lOG MACLURA AURANTIACA. 



aiifl an inch or more in Icnetli. TIio main (lowrrs, wliicli put forth in April or 

 M.iy. are inconspicuous, n(\irly ltcmmi, with a slight tinge of yellow, and occur in 

 small, peduneuluied, axillary umbels. " 'I'he female capitulum consists of a 

 congeries of tiowcrs united into a globular form, about the size of a cherry; they 

 consist also in a calyx of four divisions, but less regular than the male. The 

 styles and stigmas, one to each germ, are three-fourths of an inch long, giving to 

 the anient the appearance of a tuft of long, pubescent threads."* The fruit, 

 which matures at l^hiladelphia, in September or October, is of the size and gen- 

 eral appt'arance, at a distance, of a large Seville orange. It consists of numer- 

 ous, ratliating. somewhat woody fibres, termitiating in a verrucose, reticulated 

 surface, resembling that of a truffle, or the bread-fruit; and contains, when j)er- 

 fect, numerous, obovate, depressed seeds (or nuts, as they are botanically termed,) 

 about the size of those of an orange, and a considerable quantity of a sweetish, 

 lacteous tluid, which, when exposed to the action of the air, coagulates like 

 milk. 



Geography and History. The Madura anrantiaca is indigenons to Arkansas, 

 Texas, and upper Missouri, and is cultivated for ornament or nse, in most of the 

 collections and gardens, both in Europe and in America. It is perfectly hardy 

 in the climate of London, and of New York, and has ripened its fruit at Lyons, 

 at Clairvaiix, near Chatelleraiilt, and at Montpellier, in France; at Monza, in 

 Italy: and in the United States, as far north as Philadelphia; but as we proceed 

 eastward or northward of that city, although the tree snrvives the winters in the 

 vicinity of Boston, without much protection, it begins to dwindle, and at Mon- 

 treal, in Canada, it will barely live. 



This species was first noticed by the travellers, Hnnter and Dunbar, on the 

 banks of Red River, and in the deep, fertile bottoms of the adjacent valley. It 

 was also observed along the rivers Arkansas and Canadian, by Dr. James, in 

 Major Long's expedition, the banks of the former being considered as its north- 

 ernmost limit, as an indigenous tree. It was first cultivated among the white 

 settlers of the west, in about the year 1800, in the garden of M. Chonteau, at St. 

 Louis, on the Mississippi, where it was propagated from some seeds procured from 

 -a village of Osage Indians; whence it obtained its popular name. It was subse- 

 quently planted in the nursery of the late Mr. M'Mahon, of Philadelphia, from 

 seeds collected by Lewis and Clarke, on their western expedition, in 1803 to 1805 ; 

 and shortly after, in the garden of Mr. Landreth, in Federal street, of the same 

 city, where, one of the original trees still exists, and has attained the height of 

 thirty feet, with a large, round head, and a trunk two feet in diameter. This 

 tree annually produces fruit, which has been rendered perfect, by tying on the 

 branches, when in bloom, stameniferous flowers, obtained from a distant tree. 

 The trees propagated by Mr. M'Mahon, were planted two and two, each pair 

 being about four hundred feet apart. In the year 1831, it was discovered that 

 one of these trees produced larger fruit than the others, and that this fruit con- 

 tained perfect seeds. Two of the other trees produced smaller fruit, but the seeds 

 they contained were abortive; while one of the trees was entirely barren. The 

 next year, it was further discovered, that the barren tree Avas a male plant; and 

 that the one by its side that had produced perfect seeds, was a female. f 



At Beaver Dam, in Virginia, a female tree of this species, with a large, globular 

 head, yielded, in 1835, one hundred and fifty fruits, many of wliich weighed 

 eighteen or nineteen ounces each. 



There is also a cultivated tree of this sort, in the Bartram botanic garden, at 

 Kingsessing, which has attained the height of twenty feet, with a trunk ten 

 inches in diameter, and fruits freely every year. 



* Nmtall, North American Sylva, p. 129. f American Gardener's Magazine, ii., p. 77. 



