298 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 in 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 becoming rag- 

 ged at an earlier age than in most trees. On the young and 

 vigorous branches, the leaves are often eight or ten inches long, 

 by four or five broad, and of an oblong shape. The bark is 

 tough and mucilaginous, with abundant mucilage beneath it. 

 The flowers 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- 

 cilage, 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 



