Planera iibmfolia, 

 THE ELM-LEAVED PLANERA. 



Synonymes. 



Flanera ulmifolia, 



Planera gmelini, 



Planera a feuilles d'orme, 

 Ulmenblattrige Planera, 

 Planera a foglie di olmo, 

 Gmelin's Planera, Planer-tree, 



MicHAUX, North American Sylva. 



IMicHAUx, Flora Boreali- Americana. 



PuRSH, Flora Americae Septentrionalis. 



LouDo.v, Arboretum Brilannicum. 



France. 



Germany. 



Italy. 



Britain and Anglo- Amebic a. 



Engravings. Michaux, North American Sylva, pi. 130; Loudon, Arboretum Brilannicum, iii., fig. 1251; and the figures 

 below. 



Specific Characters. Flowers in heads, opening before the leaves, and borne on branches or branchlets 

 developed in some year previous. Leaves with obvious petioles, disk ovate-acuminate, equal at the 

 base, and serrate. 



Description. 



PsS^^'^^HE Pxanera lumifolia is a large shrub 

 ^ h H 1^ or low tree, growing to a height of 



twenty to forty feet, with a trunk 

 from twelve to fifteen inches in diam- 



eier. The leaves are about an inch and a half long, oval- 

 acuminate, denticulated, of a lively green on the upper sur- 

 face, and gray beneath, much resembling those of the Ulmus 

 campestris, except in being serrated with equal teeth. The 

 flowers, which appear early, and before the leaves, occur at the 

 ends of the branches, in globose heads, and upon very short 

 foot-stalks. They are small, of a greenish-brown colour, and are not all conspic- 

 uous. The fruit, which is small, oval, inflated, and rough, becomes brown before 

 the fall of the leaves, and contains minute seeds. 



Geography, ^c. This species is a native of North America, where it is found 

 in Kentucky, Tennessee, the country bordering on the Mississippi, and through- 

 out most of the southern states, particularly in the large swamps on the borders 

 of the river Savannah, in Georgia. It was introduced into Britain in 1S16, but 

 is rare in collections; though it might readily be multiplied by grafting on the 

 elm. 



Properties and Uses. The wood of the Planera ulmifolia, according to ^lichaux. 

 is hard, strong, and seemingly proper for various uses; but, as it is somewhat 

 rare, and rather limited in its growth, it is not appropriated to any particular use 

 in the arts. 



