500 



ULMUS AMERICANA. 



(ler foot-stalks, and aro united in ])nnchos at the extremity of the brandies. The 

 seeds, which are contained in Ikit oval, fringed capsnles, iiolclied at the base, 

 arrive at niatnrity, in the northern parts of the United .Slates, frni the middle of 

 -May to the first of .Inne. 



Vdi-irfics. The Ulmns americana, like its Enropean congener, has compara- 

 tively, the same aptitude to vary from seeds, and has already given rise to seve- 

 ral varieties ; but, as such a state of confusion exists in botanical works, not only 

 as relates to the American elms, but to all others of the genus, and as the obser- 

 vations and experiments as regards their culture and growth, have been some- 

 what limited, it is diliicult to determine whether they all belong to one race, or 

 consist of several distinct species, a problem which can never be satisfactorily 

 solved before they arc studied and cultivated under the most varied circum- 

 stances, during a period of several years. As with the European elms, we have 

 classified them all under one head, giving, as usual, among our synonymes, the 

 names under which they are described as species, by one or more authors. 



1. U. A. suBSEssiLiFOLiA. Subsesslle-leaved American Ebii ; Ulmns americana^ 

 of authors ; a large tree, with divergent branches, indigenous chiefly to the Alle- 

 ghany Mountains, sometimes attaining a height of seventy or eighty feet. The 

 leaves, which are three or four inches long, are subsessile, ovate-acuminate, 

 doubly serrate, oblique, and sub-cordate at the base, rough above, aiid slightly 

 pubescent beneath. 



2. U. A. ALBA, Loudon. Whitish-branched American Elm ; a tree native of 

 Tiouisiana and other states, growing to a height of fifty or sixty feet, having long, 

 flexible, hanging branches, with whitish bark. The leaves are oblong, obliquely- 

 acute at the base, doubly-denticulate, rough and lucid above, and villous beneath. 



3. U. A. PENDULA, Loudon. Pendulous-branched American Elm. 



4. U. A. RUBRA, Loudon. Reddish-branched American Elm, with the branches 

 red, and the leaves ovate, rugose, and rough. 



5. U. A. FOLus vARiEGATis, Loudou. Variegated-kaved American Elm. 



6. U. A. RACEMosA. Raccmose-Jlowered American Elm ; XJlmus racemosa, of 

 \uttall, Gray and Torrey, and others ; Orme a grappe, of the French ; Traiiben- 

 TJl7ne, of the Germans ; Thomas' Elm, Norhern Cork-barked Elm, of the Anglo- 

 Americans. This variety was first described 

 and figured by Mr. David Thomas, of Cayuga 

 county, in the state of New York, in the nine- 

 teenth volume of Silliman's " American Journal 

 of Science and Art." It abounds throughout 

 western New York, and is also found in Can- 

 ada and Vermont. The large primary branches 

 produce corky excrescences, somewhat like 

 those of the wahoo elm (Ulmus a. alata.) 

 The leaves are broadly-ovate, acuminate, doubly- 

 serrated, glabrous, and somewhat shining above, 

 with the under surface and ribs slightly pubes- 

 cent. The flowers, which are yellow, and appear 

 in April or May, are small, distinctly pedicellate, 

 and, unlike those of any other elm, are dis- 

 posed in racemes, composed of several clusters 

 of two to four together, and extending from the 

 length of from one inch to two inches and a 

 half, often furnished with one or two small, but 

 perfect leaves, before the opening of the termi- 

 nal buds. The samarge are large, of an elliptic form, very pubescent, thickly 

 fringed on the margin, with their membranes more extended on one side, as indi- 



