460 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PARTIIf. 



Genus II. 



fj 



KEGU'NDO Mcench. The Negundo, or Box Elder. Lin. Sj/st. 

 Dioe^cia Pentandria. 



Identification. Mtrnch. Meth , 3.34. ; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 5'J6. ; Don's Mill., 1. p. G47. and 051. 



Si/notii/mes. A\eT Lin. ; XcgHndiiim Uafinesque. 



Derivations. This genus was constituted from .-J'ccr NcgCndo L. ; but the meaning of the latter word 

 is unknown. Probably, it may be merely the Illinois name of Gigueres (from gigtter, to romp, 

 alluding to the tremulous and playful motion of the long pinnated leaves) Latinised! 



Gen. Char. Sexes dioecious. Flowers without a corolla. Calyx with 4 — 3 

 unequal teeth. Male flowers upon thread-shaped pedicels, and disposed 

 in fascicles : anthers -i — 3 linear, sessile. Female flowers disposed in 

 racemes. Leaves impari-pinnately divided. {Dec. Prod., i. p. 596.) 



¥ 1. X. Jf^RAXiNiFo'LiLM Xiitt. The Ash-leaved Negundo. 



Identification. Nutt. Gen. Amer., 1. p. 25.3. ; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 596. ; Don's Mill., 1. p. 651. 

 Synonymes. A'cet NcgHndo} L., Mic/i. Art)., Trait. Arch. ; N. acer'tldes Moench ; Xegindi'um 



amcric&num liafin.; the Ash-leaved Maple, the Black Ash ; E'rabiek Feuilles de Frene, Fr.; 



E'rable a Giguii^res, Illinois; Eschenbliittriger Ahorn, Ger. 

 Engravings. Mich. Arb., L'. t. 16. ; Tratt. Arch , 1. No. lU. ; Schmidt, Arb., 1. t 12. ; Wats. Dend., 



1. 172. ; E. of PI., No. 14294. ; and the plate of this species in Vol. II. It is the female plant that U 



represented in these figures, except, perhaps, that of Trat. Arch., which we have not seen. 



Spec. Char. Sfc. Leaves of from 3 to 3 leaflets, the opposite ones coarsely and 

 sparingly toothed, the odd one oftener three-lobed than simple. {Dec. Prod., 

 i. p. 396.) A tree from North America, in 1688, growing to the height 

 of 30 ft. or 60 ft., and flowering in April. 



Variety. 



i N. f. 2 crlipum G. Don. The eitrlcd-\ea.yeA. 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 Enjiland. The flowers are produced, profusely, 

 about the middle of April, and appear witii 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, anil iii)pear conspicuously among the 

 foliage. The leaves are opposite, and are from 6 in. to 13 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 pctiolcd, 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 13 or 20 years ; and in a suitable soil and situation, attains the height 

 of 40 ft. or 30 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 o^ the young branches is of a smooth 

 rush-like appearance, interrupted by very few buds, and of a most beautiful 

 pea-green, like tlie shoots of the common jessamine (./asminum officinale), but 

 on a larger scale. The proportion of the sap-wood to the heart-wood is 

 large, except in very olil trees : in these the heart-wood is variegated with 

 rose-coloured and bluish veins. 



