DENDROLOGY. 127 



particularly on the principal ribs ; they are late in venturing out 

 in the spring, and are among the first to shrink at the approach 

 of autumn. The flowers which are collected in large bunches 

 at the extremity of the branches, are white, with violet and 

 yellow spots, and are beautiful and showy. The capsules are 

 cylindrical and pendent, of a brown color when ripe, three or 

 four lines in diameter and twelve or fifteen inches in length. 

 The seeds are thin, flat and developed in a long, narrow, 

 membraneous wing terminated by a hairy tuft. Each seed, with 

 its wing, is about an inch long, and a line and a half broad. 



That, the catalpa is a tree of rapid growth is proved by the 

 distance of the annual concentric circles. Its wood is of a 

 grayish white color, of a fine texture, very light, and very 

 brilliant when polished. It resembles the butternut wood, with 

 this exception, that the butternut wood is of a reddish hue, and 

 is less durable when exposed to the weather. Posts of the 

 catalpa perfectly seasoned have been proved to be very durable. 

 In the spring, if a bit of the cellular integument of the catalpa 

 bark is removed, a venomous and offensive odor is exhaled. In 

 a thesis supported at the Medical College of Philadelphia, this 

 bark is maintained to be tonic, stimulant, and more powerfully 

 antiseptic than the Peruvian bark. It is stated that the honey 

 collected from the flowers of this tree is poisonous, and that its 

 effects, though less alarming, are analogous to those of honey of 

 the yellow jasmine. Its bark is considered to be a good antidote 

 for the bite of snakes, the machineel poison, etc. 



CARPINUS. 



Monoecia Poljandria. Linn. Amentaceae. Juss. Astringent, tonic, emollient. 



American Hornbeam. Carpinus Americana. 



The American Hornbeam is found as far north as Nova Scotia, 

 New Brunswick and Lower Canada ; but it is repressed by the 

 severity of the climate, and is less multiplied than in New Jersey, 

 Pennsylvania and the Southern States. By the Americans it is 

 called Hornbeam, and by the French of Upper Louisiana Charme. 



