312 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



without notice. The one is the Planer tree, Planera ulmifolia, 

 of Michaux, which is found on the banks of the Mississippi, 

 and in Kentucky and Tennessee. The other is the Zelkoua 

 or Tselkwa, Planera Richardi, 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 leave.s 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 Balsama- 

 cecB, 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, Liquid- 

 ambar styraciflua, whose star-like leaves are so conspicuously 

 beautiful in the woods of New Jersey in autumn. 



FAMILY XI. THE SANDAL WOOD FAMILY. SANTADACEJE. 



R. Brown. 



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 are 

 alternate, and undivided. In North America, it includes trees, 



