WHITISH-LEAVED NYIWA. 



427 



in the adjoining figure. When the leaves unfold in spring, they are downy; but 

 as they expand, they become smooth on both sides. The flowers, which appear 

 in April or May, are numerous, though single, and are succeeded by fruit of con- 

 siderable size, and of a deep-blue colour, of 

 which the stone is depressed, and very distinctly 

 striated. The wood is extremely white and 

 soft, when unseasoned, but light and hard 

 when dry; and, as in the arrangement of its 

 fibres, it resembles the other trees of the same 

 genus, it is employed for making bowls and 

 trays. The roots are also tender and light, and 

 are used by fishermen to buoy up their nets, 

 instead of cork. This variety is described in 

 Miller's "Dictionary," as the Virginian water 

 tupelo-tree, rising, with a strong, upright trunk, 

 to a height of eighty or one hundred feet, and 

 dividing into many branches towards the top. 

 The drupes are represented as being nearly the 

 size and shape of small olives, and, like that 

 fruit, is preserved by the French inhabitants of 

 the Mississippi, where this tree greatly abounds, 

 and is there called the "Olive-tree." It grows 

 chiefly in the southern parts of the United States; and Michaux observes that it 

 is always found in company with the long-leaved pine, (Pinus palustris.) and 

 the cypress (Taxodium distichum.) In South Carolina and Georgia, it is con- 

 stantly found growing with the over-cup oak, (Q,uercus lyrata.) the water locust, 

 (Gleditschia monosperma,) the cotton- woods, (Populus canadensis,) the Carolinian 

 poplar, (Populus angulata.) and the water bitter-nut hickory (Carya aquatica) ; 

 intermixed with which it composes the dark impenetrable forests that cover the 

 miry swamps on the borders of the rivers, to the distance of one or two hundred 

 miles from the ocean. The presence of these trees is considered as an infallible 

 proof of the depth and fertility of the soil, and, consequently, of its fitness for the 

 culture of the vine.* 



Geography, iS^c. The Nyssa candicans makes its first appearance, according 

 to Michaux, on the river Ogechee, near the road from Savannah to Sudbury, and, 

 in proceeding southward, it is seen in every favourable situation. This appears 

 to be the species which is said to be described by Marshall, from Bartram's cata- 

 logue, " as a tree of great singularity and beauty, rising to the height of thirty feet : 

 the fruit of which is of a deep scarlet colour, and of the size of a Damascene plum. 

 It has an agreeable acid taste, whence it is called the lime-tree." Bartram calls 

 it Nyssa coccinea, and says that there is no tree which exhibits a more dcsiral)le 

 appearance than this, in autumn, when the fruit is ripe, and the tree is partly 

 divested of its leaves; for then, "the remainder looks as red as scarlet, and the 

 fruit is of that colour also." " The most northern habitation of this tree yet 

 known," he adds, " is on the Great Ogechee, where it is called the Ogechee lime, 

 from its acid fruit being about the size of limes, and being sometimes used in 

 their stead." 



Uses, S^c. The wood of tiiis tree is soft, and unfit for any particular use in 

 the arts. Its fruit is sold in the Savannah market, under the name of " Ogechee 

 Limes," for the purpose of preserving in sugar, which, when properly prepared, 

 is said to possess a most delicate and delicious flavour. 



* Michaux, North American Sylva. 



