284 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



CHAPTER III. 



PLANTS WHOSE FLOWERS ARE WITHOUT PETALS, AND NOT ARRANGED 



IN AMENTS. 



FAMILY X. THE ELM FAMILY. ULMACEJE. 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, five, 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'lrnus, 

 whose fruit is a samara; and the Nettle Tree, Celtis, whose 

 fruit is a stone fruit or drupe. A third genus, Planera, is found 

 in the Southern States, and might be cultivated here. 



