Lyouia arboi-ea, 



THE TREE LYONIA. 



Synonymes. 



Andromeda arborea, 



Lyonia arborea, 



Andromede en arbre, Arbre a I'oseille, 



Sauerampferbaum, 



Albero dell' Andromeda, Albero dell' 



acetosa, 

 Sorrel-tree, 



I Linn;eus, Species Plantarum. 

 IMiriiAUx, North American Sylva. 

 DoiN, Miller's Dictionary. 

 Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum. 

 France. 

 Germany. 



Italy. 



Britain and Anglo-America. 



Dentations. The specific name arborea ia derived from the Latin arbor, a tree ; on account of Itie larjre size which lhi 

 species attains. It is called Sorrel-tree from the acidity of its leaves. The French, German, and Italian names signify Androm- 

 e<(alree, and Sorrel-tree. 



Engravings. Michaux, North American Sylva, pi. 85; Catesby, Natural History of Carolina, i., pi. 71; and the figures 

 below. 



Specifc Characters. Branches taper. Leaves deciduous, oblong, acuminate, serrate, with mucronate 

 teeth, glabrous, acid. Flowers in terminal panicles of many racemes. Corollas white, ovoid-cylindri- 

 cal; downy. Don, Miller's Vict. 



Description. 



F all the species of the ^ 

 genus, the Lyonia arbo- "~^ 

 P rea is the only one which 



^^^^ rises to a sufficient height 



to be ranked among trees. In favourable sit- 

 uations, it usually grows to a height of from 

 forty to sixty feet, with a trunk from twelve 

 to eighteen inches in diameter; but, in dry 

 and gravelly soils this tree is observed to be 

 so much stinted that it presents itself only in 

 the form of a shrub. The bark of the trunk 

 is very thick, and deeply furrowed. The 

 leaves, which are downy in the spring, and 

 become smooth and glabrous in acquiring 

 their growth, are alternate, oval-acuminate, 

 finely denticulated, and from four to five 

 inches long. The flowers, which put forth from June to August, occur in white 

 'spikes five or six inches in length, and are succeeded by small capsules contain- 

 ing a number of exceedingly minute seeds. United in groups, the flowers have 

 a fine efiect, which renders this tree very proper for the embellishment of gardens 

 and ornamental plantations. 



Geography and History. This species is indigenous to the United States, 

 from Pennsylvania to Florida ; and is found in the valleys of the Alleghanies 

 from Virginia to their termination in Georgia ; but, in advancing either east- 

 ward or westward from these mountains, it becomes more rare, and ceases 

 entirely in the maritime parts of the southern states. It was introduced into Brit- 

 ain in 1752, where it is found in several collections, from fifteen to twenty feet 

 in height, and ripens seeds every year, from which an abundance of plants have 

 been raised. 



