DIRCA PALUSTRIS. 
Leather Wood. 
PLATE XXXVI, 
Tue diversity of climate in different latitudes 
of the United States does not prevent this shrub 
from appearing in the most rigorously cold as 
well as in the warmest sections of the country. 
I have seen it growing plentifully on the banks 
of the Kennebec, in Maine, and Mr. Bartram 
found it in great vigour on the Savannah river in 
Georgia. It is a marshy shrub frequenting low 
woods and the vicinity of water, flowering in April 
and May. It is commonly of humble growth, 
though Mr. Bartram found specimens six or 
seven feet in height. It is remarkable for the 
flexibility of its wood and toughness of its bark, 
which are so great that it cannot be broken with- 
out great difficulty. The Aborigines employed 
