544 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1816. 



from the small triangular pedes- 

 talsj of a bark, spongy, soft, and 

 elastic. The under disk is of a 

 deep glossy green, the other of a 

 pale whitish green : the boughs 

 retain the leaves of a six years 

 growth : the bud scales resemble 

 those of thehrst species : the cone 

 is of an ovate figure, three and a 

 half inches in length, and three in 

 circumference, thickest in the 

 middle, and tapering and termi- 

 nating in two obtuse points : it 

 is composed of small, flexible 

 scales, imbricated, and of a red- 

 dish brown colour. Eacli of these 

 scales covers two small seeds, 

 and is itself covered in the centre 

 by a small, tiiin, inferior scale, 

 acutely pointed: these scales pro- 

 ceed from the sides of the bough, 

 as well as from its extremities. It 

 was nowhere seen above the ^^'ap- 

 patoo. The stem of the black 

 alder arrives to a great size. It 

 is simple, branching, and diffuse : 

 the bark is smooth, of a light 

 colour, with white spreading 

 spots, resembling those of the 

 beech : the leaf, fructification, 

 &c. resemble precisely those of 

 the common alder of our country : 

 the shrubs grow separately from 

 different roots, and not in clus- 

 ters, like those of the United 

 States. The black alder does not 

 cast its leaf until the first of De- 

 cember. It is sometimes found 

 growing to the height of sixty or 

 .seventy feet, and is from tw^o to 

 foui- in diameter. 



There is a tiee common to the 

 Colimibia river, below the en- 

 trance of Cataract river, when 

 divested of its foliage, much re- 

 sembling the abh. The trunk is 

 simple, branching, and diffuse: 

 the leaf is petiolatc, plain, divided 



by four deep lines, resembling 

 those of the palm, and consider- 

 ably lobate : the lobes terminate 

 in from three to five angular 

 points, and their margins are in- 

 dented with irregular and some- 

 what circular incisures : the peti- 

 ole is cylindrical, smooth, and 

 seven inches long ; the leaf itself 

 eight inches in length, and twelve 

 in breadth : this tree is frequent- 

 ly three feet in diameter, and 

 rises from forty to fifty feet : the 

 fruit is a winged seed, somewhat 

 resembling that of the maple. 



In the same part of the coun- 

 try there is also another growth, 

 resembling the white maple, 

 though much smaller, and is sel- 

 dom to be seen of more than six 

 or seven inches in diameter. 

 These trees grow in clusters, from 

 fifteen to twenty feet in height, 

 from the same bed of roots, 

 spreading and leaning outwards : 

 the twigs are long and slender, 

 the stem simple and branching, 

 the bark, in colour, resembling 

 the white maple, the leaf is peti- 

 olate, plain, scattered, nearly cir- 

 cular, with acute, angular in- 

 cisures round the margin, of an 

 inch in length, and from six to 

 eight in number : the acute an- 

 gular points so formed, are cre- 

 nate, tlirce inches in length and 

 four in width : the petiole is cy- 

 lindric, smooth, and an inch and 

 a quarter in length, and the fruit 

 is not known. 



The undergrowth consists of 

 honeysuckles, alder, seven bark 

 or nine bark, huckleberry, a shrub 

 like the quillwood, a plant like 

 the mountain-holly, a green briar, 

 the fern. 



1. The honeysuckle common to 



the United States we found in this 



neighbourhood 



