460 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. _ PART III. 
Genus II. 
NEGU’NDO Mench. Tue Necunpo, or Box ELDER. Lin. Syst. 
Dice‘cia Pentandria. 
Identification. Mecench. Meth., 334.; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 596.; Don’s Mill., 1. p. 647. and 651. 
Synonymes. A°cer Lin. ; Negéndium Rafinesque. 
Derivations. This genus was constituted from A‘cer Neguindo L.; but the meaning of the latter word 
is unknown. Probably, it may be merely the Illinois name of Gigueres (from! gigwer, to romp, 
alluding to the tremulous and playful motion of the long pinnated leaves) Latinised. _ 
Gen, Char. Sexes dicecious. Flowers without a corolla. Calyx with 4—5 
unequal teeth. Male flowers upon thread-shaped pedicels, and disposed 
in fascicles: anthers 4—5 linear, sessile. Memale flowers disposed in 
racemes. Leaves impari-pinnately divided. (Dec. Prod.,i. p. 596.) 
¥ 1. N. FRAxiniFo‘LIum Nutt. The Ash-leaved Negundo. 
Identification. Nutt. Gen. Amer., 1. p. 253.; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 596.; Don’s Mill., 1. p. 651. 
Synonymes. A'cer NegtindojL., Mich. Arb., Tratt. Arch.; N. acerdides Mcanch; Negtindium 
americanum Aafin.; the Ash-leaved Maple, the Black Ash; E’rablea Feuilles de Frene, Fr. ; 
Elrable 4 Giguiéres, ZWinois; Eschenblattriger Ahorn, Ger. 
Engravings. Mich. Arb., 2. t. 16.; Tratt. Arch., 1. No. 10.; Schmidt, Arb,, 1. t. 12.; Wats. Dend., 
t. 172. ; E. of Pl., No. 14294.; and the plate of this species in Vol. II. It is the female plant that is 
represented in these figures, except, perhaps, that of Trat. Arch., which we have not seen. 
Spec. Char. §c. Leaves of from 3 to 5 leaflets, the opposite ones coarsely and 
sparingly toothed, the odd one oftener three-lobed than simple. (Dec. Prod., 
i, p. 596.) A tree from North America, in 1688, growing to the height 
' of 50 ft. or 60 ft., and flowering in April. 
Variety. 
¥N. f. 2 crispum G. Don. The curled-leaved Ash-leaved Negundo, or 
Box Elder.—Figured in our Second Volume. The plant of this va- 
riety in the arboretum of theLondon Horticultural Society is of the 
male sex: the inflorescence consists of pendulous panicles of flowers, 
that are green, with some redness from the colour of the anthers ; 
and each is placed upon a slender peduncle of about 1 in. long. 
Description. As far as is known, only the female plant of the species has, 
as yet, been introduced into England. The flowers are produced, profusely, 
about the middle of April, and appear with the leaves: they are green, small, 
and in slender pendulous racemes. The racemes of flowers are inconspicuous, 
so that the flowering of the tree may occur without being noticed, unless the 
tree be carefully watched at its flowering season. The racemes of fruits that 
succeed to the flowers, increasing gradually to the length of 6 in. or 7 in., be- 
come obvious as the season advances, and appear conspicuously among the 
foliage. The leaves are opposite, and are from 6 in. to 15 in. long, according 
to the vigour of the tree, and the moisture of the soil in which it grows. 
Each leaf is composed of two pairs of leaflets, with an odd one. The leaflets 
are petioled, oval-acuminate, and sharply toothed: towards autumn, the com- 
mon petiole becomes of a deep red. The tree grows rapidly, arriving at ma- 
turity in 15 or 20 years ; and in a suitable soil and situation, attains the height 
of 40 ft. or 50 ft. : it branches at a small distance from the ground, and forms a 
loose and wide-spreading head. The bark of its trunk is brown; and there is a 
disagreeable odour in the inner bark : that of the young branches is of a smooth 
rush-like appearance, interrupted by very few buds, and of a most beautiful 
pea-green, like the shoots of the common jessamine (Jasminum officin2le), but 
on a larger scale. The proportion of the sap-wood to the heart-wood is 
large, except in very old trees: in these the heart-wood is variegated with 
rose-coloured and bluish veins. _ 
