N Y S 



When they hwe been once fix-cd to the place 

 b this way, they multiply greatly, so as to cover 

 ?uch places in a short time. 



They are also capable of being cultivated in 

 larce troughs or cisterns of water, having earth 

 at "the bottoms, nourishing very well, and pro- 

 ducing annually large quantities of flowers. 



The third and fourth species, as being tender, 

 should be kept in such troughs or cisterns, and 

 be set in a comer of the stove. In their native 

 situations they arc increased both by their roots 

 and seeds as the common sorts in this climate. 



NYSSA, a genus containing a plant of the 

 aquatic ornamental tree kind. 



It belongs to the class and order Polygamia 

 Dioecia, and ranks in the natural order of 



Hohr'act oe. 



The characters are : that in the male the 

 calvx is a five-parted perianthium, spreading, 

 with a plane bottom : there is no corolla : the 

 stamina have ten awl-shaped filaments, shorter 

 than the calyx: anthers twin, the length of 

 the filaments : hermaphrodite— the calyx is a 

 perianthium as in the male, sitting on the germ : 

 there is no corolla: the stamina have five awl- 

 shaped filaments, erect: anthers simple: pis- 

 tillum is an ovate'germ, inferior: style awl shaped, 

 curved inwards, "longer than the stamens : stig- 

 ma acute : the pericarpium is a drupe : the seed 

 is an oval nut, acute, scored with longitudinal 

 grooves, angular, irregular. 



The species are: 1. N. inle^rifolia, Moun- 

 tain Tupelo ; 2. N. denticulate/, Water Tupelo. 



The first rises with a strong upright trunk 

 •to the height of thirty or forty feet, and some- 

 times llear two feet in diameter; sending oft" 

 manv horizontal, and often depending branches : 

 the leaves are obovate, a little pointed, en- 

 tire, of a dark green and shining upper surface, 

 but lighter and a little hairy underneath : those 

 of the^mak trees arc often 'narrower and some- 

 times lance-shaped. The flowers arc produced up- 

 on pretty long common footstalks, arising from 

 the base of the young shoots, and dividing 

 irregularly into several parts, generally from 

 six to ten, each supporting a small flower, hav- 

 ing a calvx of six or seven unequal leaves, and 

 from six to eight awl-shaped spreading stamens, 

 supporting short four-lobcd anthers : the female 

 trees have fewer flowers produced upon much 

 longer simple cylindrical footstalks, thickened at 

 the extremity, and supporting generally three 

 flowers, sitting close, and having a small invo- 

 lucre. They arc composed of five small oval 

 leaves, and in the centre an awl-shapcd incurved 

 style, arising from the oblong germ, which is 

 iufcrior, and becomes an oval oblong berry, of 

 \ 



N Y S 



a dark purplish colour when ripe: the timber is 

 close-drained, -and curled so as not to be split or 

 parted ; and therefore much used for wheels, 

 8cc. It grows naturally in Pennsylvania, and 

 perhaps elsewhere. 



The second species rises with a strong upright 

 trunk to the height of eighty or a hundred feet 

 in its native situation, dividing into mam- 

 branches towards the top : the leaves are pretty 

 large, of an oval-spear-shaped form, generally 

 entire, but sometimes somewhat toothed, and 

 covered underneath with a whitish down : they 

 are joined to long slender footstalks, and affixed 

 to the branches in somewhat of a verticillate or- 

 der, presenting a beautiful varied foliage : the 

 berries are near the size and shape of small 

 olives, and are preserved as that fruit is by the 

 French inhabitants .upon the Missisippi, where 

 it greatly abounds, and is called the Olive-tree.: 

 the timber is white, and soft when unseasoned, 

 but light and compact when dry, which renders 

 it verv proper for making trays, bowls, 8cc. It 

 grows naturally in wet swamps, or near large 

 rivers, in Carolina and Florida. 



Culture. — These trees may be increased by 

 sowing the seeds procured from the places where- 

 they grow naturally, putting them into the 

 ground as soon as they are procured, as they lie 

 long before they vegetate. 



They should be sown in pots filled with light 

 loamy earth, placing them where they may have 

 only the morning sun ; and during the first sum- 

 mer the pots should be kept clean from weeds, 

 being well watered in dry weather. The pots 

 should be plunged into the ground in the fol- 

 lowing autumn ; and, if the winter prove severe, 

 cover them with old tan, peas-haulm, or other 

 similar light covering. And in the following 

 spring they should be plunged into a moderate 

 hot-bed, hooped and covered over with mats ;. 

 keeping; the earth constantly moist. 



By this means the plants arc brought up in the 

 spring, when they should be gradually hardened 

 to bear the open air ; and during the following 

 summer, the pots again plunged into an eastern 

 border, watering them in dry weather, care- 

 fully removing them into a frame in the au- 

 tumn, where they may be screened from frost ; 

 but in mild weather be exposed to the open air. 

 In the spring following, before they begin 

 to shoot, they should be parted carefully, plant- 

 in"- each in a small pot filled with loamy mould ; 

 and when they are plunged into a moderate hot- 

 bed, it will promote their putting out new roots ; 

 after which they maybe plunged in an eastern bor- 

 der, and be sheltered again in winter under a frame. 

 In the third spring, such plants as have made 



