1. N. BIFLO`RA Michx. The twin-flowered Nyssa, or Tupelo Tree. Identification. Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer., 2. p. 259.; Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 1113.

Synonymes. N. aquática Lin. Sp. Pl., 1511., Hort. Cliff, 462., Du Roi Harbk., 1. p. 444., Micha. N. Amer. Syl., iii. p. 36.; N. caroliniana L.; N. integrifolia Ait. Hort. Kew, S. p. 446., Smith in Rees's Cyclop.; N. pedúnculis uniflòris Gron. Virg., 121.; Mountain Tupelo, Mart. Mill.; Gum Tree, Sour Gum Tree, Peperidge, Amer.

Engravings. Catesb. Car., 1. t. 41.; Pluk. Alm., t. 172. f. 6. ; and our figs. 1195, 1196.

1195

1196

Spec. Char., &c. Leaves ovate-oblong, entire, acute at both ends, glabrous. Female flowers two upon a peduncle. (Willd. Sp. Pl., iv. p. 1113.) The drupe is short and obovate, and the nut striated. (Michaux.) A deciduous tree, a native of Virginia and Carolina, in watery places, where it grows to the height of 40 ft. or 45 ft.; + flowering in April and May. It was introduced in 1739, and is one of the most common sorts in British collections. The tupelo tree is most abundant in the southern parts of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, where it grows only in wet ground; having a clear stem, of a uniform size, from the base to the height of 5 ft. or

6 ft., where it throws out horizontal branches. On old trees the bark is "thick, deeply furrowed, and, unlike that of every other tree, divided into hexagons, which are sometimes nearly regular." (Michx. N. Amer. Syl., iii. p. 37). The leaves are smooth, slightly glabrous below, and often united in bunches at the extremity of the young lateral shoots. The flowers are small, and scarcely apparent; but the fruit, which is always abundant, and attached in pairs, is of a deep blue colour, and is ornamental, remaining on the tree after the falling of the leaf, and affording food for birds. "The tupelo holds a middle place between trees with hard and those with soft wood. When perfectly seasoned, the sap-wood is of a light reddish tint, and the heart-wood of a deep brown. Of trees exceeding 15 in. or 18 in. in diameter, more than half the trunk is hollow." (Michx.) The timber of the tupelo is of little value, but, from its peculiar organisation (the fibres being united in bundles, and interwoven like a braided cord), it is extremely difficult to split. It is on this account much esteemed in America for wooden bowls. As fuel, it burns slowly, and diffuses a great heat. "At Philadelphia, many persons, when making their provision of wood for the winter, select a certain proportion of the tupelo, which is sold separately, for logs." (Michx.). In British gardens it does not appear that much pains have ever been taken to encourage the growth of this or any other species of Nýssa; for though there are abundance of plants to be procured in the nurseries, yet there are very few of a tree-like size to be seen in pleasure-grounds. The largest tupelo tree that we know of in England is at the Countess of Shaftesbury's villa at Richmond, where it is 45 ft. high, and has a trunk I ft. 4 in. in diameter. There are, also, a tree in Lee's Nursery 20 ft. high; one in the grounds of the villa of the late Mr. Vere, at Kensington Gore, about 15 ft. high; one at the Duke of Wellington's, at Strathfieldsaye, 30 ft. high; and some at White Knights; from all of which, except that at Lady Shaftesbury's, we have received specimens when in flower, and all these were male blossoms. At Schwöbber, in Hanover (see p. 148.), there is a nyssa 40 ft. high. To insure the prosperity of the tree, it ought always to be planted in moist peat, or near water. The trees at Strathfieldsaye and at Schwöbber are in moist meadows, on a level with the water of adjoining rivers.

2. N. (B.) VILLO'SA Michx. The hairy-leaved Nyssa, or Tupelo Tree. Identification. Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer., 2. p. 258.; Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 1112.; Pursh Fl. Amer., Sept., 1. p. 177. Synonymes. N. sylvatica Mich. N. Amer. Syl., 3. p. 33., Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836; N. multiflora Wangenh. Amer., 46. t.16. f. 39.; N. montana Hort.; N. pedúnculis multifloris Gron. Virg., 121.; Sour Gum Tree, Black Gum, Yellow Gum, Amer.; haariger Tulpelobaum, Ger.

Engravings. Wangenh. Ámer., t. 16. f. 39.; Michx. N. Amer. Syl., 3. t. 110.; and our figs. 1197, 1198.

1197

Nut

Spec. Char., &c. Leaves oblong, entire, acute at both ends; with the petiole, midrib, and edge villous. Female flowers, about three upon a peduncle. (Willd. Sp. Pl., iv. p. 1113.) Peduncle of female flowers long, and for the most part two-flowered. small, ovate, obtuse, striated. (Michx.) deciduous tree, a native of North America, where it grows from 60 ft. to 70 ft.

+

high, and flowers in April and
May. It was introduced in
1824, and is occasionally to
be met with in collections.

1198

A

N. sylvática Michx., which we have made synonymous with N. villòsa, on the authority of Pursh (see Fl. Amer. Sept. Addenda, ii. p. 175.), is said by Michaux to exhibit a remarkable singularity in its vegetation. "In Maryland, Virginia, and the western states," he observes, "where it grows on high and level ground with the oaks and the walnuts, it is distinguished by no peculiarity of form: but in the lower part of the Carolinas and of Georgia, where it is found only in wet places, with the small magnolia or white bay (Magnòlia glaúca), the red bay (Laúrus carolinensis), the loblolly bay (Gordònia Lasianthus), and the water oak (Quércus aquática), it has a pyramidal base, resembling a sugar loaf; a trunk 18 ft. or 20 ft. high, and 7 in. or 8 in. in diameter, at the surface of the ground; which, a foot higher, is only 2 in. or 3 in. thick; the proportions, however, varying in different individuals." (N. Amer. Syl., iii. p. 34.) This tree appears to differ very little from N. biflòra, except in the greater height attained by the tree, and in the downiness of the petioles of the leaves. The fruit is of the same size and colour, generally produced in pairs on similar peduncles, and the wood is of the same description, fine-grained, but tough." The alburnum of the trunks of trees growing upon dry and elevated lands is yellow; and this colour, being considered by wheelwrights as a proof of the superior quality of the wood, has probably given rise to the name of yellow gum, which is sometimes applied to this species." (Ibid.) The wood is used for all purposes, for which timber is required of moderate dimensions, which is not liable to split. The only plant which we have seen of this kind is in the arboretum of Messrs. Loddiges, where, in 1835, it was 10 ft. high, and had produced male blossoms; but it died in the spring of 1836, apparently from the soil being too dry.

3. N. CA'NDICANS Michx.

The whitish-leaved Nyssa, or Ogechee
Lime Tree.

Identification. Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer., 2. p. 259.; Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 1113.

Synonymes. N. capitàta Walt., Ait. Hort. Kew, Michx. N. Amer. Syl., 3. p. 43.; N. coccinea Bar tram; Sour Tupelo Tree, Ogechee Lime Tree, Wild Lime; weisslicher Tulpelobaum, Ger. Engravings. Michx. N. Amer. Syl., 3. t. 113.; and our fig. 1199.

Spec. Char., &c. Leaf with the petiole very short, and the disk oblong, wedge-shaped at the base, nearly entire, whitish on the under surface. Female flowers one upon a peduncle. (Willd. Sp. Pl., iv. p. 1113.) It varies, with its leaves obovate, entire, or rarely subdentate. The male flowers are grouped into little heads. The bracteas attending the female flowers are short; the calyx of these flowers is tomentose; its lobes are short. The drupe is oblong. (Michaux.) A deciduous tree, a native of Carolina, on the

1199

banks of rivers, particularly the Ogechee. It is the smallest tree of the genus, rarely exceeding 30 ft. in height. It was introduced in 1806.

The leaves are 5 in. or 6 in. long, oval, rarely denticulated, of a light green above, and glaucous beneath. The flowers are similar to those of the large tupelo (N. grandidentàta), but the sexes are borne by separate trees; and Michaux remarks, "as a peculiarity witnessed in no other tree of North America, that the male and female trees are easily distinguished by their general appearance when the leaves have fallen. The branches of the male are more compressed about the trunk, and rise in a direction more nearly perpendicular; those of the female diffuse themselves horizontally, and form a larger and rounder summit. The fruit is supported by long peduncles, and is about 1 in. in length, of a light red colour, and of an oval shape. It is thick-skinned, intensely acid, and contains, like that of the large tupelo, a large oblong stone, deeply channeled on both sides." (Michx. N. Amer. Syl., iii. p. 43, 44.) This appears to be the kind of Nýssa mentioned in Martyn's Miller, as not then introduced, but which is said to be described by Mr. Humphry Marshall, from Bartram's catalogue, "as a tree of great singularity and beauty, rising to the height of 30 ft.; the fruit of which is of a deep scarlet colour, and of the size of a damascene plum. It has an agreeable acid taste, whence it is called the lime tree." Professor Martyn adds that Bartram calls it Nýssa coccínea, and observes that there is no tree which exhibits a more desirable appearance than this, in the autumn, when the fruit is ripe, and the tree is partly divested of its leaves; for then "the remainder looks as red as scarlet, and the fruit is of that colour also." It is the shape of the olive, but larger, and contains an agreeable acid juice. "The most northern habitation of this tree yet known," he adds, "is on the great Ogechee, where it is called the Ogechee lime, from its acid fruit being about the size of limes, and being sometimes used in their stead." There is a plant, bearing the name of N. capitàta, in the arboretum of Messrs. Loddiges, 6 ft. or 7 ft. high; which, from its foliage, we have no doubt, is indentical with Michaux's figure.

4. N. GRANDIDENTA TA Michx. The deeply-toothed-leaved Nyssa, or Large Tupelo Tree

Identification. Michx. N. Amer. Syl., 3. p. 40.

Synonymes. N. tomentosa, and N. angulizans, Michr. Fl. Bor. Amer., 2. p. 259.; N. denticulata Ait. Hort. Kew, 3. p. 446., Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 1114.; N. angulosa Poir.; N. uniflora Wangenh. Amer., p. 83.; Wild Olive, Amer.; Virginian Water Tupelo, Mart. Mill.

Engravings. Wangenh. Amer., t. 27. f. 57.'; Catesb. Car., 1. t. 60.; Michx. N. Amer. Sylva, 3. t. 112.; and our figs. 1200, 1201.

Spec. Char., &c. Leaf with a long petiole, and a disk that is oblong, acuminate, distantly serrate. Female flowers one upon a peduncle. (Willd. Sp. Pl., iv. p. 1114.) The leaves are invariably toothed with large pointed teeth. The bracteas are rather longer than the ovary. The lobes of the calyx

1200

are wedge-shaped. The drupe is oblong. (Michaux.) A deciduous tree, a native of North America; which Michaux calls the most remarkable species of its genus for height and diameter; and which was introduced into Britain in 1735. It grows chiefly in the southern parts of the United States; and Michaux observes that it is always found in company with the long-leaved pine (Pinus palustris) and the cypress (Taxodium distichum). In South Carolina and Georgia these trees are constantly found growing with the over-cup oak (Quercus lyrata), the water locust (Gleditschia monosperma), the cotton wood (P6pulus canadensis), the Carolinian poplar (Populus angulata), and the water bitter-nut hickory (Càrya aquática); intermixed with which they compose the dark impenetrable forests which cover the miry swamps on the borders of the rivers, to the distance of 100 to 200 miles from the ocean. The presence of these trees is considered an infallible proof of the depth and fertility of the soil, and, consequently, of its fitness for the culture of vine, "The rivers, at their annual overflowing, sometimes cover these marshes to the height of 5 ft. or 6 ft., as is shown by the marks left upon the trees by the retiring waters. Vegetation seems only to acquire new energy from these inundations, and the large tupelo sometimes attains the height of 70 ft. or 80 ft., with a diameter of 15 in, or 20 in. immediately above its conical base, and 6 ft. or 7 ft. from the ground. This size continues uniform to the height of 25 ft. or 30 ft. At the surface the trunk is 8 ft. or 9 ft. thick. (Michr. N. Amer. Syl., iii. p. 41.) The leaves of the large tupelo are commonly 5 in. or 6 in. long, and 2 in, or 3 in. broad; but on young and thriving plants they are of twice these dimensions. They are of an oval shape, and are garnished with two or three large teeth, which are irregularly placed, and generally only on one side of the leaf. When the leaves unfold in spring, they are downy; but they become smooth on both sides as they expand. The flowers are numerous though single, and are succeeded by fruit of considerable size, and of a deep blue colour, of which the stone is depressed, and very

1201

distinctly striated. The wood is extremely light and soft; and as, in the arrangement of its fibres, it resembles other species of the same genus, it is employed for making bowls and trays. The roots, also, are tender and light, and they are used by fishermen to buoy up their nets with, instead of cork. (Ibid.) This species is described in Martyn's Miller as the Virginian water tupelo tree, rising, with a strong upright trunk, to the height of 80 ft. or 100 ft., and dividing into many branches towards the top. The drupes, Professor Martyn adds, "are nearly the size and shape of small olives, and are preserved as that fruit is, by the French inhabitants of the Mississippi, where this species of Nýssa greatly abounds, and is called the olive tree. The timber is white and soft when unseasoned, but light and compact when dry; which renders it very proper for bowls, &c." It sometimes varies, in having the leaves quite glabrous, and less deeply toothed.

GENUS II.

OSY RIS L. THE OSYRIS, or POET'S CASIA. Lin. Syst. Dice'cia Triándria. Identification. Lin. Gen. Pl.; Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 715.

Synonyme. Casia Camer., Lob., Alpin., Gesn.

Derivation. The Osuris of Pliny and Dioscorides is so named from ozos, a branch; from the length and pliability of the branches.

■ 1. O. AʼLBA L. The white-flowered Osyris, or Poet's Casia. Identification. Lin. Sp. Pl., 1450.; Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 715.; Roy. Lugdb., 202.; Sauv. Monsp., 56.; Gouan Monsp., 502.; Gron. Orient., 308.; Mill. Dict., No. 1.; Scop. Carn., No. 1215.

Synonymes. O. foliis linearibus acutis Lafl. It., 169.; 0. frutéscens baccifera Bauh. Pin., 212.; Casia poética Monspeliensium Cam. Epit., 26., Lob. Ic., 432; Casia Latinorum Alp. Exot., 41.; Càsia Monspèlii dicta Gesn. Epit., 50. ; weisse Osyris, Ger

Engravings. Lam. Ill., t. 802.; T. Nees ab Esenbeck Gen. Plant. Fl. Ger. Ic. et des Illust., t. 20.; and our fig. 1202.

Spec. Char., &c. A shrub 3-4 ft. high. Stem roundish, striated. Leaves alternate, linear-lanceolate, 1 in. long, entire, glabrous. Flowers upon the branchlets, peduncled. Drupe red, of the size of a pea. (Willd.) A native of Italy, Spain, Montpelier, Libanus, and Carniola. Introduced in 1793, and cultivated by Miller; but we have not seen the plant. The long supple branches of this tree were formerly used for brushes, and they are still used in making crates, or packing-cases in the south of Europe. It is celebrated by Keats for the whiteness of its flowers :

"A dimpled hand,

Fair as some wonder out of Fairy-land,

Hung from his shoulder: like the drooping flowers
Of whitest casia, fresh from summer showers."

Poems, p. 24.

1202

CHAP. XCVII.

OF THE HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS OF THE ORDER ELÆAGNA'CEÆ.

THEY are included in three genera, Elæágnus Tourn., Hippóphae L., and Shepherdia Nutt.; and these have the following characters:

ELEA GNUS Tourn. Flowers, some bisexual; some, in result, male only; both kinds upon one plant.-Bisexual flower. Calyx resembling, internally, a corolla; tubular below, bell-shaped above, with a slightly spreading, lobed, deciduous limb; the lobes mostly 4; the tubular part includes, but is not connate with, the ovary and part of the style, and bears at its mouth a conical crown, through which the style passes. Style long. Stigma clavate or coiled. Stamens arising from the bottom of the bell-shaped part, shorter than it, alternate with its lobes, the filaments adnate to it, except at their tip. Ovary oblong. Ovule 1. Fruit consisting of an achenium, and of the tubular part of the calyx rendered fleshy, and including the achenium. Seed erect. Embryo erect. Male flower. Calyx resembling, internally, a corolla, bell-shaped; it has a limb of 4-6-8 lobes. Stamens of the number of the lobes; otherwise as in the bisexual flower. A conical crown

surrounds the style of an abortive pistil. Species several; arborescent or shrubby; inhabitants of Ceylon, Nepal, Japan, south of Europe, and North America. The fleshy part of the fruit is, in some, catable. Leaves alternate, entire, bearing, as does the bark of growing shoots, scales, or stars of hairs. Flowers axillary, pediceled. (Chiefly T. Nees ab Esenbeck, Gen. Pl. Fl. Germ.,whose elucidation relates to E. angustifolia L.; Lindley; and Ach. Rich.)

HIPPO'PHAE L. Flowers unisexual, those of the two sexes upon distinct plants.― Male flower. Calyx arched, seeming as if constituted of 2 leaves connate at the tip. Stamens 4, not extended out of the calyx. — Female flower. Calyx tubular, cloven at the top, including the ovary, and becoming eventually succulent. Ovary of 1 cell. Ovule 1. Style short. Stigma long, with a longitudinal furrow. Fruit consisting of a polished achenium, that has a slight furrow on one side, and of the calyx, now enlarged, and succulent with an acid juice. Seed erect. Embryo erect. - Two species are known, one wild in Europe, the other in Nepal. The European one is partially spiny. Both have leaves narrow, entire, scaly, and silvery, especially beneath. The succulent part of the fruit is eatable. (T. Nees ab Esenbeck, Gen. Pl. Fl. Germ.; Smith, Eng. Flora; and obs.) SHEPHERDIA Nutt. Flowers unisexual; those of the two sexes upon distinct plants. Male flower. Calyx 4-cleft. Stamens 8, included, as to length, within the calyx; alternate with 8 glands.- Female flower. Calyx bellshaped, its limb 4-parted, flat, the portions equal; its tube? adnate to the ovary. Ovule 1. Style 1. Stigma oblique. Fruit as in Hippophae.-Two species are known, both natives of North America, and having the aspect of Élæágnus; one a small tree, the other a shrub. Their leaves are entire, and bear scales. Male flowers? laterally aggregate, in groups that resemble a catkin. Female flowers smaller than the male ones, shortly pedunculate (Nutt. Gen.): racemose at the ends of the branches (Lindley in Encyc, of Pl.; Nuttall.).

GENUS I.

ELEAGNUS Tourn. THE ELEAGNUS, OLEASTER, or WILD Olive TREE. Lin. Syst. Tetrándria Monogynia.

Identification. Tourn. Cor., 51.; Ach. Rich. Monogr., p. 26.; T. Nees ab Esenbeck, Gen. P1. Fl. Germanicæ; N. Du Ham., 2. p. 87.

Synonymes. Chalef, Fr.; Wilde Oelbaum, Ger.

Derivation. "The claiagnos of Theophrastus was a plant with hoary leaves, growing in marshy places in Arcadia, and was probably a species of Salix, although certainly not S. babylonica, as Sprengel has stated it to be. It was named from its resemblance to the elaia, or olive, from which it differed in not bearing fruit. Dioscorides writes claagros, which means the wild olive; and some botanists have adopted this reading, which is most likely the true one. The plants to which the name Elæágnus is now applied are also something like the olive. The French call the Elæágnus, chalef; a slight alteration, according to Golius, of khalef, the Arabic name of the willow; but more probably of kalaf, the Persian name of the Elæagnus itself." (Lindley in Bot. Reg., t. 1156, adapted.) Olcaster is a Latin word, which is interpreted a wild olive tree; and perhaps it is derived from olea, an olive tree, and instar, likeness.

Description, &c. Deciduous shrubs, or low trees; natives of the south of Europe, the Levant, the Himalayas, and North America. In British gardens, there are two or three species which grow freely in any soil tolerably dry, and are readily propagated by seeds, layers, or cuttings.

1. E. HORTENSIS Bieb. The Garden Elæagnus, Oleaster, or Wild Olive Tree.

Identification. Bieb. Fl. Taur. Cauc., p. 113.

Synonymes. E. angustifolia L., Willd. Sp. Pl., 1. p. 688., Ram. et Schult. Syst. Veg., 3. p. 478., Pall. Fl. Ross, p. 10. t. 4., N. Du Ham., 2. p. 87., Bot. Reg., t 1156.; E. inermis Mill. Dict., No. 2.; E. argenteus Manch Meth., p. 638.; E. orientalis Delisle; ? E. argentea Wats. Dend. Brit., t. 161.; Jerusalem Willow;'Olivier de Bohème, Chalef à Feuilles étroites, Fr. ; schmalblättriger Oleaster, Ger.