when the filament is touched on the mside with the pomt of a pin, or any other hard instrument, bend forward towards the pistil, touch the stigma with the anther, remam curved for a short time, and then par- tially recover their erect position. This is best seen in warm, dry weather. After heavy rain, the phenomenon can scarcely be observed, owing, in all probability, to the springs of the fila- ments havmg been already set in motion by the dashing of the ram upon them, or to the flowers having been forcibly struck against each other. The cause of this curious action, like that of all other vital phenomena, is unknown. All that has been ascertained concerning it is this, that the irritability of the fila- ment is affected differently by different noxious substances. It has been found, by Messrs. Macaire and Marcet, that if a ber- berry is poisoned with any corrosive agent, such as arsenic or corrosive sublimate, the filaments become rigid and brittle, and lose their irritabihty; while, on the other hand, if the poisoning be effected by any narcotic, such as prussic acid, opium, or bel- ladonna, the irritability is destroyed by the filaments becoming so relaxed and flaccid, that they can be easily bent in any direc- tion. It is difficult to draw from this curious fact any other inference than this, viz., that in plants, as well as in animals, there is somethmg analogous to a nervous principle, which is more highly developed in some plants, or in some organs, than in others," — Lindley in Loud. Arh. 300. The barberry is found m most parts of America and Europe. In Poland, it is used to tan leather, which it at the same time dyes a fine yellow color. The tannin principle is found in the bark, and the coloring matter both in the bark and in the wood XXXVIII. THE COMMON BARBERUY. 523 and bark of the root. In this Commonwealthj it is much used to give a yellow color to leather. The leaves have an agreeable acidity and have sometimes been used as a substitute for sorrel. The berries, which are so exceedingly sour as to need no protection against birds, are sometimes pickled; they are also preserved in various ways with sugar, and then are considered pleasant and wholesome. In some parts of Europe they supply the place of lemon in fla- voring punch. Bruised, they make a refreshing drnik in fevers. The bark has been used for its purgative and tonic quahties, — and various parts of the plant for their great astringency. The barberry is admirably well adapted to enter into the com- position of a hedge, from the multitude of its shoots and the sharpness of its spines. There is, however, in this country as well as in England, a prejudice against it, from the belief that it produces the blight in wheat. Prof. Martyn urges agamst this opinion, the fact that it abounds m the hedges in Saffron Walden, in Essex, England, which enclose fields m which wheat is cultivated constantly and with entire success. And Dr. Gre- ville, in his Scottish Cryptogamic Flora, has shown that the mildew which attacks the barberry, {JEcidium berberidis,) is quite different from the fungus which occasions mildew in wheat, which is a kind of Uredo, entirely remote in its botanical cha- racters from an jEcidium. In the neighborhood of Boston the barberry propagates itself readily and rapidly by seed and by the multitude of suckers which it throws up. In those parts of the State in which it has been found by experience that wheat is not a profitable crop, there can be no objection, on the score of its danger, to the use of the barberry as a hedge. The beauty of the plant, the rapid- ity of its growth when young, its durability, — for a stock, though so easily established, lives very many years,— Loudon says, one or two centuries,— the sharpness and great nmnber of its pric- kles, the closeness with which it springs up, and the readiness with which it submits to the knife, are strong recommendations. On some lanes m Brookline and other places in the vicinity of Boston, a natural hedge of barberry, sweet briar, wild rose and privet has formed a most graceful border for the road-side. 524 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. ThiSj which gives an air of wildness and retirement perfectly suited to the purpose for which much of this suburb is used, has in several places been made to give place to the stiff, puddmg- stone wall ; — and the change is called impromment If the suckers and lower branches are removed, and only the upper branches allowed to grow, the barberry forms a very beautiful little tree, and sometimes shoots to the height of ten feet. At times we find such a tree by the road-sides, surprising us by its gracefuhiess and the beauty of its bright yellow flow- ers in June, and of its rich scarlet berries and its fading orange- scarlet leaves in autumn. FAMILY XXXIX. THE MOONSEEB FAMILY. MENISPER- MA^CEJE. JussiEu. A family of about one hundred species mostly of twining shrubs, belonging almost entirely to the torrid zone ; with sim- ple, rarely compound, palmately veined leaves without stipules ; and minute flowers in panicles or racemes. Male and female usually on separate plants; sepals 3 to 12, in one, two, or three rows, deciduous ; petals half as many or as many as the sepals and opposite them, sometimes united, rarely wanting ; stamens as many as the petals and opposite them or two to four times as many, distinct or united, anthers 1-, 2- or 4-celled ; ovaries 1 or more, 1-celled. The fruit is a 1 -seeded, lunate drupe, contain- ing a bony nut, with the embryo usually curved. Many of the species are remarkable for their astringent and tonic properties, which render them valuable remedies in fever and in dysentery. One of the most important of these is Co- lombo root, from the Cbcctdus palmdiiis^ a native of Mozam- bique. The seeds of other species are narcotic, like C Lidlciis^ used to poison or intoxicate fishes ; while the fruits of others are eatable. XL. THE MAGNOLIA FAMILY. 525 MOONSEED. MENISPERMUM. L. Climbing shrubs of North America and Central Asia, with alternate, peltate, ox heart-shaped, smooth, entire leaves, and small, yellowish flowers in axillary or snpra-axiilary racemes. The male flowers have 4 to 12 sepals m two to four rows, as many petals or none, and 10 to 30 distinct stamens with 4-lobed anthers ; the female flowers, somewhat larger, 4 to 6 sepals in two rows, as many petals, and 2 to 4, 1-celled ovaries. The drupes are solitary, or in twos or fours. Canada Moonseed. M. Canadense. L. A twining plant, with a smooth, woody stem, eight to twelve feet long, climbing over shrubs, on the banks of rivers and in thickets. The leaves are peltate or shield-like, three or four inches long, and rather broader, with 3 to 5 angular lobes, with the leaf-stem, which is one or two inches long, mserted near the base, bright green above, pale and very strongly nerved beneath. The flowers are greenish-yellow, in small racemes, which come out a little above the axil of a leaf. The fruit is a drupe, nearly black when mature, and containing a lunate nut. FAMILY XL. THE MAGNOLIA FAMILY. MAGNOLIA^CEM. JUSSIEU. This family comprehends about fifty species of trees and shrubs, among which are many of the most magnificent of the vegetable kmgdom. They abound in tropical Asia and the warmer parts of North America. This State is their most northern limit. Advancing southward, they become m.ore numerous, and reach their highest perfection in the Southern and Southwestern States. A few are found in the West Indies and in South America, and in Japan, Cinna, New Zealand and New Holland. Then leaves are large and showy, alternate, smiple, coriaceous, mostly very entire, dotted most frequently with pellucid dots, and, before 526 WOODY PLANTS OP MASSACHUSETTS. openingj protected by 2 ample, deciduous stipules, convolute and terminating the branches with a conical point, and when fallen, leaving a lasting annular mark. The flowers are of extraordi- nary size and splendor, and generally exhale a delicious fra- grance, which often acts powerfully upon the nerves. Almost every part of the plant, especially the bark and the fruit, is highly aromatic and tonic, the bark containing a bitter principle, which has often been used as a substitute for Peruvian bark, on accomit of its stimulant, stomachic, febrifugal properties. The flowers are distinguished by having a calyx of 3 or 6 sepals, which fall as they expand; a corolla of from 3 to 30 petals usually disposed in threes ,• very numerous stamens with long, close anthers ; and 1, a few, or, most commonly, very many ovaries arranged on a central cone. The fruit consists of nu- merous 1- or 2-seeded vessels, aggregated or grown together like the strobile of a pine ; embryo minute, at the base of fleshy albumen. Of this family, there are two genera found growing in Massa- chusetts ; the Magnolia^ distinguished by its seed-vessels opening to allow the escape of the seed ; and The Tulip Tree, Liriodendron^ with seed-vessels not opening ; and with leaves truncate at the end. XL. L THE MAGNOLIA. MAGNO'LIA. L. This genus, named for Magnol, a distinguished botanist of Montpelier, m France, contains trees, except M. glaiica, — which in the Northern States is only a shrub, — all of them beautiful and some of them among the finest and most splendid trees that are known. It is distinguished by having a calyx of 3 caducous sepals, resembling petals, and a corolla of 3 to 12 deciduous petals. The carpels are 1- or 2-seeded, opening by the external angle, and permanent, and forming a fruit like the cone of a pine. The seeds are like a berry, somewhat heart-shaped, and hanging suspended, when ripe and escaped from the carpel, by a long, slender thread. There is only one species known as naturally growing in XL. 1. THE SMALL MAGNOLIA. 527 Massachusetts ; but several others, and those among the most beautiful, may be cultivated. The Cucumber Tree, Magnolia acuminata, is found, accord- ing to Dr. Torrey, in New York, and may, probably, hereafter be found, scattered in favorable situations, in the western part of the State. It grows perfectly well at the Botanic Garden, at Cambridge. Michaux says it is one of the most magnificent trees in North America. Its large flowers, five or six inches across, are very conspicuous, among its ample fohage, as is its cylindrical fruit, three or four inches long, with the scarlet seeds depending from it. But its branches are long and bare, except at the end, and it wants much of equalling in grace, fulness and beauty, the greater part of our forest trees. A much more beautiful tree, as it grows here, for shape, foli- age and flowers, is the Long-leaved Cucumber Tree, M. auric- ulata. It grows readily, but attains not a great height. The Three-petalled, the Heart-leaved, the Yulan and the Purple may also be cultivated. They are propagated by seed, by layers or by inarching, and, while young, are best preserved in pots. The Small Magnolli. Swamp Laurel, iff. glauca, L. Figured ia Michaux, Sylva, II, Plate 52; in Bigelow's Medical Botany, II, Plate 27 ; and in Catesby's Birds, Plate 39. A sheltered swamp near Cape Ann, not far from the sea, is thought to be the most northern habitation of this plant, and until lately was supposed to be the only one in Massachusetts. It has recently been found at the distance of some miles, in another swamp, in the midst of deep woods in Essex. From these situa- tions it will soon be completely extirpated. The fragrant flowers and even the leaves are in such request, that early in the flower- ing season, numbers of persons resort to the swamps in quest of them, and great quantities are annually carried to Salem and Boston for sale. The gatherers of the flowers are regardless of the preservation of the trees, and in a single season I have noticed scores of them broken down and almost entirely destroyed. Few ornamental plants are better worth the attention of the gardener. Carefully trained, it forms a beautiful little tree. The 528 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. bark on the yomig shoots is smooth and of a rich apple-green, becoming afterwards of a soft glaucous or whitish color. Before opening, the leaves are enclosed by the stipules, which, fall- ing, leave rings encircling the branch ; Avhen young, the leaves are covered with a pubescence, which, beneath, has a silken lustre. They are entire, elliptical, or sUghtly obovate, on short, tapering petioles^ and, when mature, smooth, and light green above, pale-glaucous beneath, and of a soft, leathery texture. The mid-rib is prominent beneath, for the whole length of the leaf. The calyx of the solitary, terminal flowers, consists of 3 concave, obovate, membranaceous sepals, resembling petals, but less dehcate in texture. The corolla has usually 9 deUcately Tvdiite petals, tapering at base, and rounded at the extremity, arranged m 3 circles, and mutually enfolding each other before expansion. The stamens are very numerous, 80 to 100 or more, in spiral lines on the conical, green torus, or receptacle, — 3 or 4 of the outer ones often partly turned into petals. Anthers very long, yellow, pointed, set upon the inner side of the short filament and opening inwardly. Styles many, on a conical re- ceptacle ; stigmas long, yellow, turned back at the tip, and rising much above the ends of the long anthers. The fruit is a cone about two inches long, covered with scale-like, imbricated ova- ries, from which, when mature, escape the scarlet, obovate seeds, which, instead of falling at once to the ground, remain some time suspended by a slender thread. No plant is, at every season and in every condition, more beautiful. The flower, two or three inches broad, is as beau- 'tiful and almost as fragrant as the water lily. Like most other plants, growing naturally in wet ground, it may easily be made to thrive in dry, but will not then continue long in flower. In moist situations, particularly if protected through the winter by a covering of boughs or mats, it continues to produce its flowers to the end of the Avarm season. Like other plants of this genus, the Small Magnolia possesses valuable properties as a tonic and as a warm stimulant and diaphoretic ; and it has been used with great success in chronic rheumatism, in intermittent fevers, and particularly in fever and ague. To secure the virtues of the plant, a tincture should be XL. 2. THE TULIP TREE. 529 made of the bark or cones, while green, and before the volatile parts have escaped^ The small magnolia may be propagated by layers, which re- quire two years to root sufficiently, and by seed. The seed should be preserved in moist bog earth, and sown very early in spring, m earth of the same kind. XL. 2. THE TULIP TREE. LIRIODENDROK A genus of a single species, found only in North America. The calyx is of 3 sepals which fall at the same time with the petals ; the lily-hke, bell-shaped corolla, of 6 petals in two rows ; the stamens are very numerous, as are the small, imbricated, 1- or 2-seeded, winged ovaries or seed-vessels. The Tulip Tree. L. tulipifei^a, L. Figured in Catesby's Birds, Plate 48 ; Michaux, Sylva, II, Plate 61 ; Abbott's Insects of Georgia, II, Plate 102 ; Bigelow's Medical Botany, Plate 31 ; Audubon's Birds, I, Plate 12. The tulip tree is a tall, stately, upright tree, with a magni- ficent, columnar trunk and an open head, rounded above. It spreads little towards the root, but has large limbs, stretching strongly upwards and throwing out branches at all angles. The bark of the trunk is of a dark ash color, with very numer- ous, small, superficial rugosities, though, when seen at a distance, it has a somewhat smoothish appearance. The recent shoots are of a bright brown, or chestnut color, smooth, with a gray- ish bloom-Uke dust upon it, and distant, narrow dots. The older branches are brown, and seem as if covered with a trans- parent membrane. The terminal bud is formed by the two stipules cohering by their edges,— into an oblong, rounded, purse-like sheath. On opening this, a minute leaf is found, bent down and folded together in a single fold, by the side of another, smaller sheath. When opening naturally, the stipules expand and protect the leaf till it attains its full size, when they are an inch or two long, of a yellowish-green color, oblong, broader towards the ^ Bigelow, American Medical Botany, 11, 71. 68 530 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. end, rounded, with a minute point. They then fall, leaving a slight annular scar, above the base of the leaf. The leaves are on long, angular footstalks, very large at base. They are 4-Iobed, the lobes ending in rounded or sharp points, and separated by broad, shallow sinuses. The terminal lobes end abruptly, as if the extremity of the leaf had been cut oif. In large leaves, each of the lobes is occasionally divided into 2, and the lower ones sometimes into 3 or more partial lobes or large teeth. In some varieties, the points of the lobes are obtuse. The leaves are smooth, and of a light green above, glaucous or whitish beneath, with downy nerves, and finely reticulated veins. The large, solitary flowers have the shape, size and appear- ance of a lily. They are contamed in a sheath of 2 triangular leaves, which are thrown oif by the expansion of the flower. The sepals are of a greenish color, striate or veined and dotted, sub-coriaceous in texture, concave and spreading, afterwards bending back. The petals are also striate or veined and dotted, of a greenish-yellow, somewhat fleshy in texture, and marked towards the base with a crescent-shaped spot of bright orange. In the centre is a large, conical, pointed pistil, surrounded by numerous stamens with long anthers. The bark of the root and branches of the tulip tree is re- markable for its pungent, bitter and aromatic taste, and agreeably aromatic odor, and acts on the system as a stimulating tonic, as a diaphoretic and as a sudorific. It has been successfully employed in the treatment of chronic rheumatism and intermit- tent fever. The useful properties are most completely extracted by alcohol. — Big. Med. Bot^ II, 111. The wood of the tulip tree, under the name of white wood, is extensively used in every part of the country. In the West- ern States, it supplies, in a great degree, the deficiency of pine, and is used by the joiner, as a substitute, in the inner wood work of houses. In New England, it is preferred to other kinds of wood in all uses which require great flexibihty, as about stairs, for the wash-board in circular rooms and for the pannels of carriages; also for the bottom of drawers, and for pannels in common wardrobes and other small articles. It is remarkably XL. 2. THE TULIP TREE. 531 white, soft, smooth, fiiie-grained, and is very easily wrought, and bent to any required shape. It comes into Massachusetts from New York, usually m square cornered boards 3 feet wide and 12 feet long. Considerable numbers of this tree are found in several towns on Westfield River, particularly in Russell. It is also found native, very rarely, in the eastern part of the State. The tulip tree is found abundantly m Canada West, and the Western States, where it sometimes reaches the height of 120 or 140 feet with a diameter of 5 or 6. In New England, and along the Atlantic coast to Florida, it does not reach these ample dimensions, but is still a very noble tree. Michaux thinks that, next to the buttonwood, it attains, in favorable sit- uations, in a deep, cool, moist soil, the largest size of any tree in the United States. The tulip tree is readily propagated by seeds, which require a fine, soft mould, and a cool and shady situation. If so^vn in autumn, they come up the succeedmg sprmg, but if sown in spring, they often remam a year in the ground. Varieties are propagated by layers or by buddmg or grafting. This tree, like the magnolias, has few fibres on its roots, and is, therefore, not readily transplanted. 532 WOODY PLANTS OP MASSACHUSETTS. SECOND GENERAL DIVISION. CHAPTER Yni. MONOCOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS. This dmsion is of little comparative importance in extra- tropical regions. In this State, it is represented by a few families of hmnble plants, among which are, however, the grasses and those which produce the various kinds of corn and grain. The noblest of monocotyledonons plants, the palms, are confined to the warmer climates. The stem of monocotyledonons plants is not composed of dis- tinct pith, wood and bark, the two latter arranged in concentric rings or zones and traversed by medullary rays, but of bundles of vessels and woody fibres traversing the stem somewhat irreg- ularly from the base of the leaves to the roots or to points near the surface of the stem. The leaves have ribs and veins nearly parallel, and are not usually articulated to the stem, but con- tinuous, so that, when they wither and decay, they leave a rag- ged, mdefinite, partial stalk, instead of the well-marked scar left by the fall of the leaf of a dicotyledonous plant. The parts of the flowers are in threes or multiples of three. The embryo of the seeds is undivided, and has a single lobe or cotyledon, and a single radicle. FAMILY XLI. THE SMIL AX FAMILY. SMILA'CEJE. R, Brown. This small family, the only one containing monocotyledonons plants which m our climate have woody stems, includes plants difieriag considerably m aspect, habits and duration. To it belong the small, herbaceous annuals, Trillium, Med^ola, Strep- topus, Convallaria and Uvularia, and the woody, climbing plants of the genus Smilax. It is found principally in Asia and North America. It is characterized by having the calyx and corolla usually confounded, of six parts rcbembling petals in being colored ; 6 stamens ; style trifid ; 3 stigmas or a 3-partcd stigma, and the fruit a roundish berry. XLI. THE GREEN BRIAR. 633 The properties are Yarious. Sarsaparilla^ well known for its diuretic, demulcent and diaphoretic powers, is the root of one or several species of Smilax ; and other species are known to have similar properties. Dr. Barton found the same in the root of Medeola Tirginica. Some species of Trillium, remarkable for the three-fold arrangements of its parts, its 3 leaves, 3 sepals, 3 petals, twice 3 stamens, 3-celled ovary, and 3 styles, have nauseous berries and violently emetic roots. The large fleshy roots of China Smilax are eaten in the Celestial Empire instead of rice, and supposed by the Abbe Rochon to contribute to the corpulency of the Chinese. A reddish powder is obtained by maceration in water from the roots of the same plant, and, with boiling water, forms a jelly, which, sweetened with honey or sugar, is used as an article of food, according to De CandoUe, in the southern parts of North America. THE GREEN BRIAR. SMILAX, The diiferent sexes on different plants. The flowers have a perianth of 6 parts. In the male flowers, the 6 stamens have their anthers laterally attached. The fertile flowers have a minute style, 3 stigmas, and produce a berry with 3 cells, and 1 to 3 seeds in each. They are often climbing, prickly plants ; sometimes herbaceous. The stem of the leaf has a tendril on each side. Flowers transient in axillary umbels. The genus contains nearly fifty species, of which fourteen, according to Nuttall, belong to North America. Two are found in Massachusetts : The Round-leaved Green Briar, known by its climbing, round, thorny stem ; and The Carrion Flower or Herbaceous Smilax, known by its angular, nodding stem, and the intolerable smell of its flowers. Sp. 1. Round-leaved Smilax. Green Briak. /S*. rotundifolia, L. Fiffured m Audubon's Birds, I, Plate 57, '5 -^5 This is a beautiful but very troublesome vine, climbing with a smooth, yellowish-green stem, from clump to clump, and from tree to tree, to the distance often of thirty or forty feet. 534 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. The stem is woody, strong, very tough, flexuose, somewhat branched, and smooth, except where armed with short, straight, rigid thorns which proceed from the wood. Branches some- what 4-angled. Leaves unarmed, orbicular, heart-shaped at base, 5-nerved, ending in a short point, paler and glaucous beneath, two or three inches long, and of equal breadth, and reticulate in theH structure. Footstalks short, margmed, with a slender but tough tendril from the extremity of the margin on each side. The flowers, which appear in June, are small, yel- lowish-green, in roundish umbels, on short stalks, from the axils of the leaves. Berries small, bluish-black, with a glaucous bloom ; disagreeable to the taste, ripening in October. The root is long and tough, and thickens sometimes into tubers. The Green Briar aboimds m moist grounds, especially where the trees have been wholly or partially cut off. The leaves are of a beautiful soft green, which in October turn to a deep yellow, and m November to a rust color. Sp. 2. Caekion Flower. Herbaceous Smilax. S. herbdcea. L. A smooth, erect or leaning, herbaceous plant, from a woody, perennial root. Stem three to eight feet long, smooth, unarmed, somewhat angled, often reddish, attaching itself to other plants by its thread-like tendrils ; simple, or with a few small branches. Stem leaves two or three inches long and one or two wide, heart-shaped or somewhat acute at base, pointed, entire, T- or 9-nerved, smooth above, downy on the nerves and veins be- neath. Leaf-stalk half as long as the leaf, wmged at base, with a slender tendril terminating each wing. Branches few, from the axils of the stem-leaves, bearing a few narrower and smaller, 5-nerved leaves. Flowers appear in June and are small, yellowish-green, in small, round umbels, and of a very oiTen- sive odor. The staminate flowers are on a short footstalk ; the fertile ones on stalks six or eight inches long, and succeeded by small, compressed, dark blue berries. The odor of the flowers is fugacious and does not adhere to the dried specimens. EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. Plate 1. The White Oak. Quercus alba. J'z^. 1. A leaf and acorns of the natural size. 2. A leaf of half the natural size. 3. Male flow- ers and leaves. 4. A single flower magnified, showing the 6 stamens, and the parts of the perianth. 5. Section of an acorn, of the natural size, showing the 2 large cotyledons occupying almost the whole cavity of the shell, and between and above them the radicle pointing towards the upper end of the shell, from which it is destined to issue, showing that the radicle is superior. Plate 2. The Overcup White Oak. Q. macrocdrpa. Leaves and fruit. Plate 3. The Rough Oak or Post Oak. Q. stellata. Leaves and fruit. Plate 4, The Swamp White Oak. Q. hlcolor. Leaves and fruit. Plate 5. The Chestnut Oak. Q. casthnea. Leaves and fruit. Plate 6. The Rock Chestnut Oak. Q. monthna. Leaves and fruit. Plate 7. The Black Oak. Q. tmcthna. Leaves and male flowers. Plate 8. The Black Oak. Q. tmcibna. Leaf and fruit. Plate 9. The Scarlet Oak. Q. coccinea. Leaf, fruit and female flowers. Plate 10. The Red Oak. Q. rubra. Leaf, fruit and female flowers. Plate 11. The Bear Oak. Q. ihmfbha. Leaves, fruit and female flowers. Plate 12. The Shellbark Hickory. Chrya alba. Leaf, fruit and male flowers. Plate 13. The Mockernut Hickory. C. tomenlbsa. Fruit and [a) male and (b) female flowers of the natural size ; leaf reduced. Plate 14. The Pignut Hickory. C. pordna. Leaf and fruit. Plate 15. The Bitternut Hickory. C. amhra. Leaf and frmt. Plate 16. The Nettle Tree. Celtisoccidenlhlis. Leaves, fruit, and flowers. Plate 17. The Tupelo Tree. Nyssamultiflhra. Leaves, fruit and [a) male and {])) female flowers. INDEX. Note.— 'The botanical names of fip0eies, not uativC; are in jlalics. Abies, page 77 alba, . 84 Canadensis, . 77 nigra, .. . . 81 Abie'tinje, . 60 Acer, . 481 campestre, . . 481 circincitum, . . 481 dasycarpum, . 487 Jctvigatum, . . 481 macrophy'lluirij . 481 opalus, . 4S1 opuUfolium^ . 481 Pennsylvanicum, . 496 platanoides, , . 481 pscudo'pldtanus, , 481 rubrum, '-* • saccharin um, * 'spicltum, . ^ .*497 AciTraVe^, -♦. 480 iE'sculus Calif ornicaf . , .' 480 Jfava, . # . 480 glabra. . 480 hippocdstanum, . 479 ' parvijfbra, . . 480 pavia, . 480 Alder, . black, •1i common. . 218 single-berry black, ^ . 345 speckled, . . 220 Alder-leaved buckthorn, , . 474 Clethra, _. , 377 Almond Family, . ^"^ : 446 Alnus, . . . 217 jncana, . 220 scrrulata, . .^218 Alternate-leaved cornel, . . 409 Amelanchier, . 442 botryapium, . 443 Canadensis, . 443 ovalis, . . . 444 Amenta'ce^, 113 69 American arbor vitflHI . 96 iipen, .^ /^ . ^ . 243 beech, ^Ji . ^ ^ 158 chestnut, . V 164 elm, . -i - ^ hazel, ? :^l hop hornbeam, . 177 hornbeam, . . 174 laurel, . 390 mouoiain ash, . 439 nettle tree, . . 306 ^mpelopsis quinqtfe(9||a, ^ . 471 Amy(jda^leA, . 446^ .^acardiaVe^, . 499 Andro^meda Tribe, . 371 Andromeda polifolia. . 378 AWDROM^EJi, Antiaris, . AfTLE Family, . 430 Apple, . . 438 Aquifolia^ce Jjf^ . . 340 Arbor vita?, ., . 96 Atctostaphylos u^ ursi. . 381 Arrow wood, . 366 maple-leaved . 367 Artoc'arpeje, . 279 Ash Tribe, - . 332 Ask, . m black. • A^^BP red, - ."W white, . . . 333 Azalea, . 387 nudiflora, . . 389 Pontica, . 383 viscosa. '. 387 7 jBalm of Gilead poplar, . ' . 245 Balsam fir. ^ . 85 Barberry Family, . common, * . . 520 . 520 Barks for tanning, . 20 Bass wood. . 511 Bayberr)', . . 224 538 INDEX. Beach plum, Beaked hazel, willow, Bean FamUv, Bear berrjph Bear oak, . Beauty of the forests, Bedford willow, . Beech, copper, purple, BeQi^in odoriferum, 6B^|B^DA^JB, . ^/ BeiMris vulgaris, k. alba, ^ . ^ . ejg^BJjjr. ^ . BiBCH Family, Birch, .« • • black, . .. canoe, . .' dwarf, . jgfc4 ^ plantiag lith, r red, sweet, • white, . yellow, " IOCS, maple,, it hickory, alder, • ash, birch, cherry, currant, » ^ * mulberry^ .( ' V^ spruce, ^ 6wamp whortleberry, ■walnut, whortleberry, willow, Blackberry, • ^^^ Bladder nut, . ^ Bland's grape, blistered maple, . Blueberry, low, ' . / . Blue whogHberry, Bog willo^P.^.. Boxberry,.. mm Beambls Tribe^!' Briad-fruit Family, Bristly raspberry. Brittle gray willow. •5 449 •Brittl€fwillow»r . •'*^1^ 173 ^road-leaved Ledum^ "" ' Broussonitia papynfera. Browsing of cattle hurtful to trees, Buckeye, . Buckthorn, Buckthorn Family, Buffon's mode of felling, Bullace plum, Bunch berry, Bush honeysuckle, whortleberry, Butternut tree, Button bush, Buttonwood tree, . -v < B 274 456 38 i 150 .7 ^ 158 163 163 324 S» 521 202 2i5 206 2ia 203 213 201 407 t07 201 202 203 210 216 2 2m 213 206 2U 491 199 ZU 338 281 453 419 281 141 81 402 185 398 271 429 477 468 486 40a»| 402 258 379 428 279 429 262 «*?v 263 396 282 31 480 473 472 34 448 415 359 400 182 349 227 CACTA^CEiE, Cactus Family, . Californian plane, Camphor a officinalis, Canada Judas tree, moonseed, . plum, Rhodora, . Canoe birch, Ca?rifolia^ceje, . Carfina^ceje, Carpinus Americana, Carrion flower, Carya, alba, amara, potftina, tomentdsa, . Cashew nut, Cassindra calyculata, Cainipea, . ^ . vesca, vA J^menc2jidi, Catalni . Catawnaj^rape, Causes oCthe color of leaves, Ceandthus Americana, Cedar, red, ^ white, s . €Waji%pples, Cedar of Lebanon, Cedrus Libani, Celastra^ceje, Celastrus scandens, Celtis, crassifolia, . occidentalism Cephalanthus occidentalism Cerajus Pennsylvanica, ^ piimila, serotina, Virginiana, Cercis Canadensis, Chequer berry, Cheny^ .black. . 423 . 423 227, 237 . 318 . 465 . 525 . 449 . 390 . 210 . 352 . 174 . 174 . 534 . 187 . 191 . 199 . 197 . 194 . 499 . 373 . 163 . 1(34 . 408 . 465 . 484 . 475 96,98 . 102 . 98 . 106 . 95 -. 95 . 476 . 478 . 306 . 309 . 306 . 349 . 451 . 453 . 453 . 456 . 465 . 380 . 451 . 453 INDEX. 539 Cherry, choke, northern red, sand, wild black. Chestnut, . improving by cultivation. Chestnut oak, Chicken grape, Chiogenes, hispidula, . Choke berry, cherry, Cinnamomum zeyldnicum^ Cinnamon Family, Clamoun, . . ^ Clethra alnifolia, . Climbing staff tree, Cluster pine. Clustered Zenobia, Cocculus 'IndicuSy , palmatuSj . Cockspur thorn, . Coffee, Coffee tree, Kentucky, Colors of leaves, . Col umbo root. Common barberry, American rose bay, bear berry, buckthorn, . cranberry, . elder, European elm, gooseberry, grape, locust tree, witch hazel, Comptonia asplenifdlia, Con'iferje, Copper beech, Cordate willows, . Cork oak, . CorwaVe-k, Cornel, alternate-leaved, dwarf, . . panicled, . red-stemmed, round-leaved, silky, CoRNUs Family, . alternifolia. Canadensis, circinata, florida, \ , paniculata, sericea, stolon ifera, Corylus, . Americana, rostrata. Cow berry. ^ 456 451 453 455 163 166 137 470 406 407 441 456 318 317 392 377 478 76 376 524 524 433 347 465 8,485 524 521 384 381 473 405 362 299 419 467 460 416 225 47 163 275 120 408 408 409 415 411 410 410 411 408 409 415 410 413 411 411 410 170 171 173 404 Crack willow, 264 Cranberry, 405 high. 368 tree. 368 Cratae^gus, 430 coccinea, . 434 crus-galli, . 433 punctata, . 435 tomentosa, . 435 Creeper, . 471 Creeping Mitchella, 351 Crowberry Family, 327 Cucumber tree, 527 Cupressus, * ' 98 disticha, 49 thuyoides, . 98 Cupuli'fe^je, 113 Currant FamilJ^, # . 419 black, . • large-tiowerinf,* 419 422 red. 419 Missouri, . 419 mountain, « » • 422 Cydonia, . 446 Cypress, . 98 Cypress Tribe, • 96 Dangle berry, • 399 Deer berry, • 401 Dense-flowered early willow, 260 Description of the flower and fruit, 37 Dicotyledonous plants, • , 45 Diervilla trifida, . • • 359 Dirca palustris, . . • V5 Distribution into families and gen- era. Division into families. ^ 37 V 39 Division into genera, w 42 Dogwood, . 504 flowering, . 413 Dotted-fruited thorn, 435 Double balsam flr. 88 spruce, 81 Douglass's spruce, 88 Dutch myrtle. 222 Dwarf Cassandra, 373 cornel, _^^" '' 415 rose bay, .^— - ^ 384 sumach. 503 Early fox grape, . 468 wild rose, . <■' 429 white grape, 468 ELDisR Family, 360 ,Elder, 361 common, . % 362 panicled, . 361 Elm Family, . j»> Elm, . . ^ 284 »> • 285 American, . 286 English, 299 Scotch, 305 540 INDEX. Elm, slippery, 297 Gaultheria, . 379 twisted. 303 procumbens, . 380 white, 286 Gigantic pine, 76 Elsinburg grape, . 468 Glaucous kalmia, . . 394 Empktra^ceje, . 327 Gleditschia triacdnthuSf . 464 Epigae^a repens, . 378 Glossy willow. . 267 EbicaVkje, . 370 Golden osier, . 269 Euonymus, . 476 -twigged lime tree. . 511 European cranberry. . 406 Gooseberry, common. . 419 larch, 91 common wild, . 420 larch, planting with. . 91 prickly. . 420 lime tree, . 511 round-leaved. . 421 mountain ash, « 440 swamp. . 421 silyer fir, . 88 Grape, Bland's, . 468 Catawba, . . 468 Fagus, . . . . 158 chicken, . 470 sylvatica, var. Americana^ 158 common, . . 467 sylvestris, . 158 early fox, . . 468 Felling trees, bostJriodes of. 24 early white, . 468 for timber, . 33 Elsinburg, . . 468 Buffon's mode of, . 34 fox. . 4ti7 seasons for, 27 frost, . 469 Fence of white cedar. 100 Isabella, . 468 Fencing, materials for, 20 late fox. . 468 Fern, sweet. 225 river. . . 470 Fever bark, 347 Schuylkill, . . 468 bush, 324 summer. . 469 root. . 354 summer white. . 468 Ficus religibsaj 279 sweet-scented. . 470 Field maple, . • . 481 wine, . 470 Fir, . . . ; . 85 winter, . 409 balsam. 85 Grape vine, . 466 double. 88 Grayish willows, . . 262 Fleering of the poplar, . 248 Great maple. . 481 dogwood, . . 413 Green bnar. . 533 raspberry, . . 428 Grossdla^ceje, . 419 Fly h^eysuckle) . . 358 Ground hemlock. , 111 hairy, . 359 laurel. . 378 Forests, . 1 Grouping of the oaks. Guelder rose. . 151 form a soil, . , . 30 . 363 materials from the, ' :- 11 Guelder-leaved maple. . 481 pruning, . 23 Gymnocladus Canadensis, . 465 sea breezes on, 31 succession of, 29 Hackberry, . 309 thinning of. 23 Hacmatack, . 89 uses of, . 3 Hairy fly honeysuckle, . 359 waste of, . 13 honeysuckle. . 356 Fok grape, 467 HamamelaNceje, . . 416 Fragrant sumach, . 507 Hamamelis Virginiana, . . 416 Fraser's pine, . 88 Hard-hack, 426, 427 Frax'insjb, 332 Hard maple, . - . . 489 Fraxinus, . . 332 Hazel, . . . . 170 acuminata. 333 American, . • 171 pubescens, . ' . 337 beaked, . 173 sambucifolia. 338 Heart-leaved willow. . 275 Frost grape,^ willow. 469 Heath Family, . 370 261 Heavy pine, . 7r> Fuel from the forests, 14 Hed^e of red cedar. . 105 Furniture, woods for, 20 Holianthcmuui Canadense . 517 ramulillorum, . 517 Gale, sweet. 222 Hemlock, . 77 Gale^ejk, . . 458 ground. . Ill INDEX. 541 Herbaceous Srailax, Hickories, insects on, Hickory, . bitternut, . mockcrnut, pignut, shell bark, . High cranberry, . bush whortleberry, raspberry, . HirPOCASTANA^CEjE, Hobble bush, Holly Family, Holly, . mountain, . wild. Honeysuckle Family, Honeysuckle, bush, fly, . hairy, small-flowered yellow, upright, . Hop hornbeam, Hornbeam Family, Hornbeam, Horn pine. Horse chestnut, . Hudsonia, downy, ericoides, . heath-like, . tomentosa, Ilex opaca, Implements, materials for Improvable lands. Improvement of forests, Inclian fig, Indian poke, a remedy for poison. Ink berry, . Insects injurious to cherry trees, i elms, hickories, locust tree, maples, oaks, pines, poplars, sassafras, willows. Ipecac, Isabella grape, Italian maple. Ivy, poison, Jersey tea, Judas tree, Canada, Jl'iJLANDAVE^, Juglans, . cirierea, nigra, 534 180 187 199 194 197 191 368 401 429 479 369 340 341 343 343 352 356 359 358 356 357 389 177 174 313 313 479 518 519 519 519 519 341 20 21 16 279, 424 505 346 447 286 180 459 482 117 56 242 321 254 348 468 481 50() 474 465 180 181 182 185 June berry, . . 443 Juniper, . . . 102; 108 Juniperus, . . 102 communis, . . 108 Virginiana, . . 102 Kalmia, . . . .390 angustifolia, . . 394 glauca, . . . 394 latifolia, . . .392 Kentucky coffee tree, . 465 Labrador tea, . Landscape maple, . . 486 Larch, . . . .89 European, . . .94 planting with, . .91 Large-flowering currant, . . 422 -leaved maple, . . 481 pinweed, . . . 518 poplar, . . . 243 Larix Americana, . . 89 Late fox grape, . . . 468 LAURl'NEiE, . . 317 Laurus nd^i/is, . . .318 Leather \^ood, . . . 325 Leaves, colors of, . . -8 Lechea, . . . » 517 major, . . .518 minor, . . . 518 thy mi folia, . .518 Ledum, . . . .395 latifolium, . . . 396 Legumino^jb, . • . 456 Ligustrum vulgare, . . 330 Lilac Tribe, . . .332 Lilac, . . . .332 Lime tree, . . .510 golden-twigged, . .511 Linden Family, . . . 510 tree, . . . 510 Linna^^a borealis, . . . 353 Liqniddmber styracijlua, . .312 Liquidamber, . . 225 Liriodendron tulipifcra, . . 529 Little chincapin oak, . ' . . 140 Locust tree, . . « 458 Long-leaved cucumber tree, . 627 Lonicera crrrulea, . . 359 ciliata, . . .358 hirsuta, . . . 356 . parviflora, . . . 357 Lo^TE^., . . - . . 458 Low blueberry, . . . 403 raspberry, . . 429 Lyunia paniculata, • . 37j Madura aHrantiaca, . 2S2 tiiictoria^ . . . 283 Madder Family, . . . 347 Magno^lia Family, . . 525 Magnolia, .... 52(i 542 INDEX. Magnolia acuminata^ auriculata, . heart-leaved, purple, small, three-petalled, yulan, . . Maple Family, Maple, bird's eye, . blistered, . curled hard, field, great, guelder-rose-leaved hard, Italian, landscape, . large-leaved, Montpelier, mountain, . . 486, Norway, . red, rock, round-leaved, scarlet, soft, smooth-leaved of Nepaul, . striped, sugar, swamp, Tartarean, . white, . . 483, Maple sugar making, value of. Maple-leaved arrow wood Marking-nut tree, Massachusetts forests to be im- proved, . May flower, Mtlanarh(Ba usitatissimaj Menisperma^ceje, . Menispermum Canadense Meze^reum Family, Missouri currant, . Mitchella repens, . Mockernut hickory, Monocotyledonous plants Montpelier maple, MooNSEED Family, Moose wood, Morus, alba, multicduHs, . nigra, rubra, Mountain currant, holly, laurel, maple, partridge berry, sumach, 527 Muhlenberg's willow, . 25( ), 257 527 Mulberry, . . . . 280 527 Mulberry, paper, . 282 527 Myrica^ce^, 222 527 Myrica cerifera, . 224 527 gale, 222 527 Myrtle, , . . . 222 480 Dutch, 222 481 491 1 Naked viburnum, 364 486 Narrow-leaved kalmia, . 394 491 Necklace poplar, . 249 481 Nemopanthus Canadensis, 343 481 Nettle tree, 306 481 New Jersey tea, . 475 489 Nine bark, 426 481 Northern red cherry, 451 486 Norway pine, 74 481 spruce. 88 481 Nyssa multiflora, . 313 497 481 Oakesia, . . . • 327 483 Conradi, . • • 327 489 Oak Family, 113 481 Oak, 115 483 bear, 150 483 black. 141 481 chestnut, . 137 496 chincapin, . 140 489 cork, 120 483 little chincapin. 140 481 over-cup white, 132 487 post. . 133 493 red. . 148 14 rock-chestnut, . 138 367 rough. . 133 499 / scarlet. 144 sessile-fruited. . 157 '36 species of, . . 124 378 stalk-fruited, . 157 499 swamp white. . 135 524 velani. . 120 525 white, . 127 325 yellow-barked. . 141 419 Oaks, grouping of, . 151 351 planting with. . 152 194 Occidental plane, . . 227 532 Ochre-flowered willows, . . 274 481 Ohio buckeye. . 48 524 Oil nut tree. . 182 496 OLEA^CEiE, . 329 280 Olei'neje, . . 330 281 Olive Family, . 329 281 Tribe, . 330 281 Opiintia coccinilifera, . 423 280 vulgaris, . . 424 422 i Oriental plane, . . 2i >7, 235 343 Orme tortillard, . . 303 392 Osage orange, . 282 486 Osier, golden, . 209 406 'Ostrya Virginica, . 177 503 1 Overcup white oak. . 132 INDEX. 543 Oxycoccus macrocarpus, . 405 Platanus racemusus, 237 palustris, 406 Plum, beach, 449 buHace, 450 Panicled cornel, . 380 Canada, 449 elder, 361 yellow, 449 Lyonia, 375 Plum tree, 448 Paper mulberry, . 282 Plymouth crowberry, 327 PapilionaVeje, . . 458 Podisoma macrocarpus, . 107 Partridge berry, . . 35 I, 380 Poison ivy, . . . 506 mountain, 406 sumach, 504 Pear, . . . . 436 wood, . 504 prickly. 424 Poma'ce^, ' . 430 Pear tree, 437 Poplar, . . 240 Pear-leaved thorn, 435 balm of Gilead, 245 Pepperidge, 313 flowering ot the, . 248 Pf-rsea gratissima, . 318 insects on, . 242 Peruvian bark, 347 large, . . . 242 Picea balsamifera. 85 necklace, . 249 Fraseri, 88 river. 246 Pignut hickory, . 197 Populus, . . . 240 Pine Family, 47 candicans, . 245 Pine and Fir Tribe, 60 grandidentata. 242 Pine, . . . . 60 larvigata, . . . 246 cluster. 76 monilifera. 249 Fraser's, . . » 88 tremulifurmis. 243 gigantic, . 76 Prickly Ash Family, . 508 heavy, 76 Prickly ash. . 509 Norway, . 74 gooseberry, . 420 pitch, 66 pear. 424 red, 74 Prim, 330 Sabine's, . 76 Prinos glaber, . 346 Scotch, 76 laevigatus, . . 345 white, 60 verticiUatus, 344 Pinus, . . . 60 Prinos-likc willow, . 259 Lambcrtiana, . 76 Privet, . 330 pinaster J 76 Products of the pines, . 48 pinca. 53 Pruning, . 23 ponderosG) . 76 Prunus, . . . . 448 resinosa, . 74 Americana, . 449 rigida, 66 domestica, . . 448 Sabuiiana, . 76 instititia, . .- Ai 8, 450 strobus, 60 maritima, . . 449 sijlvtstris, . 76 spinosa, . 448 Pinw^eed, . 517 Purple beech, . 163 Fist acta kntiscus, . . 499 magnolia, . . 527 terebinth us, . . 499 Pursh's willow. . 272 Pitch pine, 66 Pyrus, . . _ . . 436 Plane Tree Family, . 226 Americana, . 439 Plane tree. . 227 arbutifolia. . 441 Planer tree, . 312 communis. . 437 riantra Richardi, , . 312 malus, . 438 ulmifoUa, . . 312 sorbus. . 441 Planting near the sea, . 32 with birch. . 214 Queen of the meadows, . . 427 with pines, . 57 Quercus, . . 115 with pitch pine, . . 70 alba. . 127 with larch. 91 bicolor, . 135 with oaks, . 152 castanea, . . 137 Plants with naked seeds, . 47 chinquapin. . 140 Platana'ceje, . 226 coccinea, . . 144 PJatanus occidentalis, . 227 ilicifolia. . 150 orient alts J . . 235 macrocarpa, . 132 544 INDEX. Quercus montana, obtusiloba, pedunculata. prinus, rubra, sessilifibra^ stellata, tinctdria, Quince tree, Raspberry, bristly, flowering, bigh, low, red. Bed birch, ' bud, ash, cedar, currant, maple, mulberry, oa.k, pine, raspberry. Red-stemmed cornel, Rhamna^ce-k, Bhamnus alnifolius, calharticus. Rhododendron, arboreurftj . campanulatum^ chrysdnthumj ferruguieunif 'Indicum, maximum, nudifldrum, ^. Ponticumy punctatuMj puniceumy purpureum^ rhoJlora, viscosum, Rhodora, . Canadensis, Rhodo^ra Tribe, Rhodo^rbjb, Rhus, aromdtica, copallina, coridria, cotinuSf glabra, radicans, toxicodendron, typhina, venenata, verniciferaf Ribes, aUreum, cynosbati, 138 133 157 137 148 157 133 120 141 446 429 428 429 429 429 20S 465 337 102 419 483 280 148 74 429 410 472 471 473 383 383 384 384 383 384 384 389 383 384 383 384 390 387 389 390 382 382 500 507 503 500 500 502 506 506 501 504 500 419 419 420 Ribes floridum, . grossularia, hirlellum, . laciistre, nigrum, prostratum, rotundifolium, rubrum, speciosum, uva crispa, River bush, grape, poplar. Roan tree, Robinia, . hispida, pseudacacia, viscusa, Rock chestnut oak maple, Rock Rose Family RoSA^CEiE, Rosa Carolina, lucida, nitiJa, rubiginosa, Ro^SEiE, Rose bay, . dwarf, Rose Family, Rose Tribe, Rough oak. Round-leaved cornel, gooseberry, green briar, maple, smilax Rowan tree, RuBIA^CE-«, Rubus, Canadensis, frondosus, . hispidus, . occidental is, odoratus, . sempervirens, setosus, strigosus, . villosus, Sabine's pine. Sage willow. S'alices alb^, Cine^reje, . corda'tje, . discolo^res, fr'agiles, . f'ulvje, GRI^SE^, viminaYes, Sallows, . Samci'ne/e, 422 419 420 421 419 422 421 419 419 419 349 470 246 440 458 459 460 459 138 489 515 425 429 429 430 430 429 383 384 425 429 133 410 421 533 481 533 440 347 428 429 429 429 429 428 429 429 429 429 76 255 268 255 275 258 263 274 262 263 255 239 INDEX. S45 Salix, . .252 dlba, .268 angustata, . . . 278 Babylonica, 270 cdprea, . 239 cordata, . .275 crassa, . . . 260 decipienSj . 265 discolor, . . . 258 ehocephala, 259 frdgilis, .264 grisea, . . 262 hilix, . .239 lucida, . .267 Muhlenbergiana, . 256,257 nigra, . .271 pentdndraj . . . 268 prinoides, . . . 259 Purshiana,. . 272 rigida, . . 276 rostrata, . . .274 Russeimna, 239, 266 sensitiva, . . .261 Torreyana, . 277 tristiS; . . .255 vitellinaj . . 269 Sambacus Canadensis, . 326 pubens, . . .361 Sand cherry, . . 453 Sandal Wooo Family, .312 Santala^cejb, . . .312 Sassafras, . . .319 officinale, . . .319 Savin, . . .105 Scarlet-fruited thorn, .434 Scarlet maple, . 483 oak, 144 Schuylkill grape, . . . 468 Scotch elm, . . . 305 pine, .76 Sea breezes on forests, . .31 Season for felling trees, . . 27 Stmecdrpus anacdrdium^ . . 499 Service tree, . . .441 Sessile-fruited oak, 157 Shad bush, . .443 Shade of trees, . .10 Shell-bark hickory, ^ . 191 Shining rose, . . * . 430 Ship-building, trees for, . . 19 Shoots from stumps, . 27 Silky cornel, . . .411 Silver fir, . . . .88 Single-berry black alder, . . 345 Single spruce, . . . . 84 Slippery elm, . . .297 Sloe thorn, . . .448 Small-flowered yellow honeysuckle, 357 Small pin weed, . . .518 SmilaVeje, . . 532 Smilax Family, 532 Smilax herbacea, . 534 70 Smilax rotundifolia, . 533 Smoke tree, . . .500 Smooth-leaved maple of Nepaul, . 481 Smooth sumach, . . 502 Snag tree, . . . .313 Soft maple, . 483 Soil for pines, . . .56 Species of oak, . . 124 Speckled alder, . . . 220 Spice bush, . . . 324 Spindle tree, . . . 476 Spirjk'a Tribe, . . .426 SpiraB^ opulifolia, . 426 paniculata, . . 427 salicifolia, . . . 427 tomentosa, . . 427 Spoonwood, . 392 Spruce, .77 black, . .81 double, .81 Douglass's, . 88 Norway, . . .88 single, . . 84 white, . . .84 Staff Tree Family, . . 476 Staff tree, . , .478 Stag's horn sumach, . 501 Stalk-fruited oak, . .157 Staphylae'a trifoUa, . 477 Steeple bush, . . .427 Stiff-leaved willow, . 276 Striped maple, . . 496 Study of trees, . . .35 Stumps, shoots from, . . 27 Succession of forests, . 29 Sugar maple, . . . 489 pear, wild, . . 442 Sumach Family, . . 499 Sumach, . . .500 fragrant, . . . 507 stag's horn, . 501 tanner's, . . 500 varnish, . . 500 Venitian, . . .500 Summer grape, . 469 white grape, . 468 Sun rose, . . . .516 Canada, . ^ . .517 Swamp gooseberry, .421 laurel, . . . 527 maple, . . . 483 pink, . . . 387 pyrus, . . .443 rose, . . . 430 sugar pear, . . 444 white oak, . . . 135 whortleberry, . . 401 Sweet birch, . .203 briar, . . . 430 buckeye, . 480 fern, .225 -scented grape, . . 470 646 INDEX. Sweet gale, . 222 Vaccinium virgatum, . 402 viburnum, . . 364 vitis idae^a, . . 404 wood, . 318 Variety of forest trees, . 9, 17 Syfinga vtdg , 20 Venetian sumach, . 500 Tartarean maple, . . 481 Veratrum viride, a remedy for] [)oison,505 TixaVejb, . 110 Vibu'rneje, . 360 Taxodium, 49 Viburnum, . 363 distichum, . . 101 acerifolium, . 367 Tazus, 110 dentatum, . . 366 Canadensis, . Ill lantanoides. . 369 Tecoma, . 407 lent ago, . 364 Tender willow, . . 261 nudum. . 364 Theet-sec, . / 499 opulus. . 368 Thimbleberry, 429 sweet, . 364 Thinning forests, . 23 Vine Family, . 466 Thorn, 430 Virginian creeper, . 471 cockspur, . dotted-fniited, 433 VlTA^CEiE, . 466 435 Vitis aestivalis, . . . 469 pear-leaved, 435 cordifolia, . . 470 scarlet-fruited, 434 labrusca, . . 467 sloe, 448 riparia. . 470 white, 434 sinuata, . 469 Three-flowered bush honeysuckle , 359 -leaved bladder-nut, 477 Walnut Family, . . 180 Thuya occidentalis. 96 Walnut, . . 181 ThymelaVejb, 325 black. . 185 Thyme-leaved pinweed, . 518 Waste of the forests. 13 TUm Americana, . . 511 Water andromeda, . 372 TUfA^CSJB, 510 Wax Myrtle Family, . 222 Toffcy's willow, . » 277 Wax myrtle. . 224 Triostenm perfoliatum, 355 Wayfaring tree, . 369 Tsumfet-Flowsk Family, 407 Weeping beech. . 163 Tselkwa, . . ' 312 willow. '. 270 Tulip tree. 529 White ash, . 333 Tupelo tree, 313 birch, . 213 Twin flower, 353 r cedar, . 98 Two-colored willow, 258 ^ 7 elm, . 286 maple. . 483 ULMA^KiB, 284 oak, . . 127 Ulmus, . . . . 285 . pine. 60 Americana, 286 spruce, 84 campestriSf . 299 thorn, . 434 fulva, 297 Whortleberry Family, . . 397 montanaj . 305 Whortleberry, . 398 racemdsa, . 305 black, . 398 Upas tree, 279 black swamp, . 402 Upright honeysuckle, 389 blue, . 402 Uses of forests, . 3 bush, . 400 high bush, . . 401 Vaoc'ihus, 397 swamp, . 401 Vaccinium corymbosum, . 401 Wild black cherry. . 455 disomorphum, 402 bullace tree, . 450 dumosum, . frondosum. 400 399 holly, honeysuckle. . 343 . 387 myrtillus, 398 Willow Family, . . 239 Pennsylvanicum, . 403 WUlow, . . 252 resinosum. 398 beaked, . 274 staminium, 401 Bedford, . 266 uligijibsumj 398 black, . 271 INDEX. 647 Willow, bog, . 258 Willows, two-colored, brittle gray, . 2C2 viminales, . • crack, , . 264 white. dense-flowered early, . 260 Wine grape. frost, , . 261 Winter berry. glossy, . 267 grape. heart-leaved, , . 275 Witch Hazel Family, Muhlenberg's, 256, 257 Withe rod. prinos-like, Pursh's, . 259 . . 272 Xanthoxyla^ceje, sage, . . 255 Xanthoxylum America stiff-leaved, , . 276 tender, ^ . 261 Yellow-barked oak, Torrey's, . . 277 birch, varnished, . . . 265 plum. weeping. . 270 willow. woolly -headed swamp, . 259 wood, yellow, . 269 Yew, Willow, insects on, , . 254 Yews, WiLTiOWs, brittle, . . 263 Yulan magnolia, . cordate, , . 275 grayish, , . 262 Zelkoua, . ochre-flowered. • . 274 Zenobia racemosa. sallows. . 255 258 263 268 470 344 459 416 3d4 508 509 141 206 449 269 509 111 110 527 312 376 PLATE 1 K'. WHITE OyiK\ (Querent albcc F'lruei hy G. .fc W.Endicott .T York, I'LATK #. OVERCUP WHITE OAK. / Qiiercas Mcwrocarpw TrmUi h &■ i. V.Sudic/rit XTcrl. ,i i^ BlTTKhWl'T HirKORY I (hr\