CHAP. XCVI. SANTALA CEA. NY’sSA. 1317 
¥ 1. N. Birto‘ra Michy, The twin-flowered Nyssa, or Tupelo Tree. 
Identification. Michx. F). Bor. Amer., 2. p. 259. ; Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. Pp. 1113. 
Synonymes. N. aquatica Lin. Sp. Pl, 1511., Hort. Cliff, 462., Du Rot Harbk., \. p.444., Michz. N. 
Amer. Syl., iii. p. 36. ; N.caroliniana L. ; N. integrifdlia Ait. Hort. Kew, 3. p. 446., Smith in Rees’s 
Cyclop. ; N. pedanculis unifldris Gron. Virg., 121. ; Mountain Tupelo, Mart. Mill. ; Gum Tree, Sour 
Gum Tree, Peperidge, Amer. 
Engravings. Catesb, Car., 1. t.41. ; Pluk. Alm., t. 172. f.6.; and our figs. 1195, 1196. 
Spec. Char., §c. Leaves ovate-oblong, entire, acute at both ends, glabrous. 
Female flowers two upon a peduncle. (Willd. Sp. Pl., iv. p. 1113.) The 
drupe is-short and obovate, and the nut striated. (Michauw.) <A decidu- 
1195 ous tree,a native of Virginia and Ca- 1196 
rolina, in watery places, where it 
grows to the height of 40 ft. or 45 ft. ; 
flowering in April and May. It was 
introduced in 1739, and is one of the 
most common sorts in British collec- 
tions. The tupelo tree is most abun- 
dant in the southern parts of New 
York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, 
= where it grows only in wet ground; 
\Q) having a clear stem, of a uniform size, 
: from the base to the height of 5 ft. or WP 
6 ft., where it throws out horizontal branches. On old trees the bark is 
* thick, deeply furrowed, and, unlike that of every other tree, divided into 
hexagons, which are sometimes nearly regular.” (Michxr. N. Amer. Syl., iii. 
p- 37). The leaves are smooth, slightly glabrous below, and often united 
in bunches at the extremity of the young lateral shoots. The flowers are 
small, and scarcely apparent; but the fruit, which is always abundant, and 
attached in pairs, is of a deep blue colour, and is ornamental, remaining on 
the tree after the falling of the leaf, and affording food for birds. “ The 
tupelo holds a middle place between trees with hard and those with soft 
wood. When perfectly seasoned, the sap-wood is of a light reddish tint, 
and the heart-wood of a deep brown. Of trees exceeding 15 in. or 18in. 
in diameter, more than half the trunk is hollow.” (MJichx.) The timber 
of the tupelo is of little value, but, from its peculiar organisation (the fibres 
being united in bundles, and interwoven like a braided cord), it is extremely 
difficult to split. It is on this account much esteemed in America for 
wooden bowls. As fuel, it burns slowly, and diffuses a great heat. “At 
Philadelphia, many persons, when making their provision of wood for the 
winter, select a certain proportion of the tupelo, which is sold separately, 
for logs.” (Michx.). In British gardens it does not appear that much 
pains have ever been taken to encourage the growth of this or any other 
species of Nyssa ; for though there are abundance of plants to be procured 
in the nurseries, yet there are very few of a tree-like size to be seen in 
pleasure-grounds. The largest tupelo tree that we know of in England is 
at the Countess of Shaftesbury’s villa at Richmond, where it is 45 ft. high, 
and has atrunk 1 ft. 4in.in diameter. There are, also, a tree in Lee’s Nursery 
20 ft. high ; one in the grounds of the villa of the late Mr. Vere, at Kensing- 
ton Gore, about 15 ft. high; one at the Duke of Wellington’s, at Strathfield- 
saye, 30 ft. high; and some at White Knights; from all of which, except that 
at Lady Shaftesbury’s, we have received specimens when in flower, and all 
these were male blossoms. At Schwobber, in Hanover (see p. 148.), there is 
a nyssa 40 ft. high. To insure the prosperity of the tree, it ought always to be 
planted in moist peat, or near water. The trees at Strathfieldsaye and at 
Schwobber are in moist meadows, on a level with the water of adjoining rivers. 
y 
¥ 2. N.(B.) vitto'sa Michr. The hairy-leaved Nyssa, or Tupelo Tree. 
aie Michx. FI. Bor. Amer., 2. p. 258, ; Willd. Sp. Pl, 4 p.1112.; Pursh Fl. Amer., Sept., 
> yeh 
Synonymes. N. sylvatica Mich. N. Amer. Syl., 3. ay 33., Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836; N. multifldra Wan- 
- Amer., 46. t.16. f. 39, ; N. montana Hort.; N. pedinculis multifldris Gron. Virg., 121. ; Sour 
Gum Tree, Black Gum, Yellow Gum, Amer. ; haariger Tulpelobaum, Ger. 
Engravings. Wangenh. Amer., t. 16. f. 39. ; — N. Amer, Syl, 3, t. 110, ; and our/igs. 1197, 1198, 
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