94 



by the late Mr. "Wm. Oakes. Mr. S. P. Fowler states that a tree some 

 10 inches in diameter formerly stood in Topsfield. The only localities 

 we now know for this rare tree are at the summit of one of the dunes 

 at Plumb Island, where there are several trees apparently some forty 

 years old, yet scarcely fifteen feet high, most of them being much 

 smaller, with a diameter of three inches at the but'; and the fine speci- 

 mens between Salem and Lynn. Among the trees in the last named 

 locality, one specimen is 



Circumfereuce 4 feet 1 inch, at 1 foot from the groiiiid. 



" 3 " 3 inches, at 3 feet from the ground. 



Height, 20 feet. 



Two others are nearly as large. 



MoRus Alba, il/. rubra, and M. nigra, are to be found cultivated, 

 some of them occasionally reaching large size. 



PLATANACEja. 



(PLANE TREE Family.) 



Platamis occidentalism L. (Buttonwood.) It is difficult to say 

 whether this tree is a true native of the county or not, but, judging 

 from the situation of some old trees, it seems very probable that it 

 may be. There are few trees of this species which now have other 

 than a rough and straggling appearance, as they seldom recover from 

 the efl'ect of a severe season before another shock returns them to 

 their former forlorn condition. The trees in cultivation often are 

 found of great size, varying from 10 to 18 feet in circumference, and 

 often 75 feet high. 



JUGLANDACE^. 



(WALNUT Family.) 

 Juglans cinerea, L. (Butternut.) This is a tree of rapid 

 growth, but short lived. It is abundant in Danvers, Topsfield, and 

 the towns in that region. When growing with other trees it often 

 reaches a height of 60 feet, but alone, as it is usually seen, it rarely 

 exceeds 40 feet. Trees rather more than twenty years old are often 

 4 feet in circumference 6 inches from the ground. Several specimens 

 measured by Mr. Sears in Topsfield were 8 and 9 feet in circumfereuce, 

 while an old tree felled in Danvers measured, in 1873, where it was 



cut oflT, 



Circumference 12 feet 6 inches 



" 10 " 5 " 4feetahove. 



This tree was, however, unsound. The fruit of the Butternut when 

 properly dried has a most excellent flavor. 



Juglans nigra, L. (Black Walnut.) A native farther west, but 

 probably introduced here, although Mr. J. C. Peabody, of Newbury- 



