DENDROLOGY. 



223 



The wood of the large tupelo is extremely light and softer 

 than that of any other tree of the United States. In the 

 arrangement of its fibres it resembles the other species of the 

 genus. The only use to which it is applied is for bowls and 

 trays, for which it is well adapted, as it is wrought with great 

 facility. Its roots, also, are tender and light, and are sometimes 

 employed by fishermen to buoy up their nets. Bruised in water 

 its fruit yields a fine purple juice whose color is tenacious ; but 

 the quantity is too minute to afford resources in dyeing. 



Black Gum. JYyssa sylvatica. 



On the banks of the 

 Schuylkill and in the vicinity 

 of Philadelphia may be as- 

 sumed as the northern boun- 

 dary of this tree ; though it 

 is common in the woods on 

 the road from Philadelphia 

 to Baltimore. In all the 

 more southern states, both 

 east and west of the Alle- 

 ghanies, it is more or less 

 multiplied, as the soil is 

 more or less favorable to its 

 growth. It is designated by 

 the name of Black Gum, 

 Yellow Gum and Sour Gum, 

 none of which is founded 

 upon any of its characteristic properties ; but as they have become 

 sanctioned by use, however ill-chosen, we have adopted the first, 

 which is the most common. The vegetation of this tree exhibits 

 a remarkable singularity : in Maryland, Virginia and the Western 

 States, where it grows on high level grounds, with the oaks and 

 walnuts, it is distinguished by no peculiarity of form : in the 

 lower part of the Carolinas and of Georgia, where it is found 

 only in wet places with the small magnolia, the red bay, the 



PLATE LX. 

 Fig. 1. A leaf. Fi<*. 2. The fruit. 



