1318 



ARBOKF.TUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PART III. 



1198 



Spec. C/tar., S^c. Leaves oblong, entire, acute at both ends ; with the 

 petiole, niiilrib, and edge villous. Female flowers, about three upon a 

 peduncle. (iVi/hl. Sp. PL, iv. p. 111.3.) Peduncle of female flowers long, 

 119? . 1 y^) and for the most part two-flowered. Nut 



small, ovate, obtuse, striated. (Alic/ir,^ A 

 deciduous tree, a native of 

 North America, where it 

 grows from 60 ft. to 70 ft. 

 high, and flowers in April and 

 Ma}'. It was introduced in 

 182i4', and is occasionally to 

 be met with in collections. 

 N. sylvatica Michx., which we have made 

 synonymous with N. villosa, on the authority 

 of Pursh (see Fl. Amer. Sept. Addenda, ii. p. 175.), is said by Michaux to 

 exhibit a remarkable singularity in its vegetation. " In Maryland, Virginia, 

 and the western states," he observes, " where it grows on high and level 

 ground with the oaks and the walnuts, it is distinguished by no peculiarity 

 of form : but in the lower part of the Carolinas and of Georgia, where it is 

 found onlv in wet places, with the small magnolia or white bay (Magnolia 

 glauca), the red bay (Laurus carolinensis), the loblolly bay (Gordon/a Lasi- 

 anthus), and the water oak (Quercus aquatica), it has a pyramidal base, 

 resembling a sugar loaf; a trunk 18 ft. or 20 ft. high, and 7 in. or 8 in. in dia- 

 meter, at the surface of the ground; which, a foot higher, is only 2 in. or 

 3 in. thick ; the proportions, however, varying in different individuals." (X. 

 Amer. Si//., iii. p. 34.) This tree appears to differ very little from N. biflora, 

 except in the greater height attained by the tree, and in the downiness of the 

 petioles of the leaves. The fruit is of the same size and colour, generally 

 produced in pairs on similar peduncles, and the wood is of the same descrip- 

 tion, fine-grained, but tough. " The alburnum of the trunks of trees growing 

 upon drv and elevated lands is yellow ; and this colour, being considered 

 by wheelwriglits as a proof of the superior quality of the wood, has probably 

 given rise to the name of yellow gum, which is sometimes applied to this 

 species." (Ibid.) The wood is used for all purposes, for which timber is 

 required of moderate dimensions, which is not liable to split. The only 

 plant which we have seen of this kind is in the arboretum of Messrs. 

 Loddiges, where, in 1835, it was 10 ft. high, and had produced male 

 blossoms ; but it died in the spring of 183G, apparently from the soil being 

 too dry. 



5 3. N. ca'ndicans Michx. 



The whitish-leaved Nyssa, or Ogechee 

 Li»ie Tree. 



Idenlification. Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer, 2. p. 259. ; Willd. Sp. PI., 4. p. 1113. 



Synonymes. X. capitata Walt, Ait. Hort. Ketv, Mic/ii. S. Anicr. Syl.,3. p. 43. ; N. coccinea Bar 



tram; Sour Tupelo Tree, Ogechee I.ime Tree, Wild Lime; weisslicher Tulpclobaum, (Jo-. 

 Engravings. Michx. N. Amer. Syl., 3. t 113. ; and out Jig. 1199. 



Spec. C/iar., c^r. Leaf with the petiole very 

 short, and the disk oblong, wedge-shaped at 

 the base, nearly entire, whitish on the uiuler 

 surface. Female flowers one upon a pe- 

 duncle. ( JVdld. Sp. PL, iv. p. 1113.) It varies, 

 w ith its leaves obovatc, entire, or rarely sub- 

 ilentate. The male flowers are grouped into 

 little heads. The bracteas attending the 

 female flowers are short ; the calyx of these 

 flowers is tomentose ; its lobes are short. 

 The drupe is oblong. (Afir/iaux.) A deci- 

 duous tree, a native of Carolina, on the 1199 

 banks of rivers, particularly the Ogechee. It is the smallest tree of the 

 genus, rarely exceeding 30 ft. in height. It was introduced in 1806. 



