HARDY TREES AND SHRUBS, 161 



easy culture in common soil, and propagated by suckers, division of the roots, 

 seeds, and cuttings. They are all considered medicinal, being powerfully 

 astringent, and were formerly in great request by herbalists. 



Genus II. 

 Androsaemum, (Tastan,) Polyadelphia Polyandria. — This is a valuable plant for 

 growing under trees, and in almost any soil, propagated by division of the roots- 



OEDEE XIII.— ACEEACEiE. 



Deciduous trees or shrubs, natives of the temperate climates of Europe, 

 North America, and Asia. The species in our gardens are included in the 

 two following genera: — 



Acer — Flowers, polygamous; leaves, lobed. 



Negundo — Flowers, dioecious; leaves, pinnate. 



Genus I. 



Acer, {Maple,) Polygamia Monaecia. — These are useful timber trees, propa- 

 gated by seeds, layers, grafts, and by cuttings. The seeds of all the species 

 may be sown in autumn, after they are gathered, or in spring. They come 

 up, when sown in spring, in five or six weeks, with the exception of A. 

 campestre, which seldom comes up till the third year. Sugar is one of the 

 constituent parts of all of them. The ashes of the Sugar Maple, (A. saccharinum,) 

 are rich in the alkaline principle, and it may be confidently asserted that they 

 furnish four-fifths of the potash exported to Europe from Boston and New York. 



Genus II. 



Negundo, ( Box Elder,) Dioecia Pentandria. — There is only one species in our 

 gardens, namely, Negundo fraxinifolium, propagated by seeds, layers, and cuttings. 



OEDEE XIV.— iESCULACE^. 



Deciduous trees, natives of North America and Asia; by most botanists 

 they are included in one genus, namely, 



^sculus, {Horse-chestnut,) Heptandria Monogynia. — The common Horse- 

 chestnut is invariably propagated from the nuts, which are sown in the 

 autumn or spring; the others by grafts, budding, and by cuttings. In France 

 the Sabot is made from the common, and it is sometimes used by carvers and 

 turners. It is also well suited for water-pipes which are underground. The 

 ashes of the plant, and particularly the fruit, afford potash in quantity. The 

 bark, which is very bitter, is employed for tanning, and also for dyeing yellow; 

 . and it is sometimes used as a substitute for Jesuits' Bark. In some countries 

 the nuts are ground and mixed with horses' food; they are excellent food for 

 deer, sheep, goats, and hogs. In Ireland they are used to whiten flaxen 

 cloth; for this purpose they are rasped into water, in which they are allowed 

 to macerate for some time. The nuts, when ground, are sometimes used in 

 book-binder's paste. Soap and starch has also been made from the nuts. We 

 are told in Stephenson and Churchill's "Medical Botany," that the remarkable 

 vegetable principle, called JEsculine, is found in this genus, and is said to 

 possess alkaline properties, and to act as a febrifuge. 



