424 DECIDUOUS TREES. 



tree, turning to a bright yellow, and then drop simultaneously. 

 Fruit small, oval, purplish, ripe in October. Height in the woods 

 thirty to fifty feet, in open ground about the size of the apple 

 tree. 



THE THICK-LEAVED CELTIS OR HACKBERRY. C. crassifolia. 

 Michaux mentions this as " one of the finest trees which compose 

 the dusky forests of the Ohio," where it sometimes attains the 

 height of eighty feet, with a very small trunk in proportion to its 

 height. Bark reddish-brown. Young branches downy. It is not 

 frequently found in either the northern or southern States, but 

 principally on the valleys of rivers in the middle States. The 

 leaves are six inches long, three or four inches broad, oval-acumi- 

 nate, serrated thick, and rough. Flowers small, white, in May. 

 Fruit the size of a large cherry-stone, purple or black, ripe in Octo- 

 ber. There is a specimen of this species near the West-town board- 

 ing school, Westchester, Pa., with almost the size and grandeur 

 of a full grown spreading white oak. 



THE PERSIMMON. Dyospyrus virginiana. 



The persimmon, or Virginia date plum, is a medium-sized, 

 open-headed tree, with foliage of unusual beauty. The leaves are 

 single, alternate, from four to six inches long, smooth-edged, pol- 

 ished as those of the orange, and much larger. The fruit is the 

 size of a crab-apple, red, and noted for its bitterness when imma- 

 ture. The tree is rarely found north of the latitude of New York, 

 and cannot be considered quite hardy north of Philadelphia. 

 The greatest beauty of its foliage develops still farther south. 



THE EUROPEAN DATE PLUM, Dyospyrus /otus, is a beautiful 

 tree common in the south of Europe, but quite tender. 



THE ALDER. Alnus. 



Most of the species grow in wet places. Downing does not con- 

 sider our native alders worthy of much attention. Sargent, how- 



