Nj/ssa bijlora, 



THE TWIN-FLOWERED NYSSA. 



Synonymes. 



Nt/ssa aquatica, 



Nyssa bijlora, 



Tupelo biriore, Tupelo aquatique, 



Zweibliimiger Tupelobauin, 



Tupelo bifloro, 



Tupelo-tree, 



Tupelo-tree, Gum-tree, Yellow Gum-tree, 



Sour Gum-tree, Peperidge-tree, Pipper- 



idge-tree. Wild Pear-tree, 



LiNN^ns, Species Plantarum. 



MicHAUX, North American Sylva. 



Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum. 



France. 



Germany. 



Italy. 



Britain. 



Anglo-America. 



Derivation. The specific name 6//?ora is derived from the Latin binus, by couples, and ^oreo, to blossom , havin? refer- 

 ence to ihe female flowers of this tree occurring in pairs. Tupelo appears to be the aboriginal name of this species. Gum-tri^t 

 is wholly misapplied, as no self condensing fluid distils from the tree. The French, German, and Italian names have the same 

 signification as the botanical one. 



Engravings. Michaux, North American Sylva, pi. Ill ; Catesby, Natural History of Carolina, i., pi. 41 ; Audubon, Birds of 

 America, ii., pi. cxxxiii ; Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum, iii., figs. 1195 et 1196, and vii., pi. 220; and the figures below. 



Specific Characters. Leaves ovate-oblong, entire, acute at both ends, glabrous. Female flowers two upor 

 a peduncle. Drupe short, and obovate, with the nut striated. 



Descrlptioti. 



^SSD^^HE Nyssa biflora, in an uncul- 



^ h H M, tivated state, seldom rises above 



^^ LI (^ forty or fifty feet, with a trunk 



^.^^^ fifteen or twenty inches in di- 

 ameter. Its branches spring from the main stem, 

 five or six feet above the ground, usually affecting 

 a horizontal direction ; and the young shoots of 

 the first two years are commonly simple, and 

 widely divergent from the branches. The trunk, 

 while it is less than ten inches in diameter, has 

 nothing remarkable in its appearance, but on full- 

 grown and vigorous stocks, the bark is thick and 

 deeply furrowed, which, unlike that of most other 

 trees, is divided into hexagons, that are sometimes 

 very regular. Tlie leaves are about three inches 

 long, ovate-oblong, entire, slightly glaucous be- 

 neath, alternate, and are often united in bunches 

 at the extremities of the young shoots. The flowers, which put forth in April or 

 May, are small, and scarcely apparent; but the fruit, which is usually abundant, 

 and attached in pairs on peduncles one or two inches in length, is about the size 

 of a pea, of a deep-blue colour, and is highly ornamental. It is ripe m October, 

 and, remaining upon the trees after the falling of the leaves, it serves for a part 

 of the food of the American robins, (Turdiis migratorius,) in thoir annual migra- 

 tions to the south. Tiie stone of the fruit is compressed on one side, slightly con- 

 vex on the other, and longitudinally striated. 



Variety. N. b. villosa, Loudon. Iluiry-Icnvcd Nyssa ; Nyssa sylra/ira, of 

 Michaux; Tupilo dcs tenxiiiis sees ; Tnpilo de montagne, of the FrtMich; Ilaari- 



