424 



NYSSA BIFLORA. 



^er Tupchtbatim. of the Germans; Mainifdin Tiijirlo-tree, Sour Gum-free, Black 



This variety, whicli attains a 



the Aiiglo-Ain<'ri(MMS. 



Giitn. Ycl/ijir (tui/i. of 



height of sixty or seventy feet, is a native of 

 Maryhmd, Virginia, and of the western states, 

 where it grows on high and level ground, asso- 

 ciated with oaks and walnuts; hut in the lower 

 parts of Carolina and (ieorgia, it is foimd only 

 in moist or wet places, with the Magnolia glauca, 

 Laurus carolinensis, (red bay,) (jJordonia lasian- 

 thns, (loblolly bay,) and the Uucrcus aquatica 

 (water oak.) In the latter situations, it ex- 

 hibits a very remarkable singularity of vege- 

 tation, often having a trunk eighteen or twenty 

 feet in lieight, with a diameter of seven or eight 

 inches, at the surface of the ground, and ojily 

 two or three inches at a foot above ; but the 

 proportions vary in different individuals. This 

 tree appears to differ but a very little from the 

 species, except in its greater height, and in the 

 downiness of the petioles of the leaves. The 

 fruit is of about the same shape, size, and col- 

 our, generally produced in pairs on similar peduncles, and the wood is of the 

 same description, fine-grained, and tough. The alburnum of the trunks of trees 

 growing upon dry and elevated lands, is yellow; and thjs colour, being consid- 

 ered by wheelwrights as a proof of the superior quality of the wood, has probably 

 given rise to the name of "yellow gum," which is sometimes applied to the spe- 

 cies. Throughout the greater part of Virginia, this wood is employed for the 

 naves of coach and wagon wheels. At Richmond, Baltimore, Philadelphia, &c., 

 it is preferred for hatters' blocks, to any other wood, being but little liable to spUt. 

 in the southern states, it is employed for the cylinders which receive the cogs of 

 rice mills. It is also sometimes chosen by shipwrights for the caps or pieces that 

 receive the topmasts. 



Geography and History. The Nyssa biflora begins to appear in the lower 

 part of New Hampshire, where the climate is tempered by the ocean ; and, in 

 progressing southward, it is found most abundantly in the easterly parts of New 

 York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; but in Virginia and Carolina, it is more 

 sparingly produced, and, as in the north, it always occurs in moist ground or in 

 watery places. 



This species was introduced into Britain in 1739, and is not unfrequent in 

 European and American collections. The largest recorded tree in Europe, is at 

 the Countess of Shaftesbury's villa, in Richmond, England, which, in 1836, was 

 forty-five feet high, with a trunk sixteen inches in diameter. 



At Schwcibber, in Hanover, Germany, there is another specimen, which, in 

 sixty years after planting, had attained the height of forty feet, with a wide- 

 spreading head, and branches drooping to the ground. It is planted in a low, 

 moist situation, and the roots, which extend to a great distance, send up innumer- 

 able suckers. In autumn, the leaves, before dropping off, become as red as blood. 



On the seat of the late Mr. Astor, near Hurl-gate, New York, there is a tree of 

 this species, vi^hich has attamed a height of more than forty feet, with a trunk a 

 foot in diameter. 



Propagation, S^c. The Nyssa biflora may be multiplied by seeds, and by cut- 

 tings or layers ; and, to insure the prosperity of the tree, it ought always to be 

 planted in moist peat, near water. A splendid specimen at Strathfieldsaye, on 

 the estate of the Duke of Wellington, as well as the tree above referred to, at 



