2052 ARBORI.TUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART lit. 



It possesses nearly the same properties as the balsam of Tola, and that of 

 Peru (both produced by a tree in Jirazil), for which it is often substituted, as 

 well as for storax. The best liquidambar gum is obtained by making incisions 

 in the trunk, and sutiering the resin to flow gradually ; but an inferior kind is 

 procured by boiling the small branches and leaves, and collecting the balsamic 

 oil which rises from them, and floats on the surface of the water. In England 

 and in North America, very little gum is produced from the trunk of the tree, 

 though a little exudes from the leaves ; and Michanx informs us that, in re- 

 peated experiments made in Carolina, he was never able to collect more than 

 half an ounce, from a tree 1 ft. in diameter, in a fortnight. In Britain, the 

 principal use of this tree is as an ornament to lawns and pleasure-grounds ; in 

 which it has a most striking appearance, when the leaves are dying off in 

 autumn ; and it is also very beautiful throughout the summer, from the dark 

 green and glossy surface of its elegantly shaped leaves. When bruised, the 

 leaves are fragrant at all seasons ; but in spring, when they are first un- 

 folding, after a warm shower, the surrounding air is filled with their refreshing 

 odour. 



SoU, Propagntion, Sfc. The liquidambar has a decided preference for a 

 moist soil, and will only attain a timber-like size in a sheltered situation. In 

 British nurseries, it is generally propagated by layers, which root with toler- 

 able facility, and may be taken oft' at the end of the first autumn after they have 

 been formed. It is also propagated by seeds imported from America. These 

 are brougiit over in the catkins, and should not be taken out of them till 

 the time of sowing ; because the seeds, like those of the pine and fir tribe, 

 do not keep well when exposed to the air. The round [)rickly catkins which 

 contain the seeds are hard, and not readily broken with the hand ; but, by 

 exposure to the sun, or to fire heat, they crack and open, and the seeds may 

 then be easily shaken out. They may be sown and treated like seeds of the 

 pine and fir tribe ; but, unlike them, they lie a year in the ground before 

 coming up. Seedlings generally attain the height of from b in. to 8 in. the 

 first year, with numerous fibrous roots. They may either be transplanted that 

 year, or the next, and may afterwards undergo the usual routine culture in 

 nursery lines, till they are wanted for final transplanting. 



Accidents, Diseases, and Insects. The wood of the liquidambar being brittle, 

 the branches arc liable to be broken oft' by very high winds ; and the wounds 

 left, if not smoothed and protected from the air, will greatly facilitate the 

 rotting of the tree, the timber of which is naturally not durable. In America, 

 several insects feed on the leaves, among which we may mention the green 

 swallow-tailed em{)eror moth (Phalae'na luna Abb. Sf Smith, t. 48., and our 

 Jig. 19G2.) and the great plane moth {P. imperatoria Abb. cy Smith, t. 55., i^om- 

 byx imperialis Fab.). Insects of the former species are not common ; but they 

 are very beautiful ; the caterpillar being bright orange with yellow spots, and 

 the moth bright yellow and pink. These insects are very difficult to rear, as 

 the moth generally dies in confinement, before depositing her eggs. 



Statistics. In the environs of London, at Syon, 59 ft. high, the diametor of the trunk 1 ft. 7 in., 

 and of the head 36 ft. ; in the Kulham Nursery, 15 years planted, it is 'iO ft. high. South of London : 

 in Devonshire, at Lusconibc, 18 years planted, it is 23 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk (J in., and that 

 of the head 14 ft. : in Hampshire, at Strathtieldsaye, itis 04- ft. high, the diametervifthetrunk 2 ft. 6 in., 

 growing in rich soil, not much above the level of the river : in Kent, at Cobham Hall, 'li> years planted, 

 it is 36 tl. high, with a trunk 1ft. 3 in. in diameter : in Surrey, at Farnham Castle, on dry chalky 

 soil, 40 years planted, it is 20 ft. high, with a trunk 1 ft. in diameter; at Woburn F.irm, it ig up. 

 wards of 60 ft. high. ; at Ockham Park, 23 years planted, it is 22 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 

 10 in., and of the head 15 ft. : in Wiltshire, at Warriour Castle, 30 years planted, it is 25 ft. high, the 

 diameter of the trunk 9 in., and that of the head S ft. North of London : in Bedfordshire, at Ampt- 

 hill, 38 years [ilanted, it is 25 t\. high, the diameter of the trunk 1 ft., and of the ."-pace covered by the 

 branches 24 ft. : in Cheshire, at Eaton Hall, 13 years planted, it is 12 ft liigh, the diameter of the 

 trunk 5 in., and that of the space covered by the branches 10 ft. : in Herefordshire, at VVormleybury, 

 80 years old, it is 55 ft. high, the circumference of the trunk at the ground 5 ft. : in Monmouth- 

 shire, at Tredegar Park, 50 years planted, it is 25 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 1 ft., and that of 

 the head 90 ft. : in Suffiilk, at Ampton Hall, 12 years planted, it is 16 ft. high, the diameter of the 

 trunk 3 in., and of the head 6 ft. : in Warwickshire, at Combe Abbey, it is 37 ft. high, the diameter 

 of the trunk 1 ft. 2 in., and tliat of the head 21 ft. : in Worcestershire, at Croome, 15 years jilanted, 

 it is 25 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 5 in., and that of the head 15 ft. : in Yorkshire, in the Hull 

 Botanic Garden, 12 years planted, it is 20 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 12 in. — In Scotland. In 

 Lawson's Nursery, Edinburgh, 4 years planted, it is 4 ft. high ; the young shoots being often injured 

 by the frost. In Banffshire, at Gordon Castle, 12 years planted, it is 10 ft. high, the diameter of the 

 trunk 4 in. In Fifeshire, at Danibrislle Park, 4 years planted, it is 4 It. 6 in. high, the diameter 



